Digital Marketing Graduate

About Auto Trader

You’ve probably heard of Auto Trader, but do you know what we’re all about?  

We’re the UK’s leading automotive marketplace, a heritage brand, and a tech darling of the stock market. We bring together vehicle buyers and sellers to give them real choices. Cars may be what we're best known for but we’re also the place for pretty much everything else on wheels, from e-bikes to caravans. 

In the automotive world, change is a constant, that’s why we take our job of untangling the complex car-buying journey very seriously. 
 
At our core, we’re all about people. We go our own way while embracing diversity and celebrating our differences. We dedicate ourselves to the idea that we work better together. 

Auto Trader is a beautiful, surprising and vibrant place to work. We might not be for everyone, but we could be perfect for you. 

About the Job 

Our marketing team's purpose is to make sure that our products and services meet customer needs while driving revenue growth. We achieve this growth through promotion, building brand awareness, and engaging with the target audience.

As a SEO & Digital Marketing Graduate, you'll combine creativity with data-driven insights to make a tangible impact on our marketing campaigns. You’ll collaborate closely with the SEO team to boost organic traffic to the Auto Trader website, improve search engine rankings, and enhance our online visibility seeing first hand how small adjustments can lead to significant results.

You’ll have the opportunity to be part of every phase of our award-winning digital PR campaigns from ideation to delivery. You'll contribute to building high-value backlinks, strengthening our brand, and shaping innovative campaigns that earn industry recognition. As you develop your skills, you’ll learn to use targeted keywords and optimise engaging content, turning visitors into customers.

You’ll also support the content team with article ideation and creation for our website, contributing to developing engaging content that engages users and improves rankings. You’ll work closely with our SEO experts to refine the website, optimise metadata, and resolve technical issues that could hinder our search engine rankings. This practical experience will deepen your understanding of how technical SEO enhances search visibility and improves the user experience on our site.

Other areas you'll have the chance to explore with our digital marketing team include PPC (pay-per-click advertising), paid social media marketing, affiliate marketing (such as partnerships with cashback sites), and display advertising (marketing banners or content featured on other websites). Throughout your 2-year programme with us, you'll have the opportunity to collaborate with experienced professionals and deepen your knowledge of these topics. You'll also have the chance to attend industry-leading conferences, further expanding your knowledge.

Our graduate programme starts in October 2025.

What we're looking for 

• Recent graduate (or graduating in 2025) in any degree discipline, or hold a level 6 qualification, with a passion for marketing, by 'recent,' we mean within the last five years
• Understanding and interest in digital marketing and be able to explain how that might have led to personal/university projects or any work experiences
• Creative and strong communicator, able to engage with different audiences and interested in consumer behaviours and buying psychology
• Comfortable analysing numbers and drawing insights from them - conversion rates, engagement, or return on investment (ROI)
• As a digital business, we're constantly evolving, so the ability to adapt to an ever-changing landscape is a must   
• Our marketing community values collaboration and teamwork, and you'll be eager to learn from the people you work with and embrace the opportunities on offer
• You might believe that a passion for cars is a requirement, but guess what? It’s not! At Auto Trader, you’re welcome just as you are

We believe every candidate brings a unique blend of talents. If you find yourself ticking some, but not all, of the requirement boxes, we'd love to hear from you.

To help you submit your best application, you can check out our application top tips video here.

Auto Trader's Graduate Academy 

Our graduate programme is designed to fast-track your career and develop your skills. It’s a 2-year programme with a permanent role from day one. Your journey starts with a 6-week Academy Foundation alongside other graduates, learning about our company, culture, products and customers. You'll then focus on your specific role while working on practical projects as a cohort, with support from mentors, your dedicated line manager and the Early Careers team. For full details, visit our early careers blog here

Benefits and more

We’re offering a salary of £26,500, plus an additional 10% of your salary awarded to you in shares each year. These awarded shares will become yours in yearly instalments over the next three years, and you can choose to either sell them or keep them as shares. And you'll receive 29 days holiday, plus bank holidays and comprehensive private medical cover. 

That’s not all. We have employee pension contributions up to 7%, enhanced family leave provisions, a car salary sacrifice scheme, share-save options, and much more. 

We always want to give you the support you need and help prioritise your wellbeing, that’s why we provide access to 24/7 online GP and dentist, as well as specialist support for assisted fertility, gender dysphoria, menopause, period care plans and lots more.  

On top of all that, our hybrid model, Connected Working, combines the best of both worlds – office and home working. You’ll have two fixed weekly office days for team collaboration and one more of your choice to suit your work-life balance.  

Additionally, during July and August, along with two weeks in December, we have our remote first periods. During these times, you can work remotely, whether that's from another location in the UK or even from certain locations abroad.