Head of SEO & Growth JN -092026-181730

The ideal candidate brings deep B2B marketing experience in financial services or payments, and a verifiable track record of growth at smaller, fast-moving companies. You work directly with company leadership and are measured on results. Core Responsibilities Own SEO as the Primary Long-Term Growth Channel Audit where we stand today and build and execute an SEO strategy to get where we need to be: technical SEO, site architecture on our WordPress site, and keyword strategy around high-intent searches such as "high risk merchant account" and industry-specific terms (e.g., payment processing for specific high-risk verticals). Grow and optimize our library of industry pages and merchant resource guides, building content that ranks for and converts businesses that mainstream processors turn away. Increase domain authority by earning high-quality backlinks from authoritative publications, industry sites, and partners. Optimize for AI-driven search and answer engines (e.g., ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews) alongside traditional search. Track rankings, organic traffic, domain authority, and organic-sourced applications, and report progress monthly. Own Paid Acquisition: Google Ads and Emerging Channels Build, launch, and manage B2B Google Ads campaigns hands-on: account structure, keyword and match-type strategy, negative keywords, ad copy, bidding, quality score, and budget pacing in a competitive, high-CPC auction. Navigate Google’s financial services and restricted-content policies, including advertiser verification and vertical-specific restrictions, and keep accounts in good standing. Set up accurate conversion tracking (GA4, Google Tag Manager, call tracking, and offline conversions) so spend is optimized toward approved, processing merchants, not just applications or calls. Build and continuously test landing pages and application flows to lower cost per approved merchant. Scale our recently launched ChatGPT campaign and test other emerging and adjacent channels (e.g., Microsoft Ads, LinkedIn, retargeting), cutting what does not perform. Lead PR, Communications & Brand Turn company accomplishments into coverage and authority. For example, announce and promote our recent industry recognition across our site, press, and social channels. Build relationships with publishers, journalists, and payments, fintech, and small business media. Pursue partnership and sponsored placement opportunities with outlets such as Forbes that feature financial services companies. Treat PR as an SEO lever: secure placements that earn strong backlinks and build brand authority. Position company leadership as credible voices on medium- and high-risk payments through bylines, LinkedIn content, and industry events. Set up automated, AI-assisted social media publishing, with LinkedIn and X as the priority channels and Instagram secondary. Protect and grow our reputation across Trustpilot, Google reviews, and other review platforms. Define Positioning and Messaging Establish the ICP, priority verticals, and buyer personas, and sharpen messaging that differentiates us from mainstream processors and other high-risk providers. Ensure key claims, such as approval timelines, payout terms, and pricing guarantees, are accurate, consistent, and compliant across every channel. Produce or source essential sales collateral (industry one-pagers, case studies) in partnership with the sales team. Build the Marketing Engine and Report on Results Build the marketing roadmap and quarterly goals, and report on the metrics that matter: organic traffic, rankings, domain authority, applications, approvals, CAC, and ROAS. Recommend and implement marketing tools as needed. We have no marketing automation or email platform in place today, so experience implementing a CRM or email tool (e.g., HubSpot, Mailchimp) is valuable. Use AI and automation extensively for research, content production, reporting, and social publishing, and apply sharp human judgment to what AI produces. Translate data into decisions: what to scale, what to stop, and what to test next. Scale the Function Thoughtfully Manage freelancers and agencies for writing, design, and specialized work, or handle it directly, whichever delivers better results. Recommend new hires only for work that cannot be automated and that growth genuinely requires, and, if justified, hire for that work. First 30/90 Days (Practical Deliverables) First 30 Days Audit SEO, the Google Ads account, and our PR and brand presence. Deliver a clear assessment of where we are, where we need to be, and the plan to get there, informed by competitive and market research. Fix analytics, call tracking, and conversion tracking. Define the few metrics that matter and set the reporting cadence. Publicize our recent industry recognition across the site, press, and social, and deliver a PR plan with a target publisher list, partnership opportunities, and an announcement calendar. Restructure Google Ads with clean tracking, policy-compliant accounts, and CAC targets. Deliver the SEO roadmap: technical fixes, priority industry and keyword themes, content and backlink plan. Stand up automated social publishing for LinkedIn and X. By Day 90 Ship the first round of improved high-intent industry pages and show early ranking movement. Report results from the ChatGPT campaign and make a scale, adjust, or cut decision. Secure first earned placements and get the first backlinks from the PR plan live. Experience Qualifications (Target Profile) 7–12 years in B2B marketing, with direct responsibility for growth outcomes. B2B experience is essential. Financial services or payments experience strongly preferred. Experience with merchant services or high-risk verticals is a plus. Fast learners from adjacent B2B fields will be considered. Hands-on experience at smaller or early-stage companies where you owned execution, not only strategy. We value this over large-company experience in a narrow role. A verifiable track record of results. We review the public marketing performance of candidates’ prior employers during their tenure (e.g., organic traffic, domain authority, backlinks, press coverage), so be ready to walk through specific results you drove. Multi-year tenures at prior companies where you can show sustained impact. Functional Strengths Technical SEO, keyword research, content strategy, and link building in competitive categories; fluency with tools such as Google Search Console, GA4, Semrush, and Ahrefs. Deep hands-on Google Ads expertise for B2B, including regulated or restricted categories: campaign structure, conversion tracking, bid strategy, quality optimization, and budget management tied to CAC. Must have personally managed Google Ads budgets of $50K+ per month. PR and media relations experience that earned named placements in tier-one business or trade outlets and authoritative backlinks; strong writing and editing skills. Experience improving brand visibility in LLMs and AI answer engines. Heavy, practical use of AI tools across marketing workflows, with the judgment to tell good output from bad. Comfort marketing in a regulated industry and keeping claims accurate and compliant. Working Style Operator mentality: hands-on, aggressive about growth, and motivated by performance-based rewards. Thinks outside the box, moves quickly with limited resources, and takes ownership without needing direction. Clear communicator who can work directly with leadership and explain what is working, what is not, and why. Katie Winkler $160,000 - $180,000 #J-18808-Ljbffr Goodwin Recruiting