Lead Audience & Discovery Strategist - #2193942

Footballco creates more football content, across more platforms & languages than anyone else, reaching over 700 million football fans across the world each month. Our consumer brands include GOAL, FanZone, Front Three, Beast Mode On Podcast, INDIVISA and many more – no one else has our reach or depth of understanding within the game. We’re a company with over 300 employees globally engaging a huge audience (our channels generate over 2 billion video views a month) and we work with exciting partners in the UK, US and around the world.

About the Role

The Lead Audience and Discovery Strategist directs how audiences find and engage with published content and sports data. This role owns the top-of-funnel growth strategy, optimising content discovery across search, social, and news aggregators. A core objective is to drive high-volume, high-intent inbound traffic to fuel affiliate revenue engines, with a strong emphasis on capturing audiences at every stage of the conversion funnel.

What you’ll be doing:

• Discovery Strategy: Develop and execute a comprehensive audience acquisition strategy encompassing technical and editorial SEO, Google Discover, Apple News, and other algorithm-driven platforms.
• AI & Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO): Pioneer our GEO strategy to ensure content remains highly visible and frequently cited within AI-driven search experiences and LLM platforms. Adapt content structures and provide guidance to capture traffic from the evolving AI search landscape.
• Commercial & Affiliate Alignment: Analyse audience behaviour to identify high-converting segments. Support the affiliate team by tailoring discovery strategies to drive middle-and bottom-of-the-funnel traffic, capturing users with high commercial intent to boost conversions.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner directly with editorial, video, and product teams to ensure all content is optimised for search intent and maximum discoverability from the moment of creation.
• Data & Insights Leadership: Establish core audience KPIs, build reporting dashboards, and translate complex data into actionable, everyday insights for content creators and key stakeholders
• Trend & Algorithm Agility: Monitor search and social algorithm updates in real-time, proactively pivoting strategies to protect baseline traffic and capitalise on new growth opportunities.
• Social & Video Optimisation: Support the video and social teams by sharing discovery best practices, ensuring multimedia assets are fully optimised for native platform algorithms (e.g., YouTube, TikTok) to maximise organic reach, engagement, and cross-platform referral traffic.

What you have:

• Proven senior-level experience in audience development, SEO, or digital growth strategy within a digital publishing, media, or sports environment.
• A strong track record of successfully scaling inbound traffic via search engines, Google Discover, and news aggregators.
• Deep understanding of the user journey and conversion funnel, with experience driving traffic that supports affiliate marketing or commercial revenue goals.
• Comprehensive understanding of social media algorithms (e.g., TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook, YouTube), with proven experience adapting content and optimisation strategies to maximize reach and engagement on each unique platform.
• Expert analytical skills and proficiency with data platforms (e.g., Google Analytics, Search Console, social listening tools), with a genuine desire to interrogate data and deliver actionable insights to stakeholders.
• Strong capability in analyzing large, complex datasets to uncover audience behaviors and trends, translating raw metrics into clear, actionable insights that guide editorial and commercial decision-making.
• Strong ability to communicate complex algorithmic shifts and technical SEO concepts to non-technical editorial and video teams.
• Excellent project management skills and the ability to collaborate effectively across multiple departments and disciplines.
• Agility and proactivity; the ability to think creatively to resolve roadblocks and pivot strategies quickly in a fast-paced digital landscape.

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous experience working closely with affiliate, commercial, or performance marketing teams.
• Strong knowledge of video SEO and social media platform algorithms.
• Experience operating within the sports, betting, ticketing, or finance verticals.

Footballco is proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, colour, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or any other protected category.