Remote Performance Marketing Lead: SEO & Google Ads

Location: Remote (South Africa, UK Hours)

Salary: $1,600–$2000 per month

Application Deadline: 31st August

About Catalyst

Catalyst Marketing is a UK-based performance marketing agency helping ambitious local service businesses become regional market leaders.

We work with dental clinics, kitchen showrooms, home improvement companies and specialist service businesses across the UK.

We're looking for an experienced Search specialist to own the organic and paid search strategy and execution across our client portfolio.

This is a strategic performance marketing position for someone who understands how SEO and Google Ads work together to drive measurable business growth.

The Role

You'll be responsible for creating and owning the SEO and Google Ads strategy for a portfolio of clients. Working alongside our Account Managers, content writers and technical SEO developers, you'll decide what needs to happen, prioritise the work, ensure it's executed to a high standard, and continually refine the strategy based on performance.

You'll occasionally join client meetings as the SEO and Google Ads expert when required, but your primary focus will be building strategies that generate more enquiries, better leads and long-term growth.

If SEO is the right answer, we'll invest in SEO. If Google Ads will generate results faster, we'll prioritise paid search. Most of the time, it's about finding the right balance between the two.

What You'll Be Doing

Your work will include:

SEO

• Developing monthly SEO roadmaps

• Creating SEO strategies for local service businesses

• Keyword and competitor research

• Content planning and content strategy

• Reviewing and improving content before publication

• Running technical SEO audits

• Identifying technical improvements and implementing smaller fixes where appropriate

• Briefing our technical SEO developers on larger recommendations

• Local SEO optimisation, including Google Business Profile strategy

• Internal linking strategies

• Planning authority-building and link acquisition strategies

Google Ads

• Building and refining Google Ads strategies

• Managing Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns

• Keyword research and account expansion

• Campaign structure planning

• Budget allocation and bid strategy recommendations

• Search term analysis and optimisation

• Landing page recommendations

• Performance reviews and ongoing optimisation

Performance

• Monitoring rankings, traffic, conversions and lead quality

• Identifying opportunities across both paid and organic search

• Using insights from one channel to improve the other

• Researching AI search developments and adapting strategies accordingly

We're looking for someone with:

• 3–5+ years' experience in SEO and Google Ads

• Strong Local SEO experience

• Experience managing Google Ads campaigns

• Excellent understanding of Technical SEO

• Confidence building SEO and PPC strategies from scratch

• Strong keyword research and competitor analysis skills

• Excellent on-page SEO knowledge

• Confidence interpreting GA4 and Google Ads data

• Ability to work independently and take ownership

AI Search & The Future of Search

Search is changing quickly, and so are we.

We're looking for someone with a strong understanding of how AI is changing search, including:

• AI Overviews

• How businesses can improve visibility beyond traditional rankings

Local SEO remains a core part of what we do, but we want someone who's actively learning and adapting as search evolves.

Experience with the following is highly desirable:

• Google Ads

• Google Analytics 4 (GA4)

• Google Search Console

• Google Business Profile

• Ahrefs

• GoHighLevel

• Sitebulb

• Screaming Frog

• Looker Studio

• WordPress

The Type of Person Who Will Thrive Here

• Self-motivated

• Naturally curious

• Commercially minded

• Process-driven

• Detail-oriented

• Comfortable taking ownership

• Confident making strategic decisions

• Enjoys solving problems

• Works well with developers, content writers and Account Managers

• Excited by the future of search and performance marketing

If you're the type of person who's always testing new strategies, exploring new tools, and looking for ways to improve performance, you'll fit in well here.

Why Join Catalyst?

We're building a performance marketing agency focused on doing exceptional work for local service businesses.

You'll have the opportunity to shape how we approach both SEO and paid search, work alongside a team that values quality over quantity, and play a key role in the growth of both our clients and the agency.

As Catalyst grows, there will be opportunities to take on greater strategic responsibility and help shape the future direction of our performance marketing team.