Head of Market Research | AI-Native Research (Remote US/EU)
•Mazedesign· 1d
🏷️ Data Science⏰ Full-time👔 Executive💰 $220k-260k🇺🇸 USA
1d ago
Smallpdf·5 months ago
Smallpdf was founded in 2013 with one simple belief: working with documents shouldn’t be complicated. Today, we’re an industry leader in digital document solutions, trusted by millions of users across 195+ countries. We build intuitive, powerful tools that help individuals and businesses work smarter with their documents. From compressing and converting files to editing and e-signing, our platform makes complex document workflows simple, secure, and accessible.
As a product-led company headquartered in Switzerland and powered by a diverse, global team of 110+ people (across the group), we combine product excellence with a strong focus on user experience, data-driven decision-making and continuous innovation. We operate at the intersection of simplicity and performance, building scalable solutions that power everyday productivity for individuals and businesses alike. Our team is driven by ownership, experimentation and a shared commitment to delivering meaningful impact at scale.
Smallpdf is hiring a Head of SEO to own and execute our global organic search strategy. Reporting to our new VP of Growth, the Head of SEO will manage the SEO team, set and prioritize the SEO roadmap based on expected growth in qualified traffic and new ARR, and partner closely with Product and Engineering to ship key initiatives. You’ll also help shape our organic content strategy, improve our visibility in AI search/LLMs, and build a structured experimentation program to learn quickly and drive repeatable gains.
This role is for someone who can operate at both strategic and tactical levels: define direction, align stakeholders, and deliver measurable results via strong execution - including getting your hands dirty with the details.
The ideal candidate is highly data-driven and analytical, but able to find creative new opportunities for organic growth.
Lead Smallpdf’s global SEO program (technical, on-page, content, off-page) to grow organic visibility, relevant traffic, and new ARR from search, while improving discoverability in LLMs and AI-driven search.
Manage and mentor a team of 3-6 full-time and freelance SEO specialists. Set goals, development plans, and operating cadence (ideation, planning, execution, measurement and reviews). Foster a culture of rapid, high-quality execution and continuous learning.
Partner with the Head of Marketing to drive brand visibility in AI Search / LLMs.
Own Smallpdf’s SEO roadmap, linking priorities to: A) business outcomes (e.g. new ARR), B) SEO metrics (e.g. rankings, traffic, backlinks), and C) LLMO metrics (e.g. brand visibility, citations, mentions).
Collaborate strongly with Product and Engineering to execute our SEO roadmap.
Align stakeholders across the Leadership team, Marketing, and Product and Engineering to ensure SEO and LLMO priorities are properly understood and resourced. Report back on results with clear data, action plan, and asks.
Design, implement and iterate experiments to improve SEO performance at a rigorous pace. Build a standard operating procedure for SEO experiments including hypothesis, prioritization, measurement, rollout and reporting.
Help shape Smallpdf’s content strategy to align with SEO and LLMO opportunities. Provide input on optimizing content operations (target keywords, content templates, refresh cycles, competitive research) to expand our organic footprint while maintaining quality.
Define and track SEO KPIs, running recurring audits and monitoring to ensure we remain on-track and mitigate risk.
6–10 years of SEO experience including technical SEO, on-page, content, and off-page (ideally 2+ years in product-led SaaS)
2+ years leading a team, with a track record of developing high-performing SEO contributors
Strong knowledge of modern search ranking systems and quality guidelines, with a track record of maintaining performance through algorithm updates
Experience adapting SEO for AI-driven discovery (LLMO/AI search optimization)
Understanding of technical SEO and LLMO including crawling and indexation, internal linking and information architecture, performance (CWV), structured data, etc.
Strong analytical and decision-making skills, with an experimental mindset and ability to ship iteratively with constrained resources before scaling what works
Hands-on with core SEO tools (Google Search Console, Ahrefs, etc.) and comfortable collaborating with Data Analytics team as needed
Clear communicator (written and verbal), able to align stakeholders and explain tradeoffs
Ability to both “zoom out” to the level of overall company strategy and also “zoom in” to the level of tactical details, while adjusting approach quickly as needed based on data and landscape shifts
Experience in international, programmatic, and product-led SEO
Becoming part of our team means more than just taking a job—it’s joining a dynamic, collaborative environment where your voice matters, your growth is championed, and your work truly makes a difference.
Here, we don’t just talk about a growth mindset—we live it. You’ll thrive in a culture that balances professional ambition with personal well-being, where flexibility, creativity, and purpose come together. Whether you're shaping the future through groundbreaking projects or leveling up your skills, your journey here will be one of impact, innovation, and continuous learning. This reflects in our company values.
🌍 You get to impact the way over 60 million people get work done every month.
🚀 Push boundaries and dare to fail—that’s how we learn!
💻 Enjoy the flexibility of a remote work environment, and meet your team occasionally to work together and strengthen the team bond.
🏝️ 30 vacation days—yep, you read that right—that you can take whenever you need them.
🧳 Need a long break? We offer sabbatical leave to employees who’ve been with us for over 2 years.
👶 16 weeks parental leave—100% of your salary—for all new parents
📚 A personal development budget of up to 2000CHF every year, plus days off for courses or training.
🤓 Internal knowledge sharing and external coaching options during your working hours to boost both your hard and soft skills.
👩💻 Hack days to challenge you and your team, plus build amazing things.
Please apply using the form below and upload your CV - in English, as it’s the standard working language at Smallpdf. A PDF format is preferred.
At Smallpdf, we believe compensation should be fair, transparent and thoughtfully aligned with the value each person brings to our team. Our approach balances several key factors - current market trends, role expectations, seniority, experience, and geographic location - to ensure every offer is both competitive and equitable.
We review our salary ranges regularly to stay in step with the evolving market, and we make decisions based on skills, impact, and responsibility rather than negotiation strength. Our goal is simple: to recognize and reward great work, support long-term growth and create a compensation structure that feels fair, consistent and grounded in integrity.
We want everyone at Smallpdf to feel valued, supported and empowered to do their best work - and our compensation philosophy is designed to reflect exactly that.
Smallpdf is an equal-opportunity employer, and we believe our strength comes from a team that reflects a wide range of backgrounds, identities, perspectives, and lived experiences. We welcome applicants of all genders, ethnicities, ages, abilities, orientations, and life paths. You’ll also have the option to share your pronouns and answer an anonymous demographic questionnaire when you apply. This information is completely voluntary, but it helps us stay accountable in building an inclusive and equitable hiring process.
We use AI thoughtfully in our day-to-day work, but we value human curiosity, creativity, and integrity above all. We’re excited to meet candidates who bring genuine expertise, real stories, and authentic experience to the table.
