The Kyiv Independent – Ukraine’s biggest English language publication is looking to fill a SEO manager position.

The Kyiv Independent is Ukraine’s main English-language news outlet. It was founded in November 2021 by a team of reporters and editors who were fired from the Kyiv Post for defending editorial independence, in partnership with a media consultancy company Jnomics. Today it’s a team of around 50 people based mostly in Kyiv. Publishing in English, we serve as the bridge between Ukraine and the world, delivering reliable news, context, and on-the-ground reporting.

The SEO Manager will be the engineering team's primary liaison regarding SEO-related features and fixes. They will act as a stakeholder within the marketing team, ensuring that SEO requirements are integrated and overseeing these features/fixes throughout the product lifecycle. In addition, you will facilitate communication between the SEO Strategy Advisor and the marketing, product, engineering, and editorial teams to gather and organize internal SEO knowledge and foster internal SEO expertise.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and expand specifications for SEO-related features and fixes for the product/engineering teams while incorporating input from the SEO Strategy Advisor;
• Manage the implementation of SEO features and fixes throughout their lifecycle, ensuring adherence to SEO acceptance criteria;
• Monitor the site's daily performance and coordinate developing and enhancing SEO monitoring tools to maintain organic rankings and facilitate further growth;
• Monitor the site for SEO black-hat attacks, such as backlink spam and link injections;
• Regularly monitor the site's backlinks, collaborating with the Editorial team to devise strategies for improvement;
• Enhance and streamline SEO reporting and dashboards for various stakeholders, including the SEO and executive teams;
• Collaborate with the Engineering and QA teams to develop SEO QA Automation, ensuring the site's consistent performance and absence of critical SEO-related bugs;
• Coordinate the development of evergreen content, working with the editorial team to devise a content plan and ensure compliance with on-page SEO requirements;
• Supervise editorial team to ensure news content aligns with SEO best practices and promptly address any content-related issues;
• Conduct regular site crawls and coordinate the implementation of SEO-related fixes and improvements;
• Develop or oversee the development of SEO automation tools, utilizing ChatGPT and other AI tools along with existing SEO-related Python libraries;
• Monitor key competitors and analyze the effects of changes in the competitive landscape.

Requirements:

• Minimum of 2 years of experience managing SEO for news or e-commerce websites;
• Proficiency in English, equivalent to at least a С1 level (B2 can be considered in some cases);
• A fundamental understanding of programming languages, particularly Python, would be a significant advantage;
• Knowledge of Frontend technologies from an SEO perspective, with a preference for a background in frontend engineering;
• Strong understanding of HTML/CSS from an SEO standpoint.

We offer:

• Market-level compensation;
• Working with a young and highly motivated team for an award-winning media startup;
• Busy but flexible work schedule;
• Ability to build your team and hire;
• The ability to work remotely upon agreement;
• Work with foreign companies and world opinion leaders.

Note: It’s a full-time position in the Kyiv office or remote (upon agreement).

Thanks for taking the time to apply to work with the Kyiv Independent. If you are among the qualified candidates, you will receive an email from a member of our hiring team to schedule an interview.

Please note that while we would like to meet with all applicants, we may not have the opportunity to do so due to the volume of applications we receive.