SEO Journalist

The Times and The Sunday Times are looking for an SEO journalist to grow our readership and reach new audiences through search.

This position will be initially focused on news, but with the opportunity to work across all sections of the papers. You will play a key role in continuing the digital evolution of the newspapers and the integration of SEO into editorial processes.

Based in a fast-paced newsroom, you will share actionable insights and make recommendations on what stories we cover and how.

Every day you will be identifying trending topics and finding innovative ways to optimise our award-winning journalism. You will be forward planning with different sections and shaping strategies to maximise search traffic to news and evergreen stories.

As well as acting as a go-to person on SEO, you will be responsible for training reporters, editors and sub-editors in best practices. You will also play an active role in writing headlines and adding high-quality internal links to improve the reading experience.

Key skills

•  Editorial SEO experience in a newsroom or similar environment
•  Excellent communication and people skills
• Strong SEO editing and digital headline writing skills
• Experience working with Google Analytics and keyword research tools
•  Good understanding of tech SEO principles behind editorial practices

This job is for you if

• You have sound news judgement and an audience-first mindset.
•  You enjoy using search data to inform your decision-making
• You can explain trends and patterns in traffic clearly and concisely
• You’re always up to date with SEO and digital publishing developments

To apply you must have the right to work in the UK.

Please apply by uploading your combined CV and covering letter as a single document by July 3.

Life at News: We champion diversity and inclusion, we strive to maximise and encourage every individual’s potential and ensure everyone feels valued. We support this through our Diversity Board, D&I  strategy & training, creating more diverse content and our intern and apprenticeship programmes.  We also have 8 employee-led networks; Cultural Diversity, News is Out, GenZ, Sustainability Champions, News for Parents, Women in Tech, News UK Christian Fellowship and we are awaiting the launch of our Women’s Steering Group. 

We take pride in looking after our amazing talent at News UK supporting the Health and Wellbeing of our staff. We offer private medical insurance covering pre-existing conditions, discounted gym memberships, ClassPass at Home, weekly virtual HIIT, yoga and run club classes, and a ‘Bikes for Work’ scheme, as well as offering opportunities for physio/massage, counselling and legal support. 

In addition we also offer:

• A generous pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 5%;

• 30 days holiday and up to 4 volunteering days per year;

• Maternity leave up to 18 weeks full basic salary & paternity leave up to 2 weeks;

• Wide range of training available, plus full LinkedIn Learning access.

We want to ensure that everyone we meet has the opportunity to perform to their best when interviewing, so feel free to let us know, at any stage, whether you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, and we will do our best to accommodate.