SEO Off-Page Team Lead

As the SEO Off-Page Team Lead, you will own everything that happens away from our sites: link acquisition, digital PR, and authority growth across Catena Media’s US brands. Reporting to the Director of SEO, you will lead a small, high-output team - an Off-Page Specialist and a PR Specialist - and be accountable for turning off-page investment into measurable ranking and revenue gains in some of the most competitive verticals in search: online casino, sweepstakes casino, sports betting and prediction markets. Because authority is now earned well beyond backlinks, you will also partner with our Social, Content and Commercial teams, among others, to grow our brands’ presence on social platforms and within operators’ own spaces. This is a hands‑on leadership role. You will set the strategy, own the budget and the vendor relationships, and still be close enough to the work to spot a bad link or a great story angle before anyone else does. YOUR CHALLENGE:Own and evolve the off-page strategy for Catena Media’s US brands, aligned to the wider SEO roadmap agreed with the Director of SEOSet quarterly authority targets per site and per vertical - referring domains, link quality, topical relevance, brand mentions - and hold the team to themBuild a repeatable, scalable link acquisition programme across digital PR, editorial outreach and partnerships, with clear quality thresholds for each channel and full disclosure where placements are sponsoredDirect the digital PR calendar around the US sports and legislative calendar so campaigns land when demand and journalist appetite peakOwn vendor and agency relationships: source, negotiate, brief and performance-manage external suppliers and freelancersManage the off-page budget, forecast spend against target, and report on cost per placement and return on off-page investmentProtect the portfolio from risk: enforce link vetting standards, monitor for toxic and unnatural links, manage disavows, and keep the team aligned with Google’s spam policiesReport off-page performance to SEO leadership, connecting authority growth to ranking movement and revenue rather than reporting link counts in isolationWork closely with the Technical SEO, Onpage SEO, Content and Commercial teams so that link targets, content production and monetisation priorities pull in the same directionWork with the Social and Content teams to grow our brands’ authority on social platforms, turning campaigns, data stories and expert commentary into brand mentions, shares and citations beyond our own sitesPartner with the Commercial team to build our brands’ visibility within operators’ own spaces, such as their sites, blogs, social channels and co-marketing activity, building on our existing operator partnershipsStay on top of gambling advertising and disclosure requirements in the markets we operate in, particularly across individual US states, and ensure outreach and placements remain compliantBuild the team’s capability through training, documentation and process, turning individual wins into repeatable playbooksAny other ad hoc tasks which may be assigned by management from time to timeLEADERSHIP AND TEAM MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITIES:Managing team performance through ongoing performance management, including regular 1-1s and formal performance reviewsLeading by example, delivering results and acting as a visible Catena ambassadorCommunicating clearly, making sure information reaches the team accurately and on timeOwning recruitment and selection for your team in partnership with the HR and Talent Acquisition teamsEnabling team and individual growth, from induction through to ongoing learning and developmentTO DO IT, YOU WILL NEED:5+ years experience in off-page SEO, link acquisition or digital PR, with a track record of moving rankings in competitive verticals 2+ years experience managing or mentoring a team, including performance managementExperience in the US sports betting or online casino market, in affiliation or on the operator sideDemonstrable experience building link acquisition programmes at scale, rather than running one-off campaignsStrong commercial judgement: comfortable owning a budget, negotiating with vendors, and defending what a placement costsDeep familiarity with Google’s link spam policies, manual action and penalty risk, and how to assess link quality beyond a single authority metricExpertise in Ahrefs, Majestic, Semrush, Google Search Console and Screaming Frog, and confidence building reporting in spreadsheets and Looker StudioExperience running or overseeing digital PR, including data-led campaigns and journalist outreach A collaborative, cross-functional working style, with experience building joint plans with social, content, commercial or partnerships teams to grow brand authority and mentionsComfortable balancing shifting priorities while under deadline, maintaining attention to detailFluent in English with strong written and verbal communication skillsExperience managing remote or distributed team members (advantage) Experience with brand-mention and AI-search visibility tracking alongside traditional link metrics (advantage)