SEO & AI Optimisation Specialist – 12 month FTCStoke – 3 days in office £35-38k About our clientForward Role are excited to be partnering with a prestigious higher education institution, as they look to recruit an SEO & AI Optimisation Specialist to join their in-house digital team. This is a genuinely exciting, long term contract at the cutting edge of where search and AI are heading, and a real opportunity to make a visible, measurable impact on how a well-known institution is discovered online. There is potential for this role to be made permanent.The roleThis is a hands-on delivery role sitting at the heart of the digital team, acting as the operational bridge between strategy and execution. Working closely with an external agency, you'll take audit findings and strategic recommendations and turn them into real outcomes — spanning technical SEO, content optimisation, and authority development.Crucially, this role also covers AI optimisation — how the institution appears in AI-generated responses and summaries. That's still a relatively new space, and this is a brilliant opportunity to get ahead of the curve and own it.What the role involves Implementing SEO and AI optimisation recommendations from agency audits and action plansImproving rankings and visibility for priority course, subject, and destination-related searchesOptimising technical SEO including site structure, crawlability, performance, and metadataIdentifying and delivering content improvements aligned to search intentEnhancing how the institution is represented in AI-generated answers and summariesOptimising content for clarity, authority, and answerability across the websiteSupporting activity to improve domain authority and strengthen the backlink profileActing as the key link between the agency, web, content, and marketing teamsMonitoring the impact of changes on search rankings, traffic, and AI platform visibilitySupporting faster implementation of high-impact changes during critical recruitment periods such as Clearing What we're looking forEssential: Solid hands-on SEO experience, covering both technical and content-led optimisationUnderstanding of how AI platforms surface and cite content, and how to optimise for themExperience working within a CMS to deploy website updatesAbility to translate strategic recommendations into practical, delivered outcomesStrong collaboration and stakeholder management skillsA data-driven approach to performance monitoring and continuous improvement Nice to have: Experience working in higher education or a similarly complex organisationFamiliarity with tools such as GA4, Google Search Console, and SEO platformsExperience working alongside or managing external agenciesKnowledge of backlink development and domain authority building As an industry leading, nationwide Marketing, Digital, Analytics, IT and Design recruitment agency, we are continually receiving new assignments to work on, so keep a close eye on our website, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages for a full list of current permanent and interim opportunities as well as marketplace news and fun stuff. Forward Role is operating as an employment agency.

Our client is a fast-growing international eCommerce retailer with a strong presence across global consumer markets. Paid Media Creative Manager Location: YorkSalary: £40,000 - £50,000Working Pattern: Hybrid - 3 days onsite, 2 days remote About the Business Operating across multiple international territories, the business supplies a broad product range to both consumers and commercial customers through a digital-first model. With a workforce of approximately 500 employees and continued year-on-year growth, the organisation has established itself as a major player within its sector, outperforming competitors and continuing to expand market share internationally. The business combines data-led marketing, in-house creative production and advanced digital infrastructure to deliver engaging customer experiences at scale. Its collaborative marketing function includes performance marketing, creative, content, design and production teams working closely together to drive innovation across digital channels. This is an exciting opportunity to join a highly ambitious organisation investing heavily in creative excellence, AI-enabled workflows and performance-driven marketing. The Role This newly created role sits at the intersection of performance marketing and creative strategy, with a core focus on elevating paid social and digital advertising creative. The Paid Media Creative Manager will be responsible for developing high-performing creative concepts, building scalable creative systems and driving innovation across paid media campaigns. Working closely with designers, videographers, editors, content specialists and performance marketers, this role will focus on creating social-first campaigns that improve engagement, drive performance and support continued international growth. The position is strategically focused but also requires hands-on involvement in creative briefing, campaign planning and creative testing. Key Responsibilities Creative Strategy & Campaign Development Develop high-performing creative concepts, hooks and messaging frameworks informed by audience insight, competitor research and platform trends. Create social-first paid media campaigns designed to improve engagement and conversion across digital channels. Build structured creative testing roadmaps to explore new formats, narratives and performance opportunities. Translate campaign and performance data into actionable creative improvements and experimentation strategies. Work closely with paid media and performance marketing teams to align creative output with commercial objectives. Creative Briefing & Cross-Functional Collaboration Brief concepts and campaign direction to internal creative teams including designers, videographers, editors and content specialists. Collaborate with creative, content and production teams to deliver engaging assets across multiple channels. Support the development of campaign planning processes across paid social and digital advertising activity. Act as a bridge between performance marketing and creative teams, ensuring campaigns balance creativity with measurable results. Creative Systems & Workflow Development Build and refine scalable creative workflows that improve speed, quality and creative output. Develop and maintain briefing templates, testing frameworks, inspiration libraries and creative processes. Introduce AI-enabled tools and workflows to improve ideation, production and creative efficiency. Establish quality controls to maintain strong creative standards and brand consistency. Channel & Platform Expertise Maintain up-to-date knowledge of trends, formats and best practice across Meta, TikTok, YouTube, Google and emerging digital platforms. Understand how creative requirements differ across channels and adapt campaign output accordingly. Identify new content trends, creative opportunities and platform developments to improve campaign performance. Curate examples of high-performing advertising creative to support future campaign development. Required Skills & Experience Minimum 4+ years' experience within paid media creative, creative strategy, performance marketing or performance content. Strong understanding of paid social creative and the relationship between creative execution and campaign performance. Experience developing or briefing creative assets for paid advertising campaigns. Knowledge of social-first creative principles including hooks, pacing, storytelling and conversion-focused content. Experience working alongside design, content, production or video teams. Understanding of performance marketing and campaign optimisation. Experience using AI tools and workflows to support creative ideation and production. Strong communication and stakeholder management skills. Ability to work within a fast-paced, collaborative environment. Commercially aware with a strong interest in digital marketing trends and platform innovation. Team Structure This role will work closely with: Head of Marketing Performance Marketing team Graphic Design team Videography and production teams Social Media and Content teams The business has an established in-house creative function including designers, videographers, editors and content specialists. What's on Offer Competitive salary package. Hybrid working structure with 3 days onsite in York. Opportunity to shape and build the creative direction of paid media campaigns within a growing international business. Exposure to large-scale digital campaigns across multiple global markets. Modern office environment with onsite facilities and collaborative creative teams. Long-term progression opportunities within a rapidly expanding organisation. Comprehensive benefits package including wellbeing support, enhanced family policies, pension contributions, employee discounts and onsite facilities. Why Apply? This is an excellent opportunity for a commercially minded creative professional who enjoys combining creative thinking with performance marketing. The role offers the chance to influence how creative is developed across paid media campaigns while helping shape the future structure and direction of a growing creative marketing function. As an industry leading, nationwide Marketing, Digital, Analytics, IT and Design recruitment agency, we are continually receiving new assignments to work on, so keep a close eye on our website, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages for a full list of current permanent and interim opportunities as well as marketplace news and fun stuff.Forward Role is operating as an employment agency.

Are you an experienced Senior Marketing Executive who thrives on creating high‑impact, insight‑driven campaigns? Our client is growing fast and is looking for a talented Senior Marketing Executive to take charge of delivering standout marketing activity across print, events, and offline channels. This is a pivotal hire within the UK Marketing team. Reporting into the Head of Marketing, you’ll be responsible for executing the national marketing strategy, collaborating with internal teams, and ensuring the brand continues to lead in its sector. Data sits at the heart of their decision-making, so you’ll need to be confident interpreting sales trends and turning insight into action. The role is heavily offline‑focused and includes regular UK travel—around eight days per month spent in the field. If you’re a people‑person who communicates clearly, loves bringing ideas to life, and has hands-on offline marketing experience, this could be your next move. What You’ll Be Doing Supporting the development and delivery of the UK marketing planConducting quarterly competitor analysisProviding monthly market updates and trend insightsInterpreting sales data to inform marketing actionsActing as the main point of contact for UK marketing enquiriesSupporting planning and execution of UK exhibitions and conferencesCoordinating meetings, events, and logistics for internal and external stakeholdersKeeping marketing documentation up to date and ensuring SOP complianceContributing to annual business planningVisiting customers across the UK, with regular nationwide travelAbout YouYou’ll be a great fit if you’re:A data‑driven marketer confident analysing trendsA strong communicator, both written and verbalOrganised with excellent time‑management skillsA proactive self‑starter who thrives in a fast‑paced environmentDetail‑oriented with a creative mindsetProficient in Microsoft Excel and core marketing toolsAs an industry leading, nationwide Marketing, Digital, Analytics, IT and Design recruitment agency, we are continually receiving new assignments to work on, so keep a close eye on our website, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages for a full list of current permanent and interim opportunities as well as marketplace news and fun stuff. Forward Role is operating as an employment agency.