SEO PR Specialist

About the job

As the SEO PR Specialist, you will earn Catena Media coverage and links across the US media landscape. Reporting to the SEO Off-Page Team Lead, you will turn our data, our analysts, the legislative agenda and the American sports calendar into stories national, regional and industry journalists actually want to publish - and that build the authority our brands need to rank. The remit is broad: bringing new legislation and regulation to a wider audience, organizing interviews with industry leaders, and partnering with industry associations, advocacy groups, publishers and operators on the topics that matter in our markets. Sports will be a big part of the job, but far from all of it. This is a role for someone who already has the contacts, knows what lands on a news desk, and understands the difference between a placement that looks good in a coverage report and one that moves the needle in search.

YOUR CHALLENGE:

• Plan and deliver the digital PR calendar across our US brands, mapped against the legislative and regulatory calendar, major industry events, and the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL seasons

• Turn legislation and regulation into stories: explain new bills, state launches, court rulings and regulatory changes across online casino, sweepstakes, sports betting and prediction markets for national, regional and trade audiences

• Organize interviews with industry leaders, from operator executives to policymakers and analysts, and turn them into coverage, features and expert content

• Partner with industry associations, advocacy groups, publishers and operators on joint research, campaigns and commentary across the topics that matter in our markets

• Develop data-led story angles from proprietary and public data: state handle and revenue figures, market and player trends, odds movement, and original survey research

• Pitch directly to journalists, editors and producers across national and regional news, business and policy desks, sports media, gaming trade press, and podcasts

• Build, maintain and grow a working network of media relationships, and be the person the team comes to when we need a story placed quickly

• Position Catena Media’s writers and analysts as expert sources on legalization, regulation and the US gaming market, and manage inbound media requests

• Run the reactive newsroom: monitor breaking regulatory, industry and sports news and turn commentary around while the story is still live

• Commission and brief the assets a campaign needs - data pulls, visuals, landing pages - working with content, design and analytics

• Manage press release drafting, wire distribution and syndication where it genuinely adds value, and recognize when it doesn’t

• Secure placements that carry SEO value, and be able to make the case for a followed, in-context link when negotiating with a publisher

• Monitor unlinked brand mentions and convert them into links where possible

• Work with the Off-Page Specialist to align campaign targets, target pages and anchor text with the wider off-page plan

• Track and report on coverage volume, link quality, referring domains, share of voice and brand mentions, and feed the results back into the next campaign

• Ensure all outreach and coverage meets responsible gambling, state-level advertising and affiliate disclosure requirements

• Support campaigns in new markets as the team’s remit grows

• Any other ad hoc tasks which may be assigned by management from time to time

TO DO IT, YOU WILL NEED:

• 4+ years experience in digital PR, media relations or communications, in-house or agency side

• An established network of US journalist and editor contacts across news, business, policy and sports desks and the gaming trade press, with placements you personally secured that you can point to

• A clear understanding of the compliance sensitivities of promoting gambling products in the US, and the judgment to know where the lines are

• Strong working knowledge of the US gaming landscape across online casino, sweepstakes, sports betting and prediction markets: state-by-state regulation, the legislative process, the major operators and the industry bodies that shape the debate

• A natural instinct for what makes a story, whether it starts in a state legislature, a boardroom or a stadium, paired with the discipline to check whether the data actually supports it

• Comfortable with data analysis, survey design and data storytelling

• Understanding of how PR creates SEO value - link quality, anchor text, followed versus nofollowed links, and why placement on the page matters

• Experience with media databases and monitoring tools such as Muck Rack, Cision, Prowly or Roxhill, alongside SEO tools such as Ahrefs

• Exceptional written English, with a natural command of US news, business and sports idiom

• Comfortable balancing shifting priorities while under deadline, maintaining attention to detail

• Able to work US business hours and flex around the news and sports calendar, including occasional evening and weekend moments around major events and legislative deadlines

• Direct experience doing PR for an online gambling, sports betting or affiliate business (strongly preferred)

• Experience with broadcast or podcast placements (advantage)

• Experience working with industry associations, advocacy groups or public affairs teams on policy-led campaigns (advantage)

• Experience running creator or influencer partnerships alongside traditional media (advantage)