Full-Time SEO Content Operations Manager for Melbourne-Based Digital Marketing Agency

Position Overview
We're a growing Melbourne-based SEO and digital marketing agency hiring an experienced Content Operations Manager to lead our content production across 11 active client accounts.

This is not a junior coordinator role or a full-time writing role. You'll own the workflow end-to-end — keyword assignment, content briefing, writer management, quality assurance, publishing coordination, indexation, and post-publish checks. You'll lead writers, VAs, and publishers, maintain clear deadlines and quality standards, resolve day-to-day blockers, and help improve how our content operation runs.

This role requires both editorial judgement and operational execution. You need to keep work moving, maintain accurate task records and raise risks before deadlines are missed.

Why This Role Is Worth Your Time
This isn't "figure it out yourself" work — you'll have access to a world-class SEO system and SOP library, with structured workflows, templates, checklists, and QA standards for every stage of the pipeline. On top of that, you'll get:
Full-time, long-term remote work
Direct communication with the agency owner
Real day-to-day leadership responsibility across writers, VAs, and publishers
The authority to improve systems and hold the team accountable
All required tools and access provided from day one
A formal performance and pay review at 60–90 days
An ongoing quarterly performance bonus structure — details discussed with the successful candidate
A genuine path into broader SEO and operations leadership

What You'll Own

Content Planning + Briefs
Review assigned keywords, existing pages, and project requirements before production begins.
Confirm whether each task requires new content, a landing page, or an on-page SEO upgrade.
Build detailed SEO content briefs — search intent, structure, required topics, metadata, internal links, acceptance criteria.
Flag potentially misclassified work or unclear scope to the agency owner rather than changing it without approval.

Production + Team Leadership
Assign work to writers, VAs, and publishers with clear owners, deadlines, and acceptance criteria.
Maintain a visible production pipeline in Asana; monitor progress and resolve or escalate blockers early.
Give direct, actionable feedback and confirm revisions are completed correctly.
Coach team members when standards aren't being met; escalate recurring performance issues.
Create accountability without micromanaging capable team members.

Editorial, SEO + Final QA
Complete CM review after the assistant’s first-pass checks.
Assess factual accuracy, search intent, clarity, structure, brief adherence and conversion goals.
Confirm correct title tags, H1s, meta descriptions, headings, internal links, and CTAs.
Enforce retrieval-friendly formatting — direct answers, scannable sections, tables where they genuinely help.
Use originality and AI-detection tools as quality signals, applying human editorial judgement on top.
Rewrite small sections when necessary, without becoming the primary writer.

Publishing + Definition of Done
Prepare clear WordPress handoffs — URLs, metadata, links, schema, images, layout.
Review staging and live pages for formatting, links, mobile usability, and canonical setup.
Request indexing in Google Search Console and monitor for issues.
A deliverable is done when it's published, accessible, quality-checked, internally linked, schema-checked, submitted for indexing, and tracked.

Client Approvals + Reporting
Consolidate client feedback into one actionable revision request; prevent conflicting instructions and unnecessary cycles.
Distinguish between corrections, reasonable revisions, and requests that change approved scope — escalate scope changes before assigning more work.
Report weekly on production volume, completed work, overdue items, blockers, and quality issues.
Ensure documentation, indexing requests and post-publication checks are completed and tracked.

Our assistant supports initial QA, visual assets and documentation. Writers handle drafting and substantial rewrites; the developer handles publishing. You own coordination and final checks within the agreed approval process.

Workload
You'll manage content operations across 11 active clients, with a baseline of 4–6 deliverables per client each month (40–66 total). Work includes new service/landing pages, supporting SEO content (often ~4,000 words per client), on-page SEO upgrades, and metadata/internal-linking/schema tasks. You're responsible for pipeline and quality — you won't personally write all deliverables.

You’ll have templates, SOPs, checklists, client fact sheets, tools and onboarding support. Responsibility will expand in stages as you demonstrate accuracy, sound judgement and reliable delivery.

What Success Looks Like (First 60–90 Days)
You can independently run the 11-client content pipeline.
The asana dashboard accurately reflects status, owner, deadline, and blocker for every deliverable.
40–66 monthly deliverables move through production without anything lost or forgotten.
Final QA is consistent and catches issues before publication.
Client approvals are organised with minimal unnecessary revision cycles.
Published pages are checked, internally linked, submitted for indexing, and tracked.
You raise risks before they become missed deadlines and recommend practical system improvements.

Must-Haves
Please apply only if you have:
Excellent written and spoken English
Proven experience managing SEO content production in an agency environment
Experience leading writers, editors, VAs, or publishers
Previous professional SEO writing or editing experience — you won't write day-to-day, but you need to know what good content looks like to QA it properly
Strong knowledge of search intent and on-page SEO
Excellent editorial judgement and attention to detail
Confidence managing multiple clients, deadlines, and team members
The ability to give clear feedback and maintain accountability
Experience following structured systems while improving them
Reliable internet, a suitable full-time remote setup, and some availability overlapping Australian Eastern Time
Practical Asana experience: You must confidently manage tasks, subtasks, custom fields, stages, owners, deadlines, comments and time records. You’ll demonstrate this in a paid assessment.

Nice-to-Haves
WordPress publishing and live-page QA
Google Search Console and indexation workflows
Schema requirements and validation
Internal-linking strategy
Surfer or similar content optimisation tools
Grammarly and Originality.ai
ChatGPT, Claude, or other AI-assisted workflows
Content structured for AI retrieval and answer engines
Legal, real estate, or healthcare client experience

Who Will Succeed in This Role
You're likely to succeed if you:
Take ownership without waiting to be chased
Communicate problems early
Can lead a remote team firmly and respectfully
Notice small errors before clients do
Understand the difference between activity and completed delivery
Protect approved scope while keeping work moving
Balance SEO requirements with reader value and conversion goals
Stay organised when many deliverables are active at once
This role won't suit someone who wants to focus mainly on writing, needs daily task-by-task supervision, or avoids difficult performance conversations.

Tools We Use
Asana, Google Drive, WordPress, Google Search Console, Surfer (or equivalent), Grammarly, Originality.ai, ChatGPT, Claude. You don't need experience with every tool if you can demonstrate mastery of the underlying workflow.
Compensation and Working Arrangement
US$12-15 per hour to start, full-time, 40 hours/week
Paid fortnightly or monthly, your preference
Quarterly performance bonus structure — details discussed with the successful candidate
Flexible schedule with agreed AEST overlap
All required tools and access provided
Long-term, permanent remote position

How to Apply
Start your application with the words BLUE MANAGER. Applications without this will not be considered.
Then complete our screening form: ---------- /?k=5DW57EJsxaoBV1F2IRMQ4g&d= ---------- We will only review candidates who submit the completed form.

Hiring Process
Application and screening-form review
5-minute intro call — communication and fit
15-minute interview including a live QA exercise.
Paid practical exercise — realistic agency work, scoped to 60–90 minutes
Assessment debrief and reference checks.
A defined paid working trial before the ongoing appointment decision.

This is a permanent, full-time role. We're ready to hire as soon as we find the right person.