Director, SEO

Here at Rakuten Kobo Inc. we offer a casual working start-up environment and a group of friendly and talented individuals. Our employees rank us highly in terms of commitment to work/life balance. We realize that for our people to be innovative, creative and passionate they need to have healthy minds and bodies. We believe in rewarding all our employees with competitive salaries, performance based annual bonuses, stock options and training opportunities.

If you’re looking for a company that inspires passion, personal, and professional growth – join Kobo and come help us make reading lives better.

The position has the ability to be 100% remote.

The Role:
Rakuten Kobo Inc. is looking for a data-driven thought leader to direct global SEO, as Director, SEO on our Digital Marketing Team. Growth marketing efforts at Kobo advance at an incredible pace and we pride ourselves on using the latest digital strategies to deliver ongoing value for the organization. Our team’s core objectives are to drive global customer acquisition directly through the Kobo website and apps.

Reporting to the Vice President, Digital Marketing, the Director, SEO holds a prominent position creating the SEO vision and roadmap, directing an internal team to execute on highly effective, end-to-end SEO strategies. They will own organic traffic and revenue KPIs across all geographies and business verticals, including a-la-carte eBooks, audiobooks, and our subscription products. This role demands an individual with exceptional organizational, communication, interpersonal, leadership qualities, along with deep subject matter expertise in organic search.

As the Director, SEO, you will play an integral role in shaping the future of Rakuten Kobo’s long-term growth and profitability by developing and refining organic growth strategies. You will set the strategic direction and gain more momentum for sustainable growth in almost every country across the world by developing, leading, and executing on your SEO roadmap. You will partner closely with colleagues in product, engineering, big data/analytics, performance marketing and more to deliver on your vision, so cross-functional collaboration is critical to success in this role.

The Person:
You have a proven track record for success in building growth in organic rankings and acquisition, along with an excellent understanding of technical SEO.

You’re excited by the idea of running an SEO department like clockwork, using transformational leadership to direct, manage, and support a team of technical developers.

You are a trusted strategic leader with the ability to see big picture, communicate your vision, build a clear roadmap, and execute on objectives.

You are action-oriented, working in the trenches and leading your team from the front.

You are growth obsessed and love to take accountability for your wins and losses, figuring out how to solve problems instead of who to blame.

You identify as a self-starter and thrive in a high-velocity environment where you can be resourceful to find solutions independently.

Your finger is always on the pulse because you’re fascinated by emerging digital marketing strategies, especially in SEO, ASO, and organic growth levers. You have a strong understanding of performance digital marketing channels and how SEO/SEM work together.

You are a trusted authority in your current role. You are calm, collected, confident, and decisive in your leadership and in advocating core systems. You actively encourage your team to think critically, be resourceful, continuously learn, and drive maximum performance.

You will be responsible for:
Designing, growing, and continually optimizing Kobo’s global technical SEO strategy, with a focus on scaling across multiple geographies and languages.

Creating and managing a data-driven SEO roadmap for feature and content development.

Owning organic growth KPIs and delivering on advanced SEO strategies to meet or exceed them.

Leading and managing a team of SEO developers to deliver iteratively on results.

Implementing best practices for experimentation frameworks and reporting methodology for both granular and strategic top-level analyses.

Partnering with the paid acquisition team for a 360-degree approach to balance acquisition costs and results, to achieve efficient growth at a global scale with an integrated campaign strategy.

Close collaboration with product on roadmap development, evaluation, execution, and reporting.

Leveraging advanced analytics to support rapid decision-making and uncover new growth opportunities.

Full reign to innovate globally on end-to-end organic growth strategies across a wide range of technical, on-and-off page SEO tasks and functions. In a given month, for example, your team might launch new features to boost semantic richness, drive investigations into Google algorithm changes, and discover opportunities to generate programmatic pages at scale across multiple geographies.

The Skillset Required:
5+ years of experience in SEO management.

Direct experience in highly competitive, international, or complex SEO projects, preferably for e-commerce companies.

A proven track record of leading and managing an organic search team.

Deep understanding of search engine algorithms and result features, understanding of performance digital marketing and paid search in relation to organic search.

Fundamental understanding of underlying product technologies (HTML, CSS, JS).

Sharp project management skills, ability to proactively control and manage your time and your team’s capacity. Understanding of product management strategies.

Strong analytical/structured problem-solving skills, including experience mining large data sets and coaching teams on these skills.

Detail-oriented, highly motivated with an outstanding work ethic.

Strong business acumen with proficient knowledge of online measurement and key performance indicators.

Experience working with developers, product managers and cross-functional teams.

Strong analytical, critical thinking and organizational skills.

Exceptional communication skills, both written and oral presentation.

ASO experience is an asset.

SQL, Python skills are assets.

The Perks:
Flexible and remote working environment

Full benefits starting from your first day

Paid Volunteer days, unlimited sick days, and 3% RRSP matching

Monthly commuting allowance and internet allowance

Flexible health spending account

Talent and development training budget

Free Kobo device + free weekly e-book or audiobook

Weekly Kobo Tech University sessions

Maternity/paternity leave top up

About Rakuten Kobo Inc.

Owned by Tokyo-based Rakuten and headquartered in Toronto, Rakuten Kobo Inc. is one of the most advanced global e-commerce companies, with the world’s most innovative eReading services offering more than 6 million eBooks and audiobooks to 30 million + customers in 190 countries. Kobo delivers the best digital reading experience through creative innovation, award-winning eReaders, and top-ranking mobile apps. Kobo is a part of the Rakuten group of companies.

Rakuten Kobo Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Accessibility accommodations for candidates with disabilities participating in the selection process are available on request. Any information received related to accommodation needs of applicants will be addressed confidentially. Rakuten Kobo would like to thank all applicants for their interest in this role however only qualified candidates will be shortlisted.