SEO & Backlinks Manager — Ongoing Monthly Retainer (Healthcare/Aligner Brand)

We're Aalto, a clear aligner company operating across Australia, NZ, and the US. We pair general dentists with specialist orthodontist oversight on every case, supported by AI remote monitoring. We're looking for someone to own our SEO and backlink strategy on an ongoing monthly basis, not a one off audit, an actual long term partner. What we need: Backlink building through real outreach, guest posts, and digital PR, no PBNs, no spammy directories, no link farms. We've been burned by low quality work before and will check your portfolio and sample links carefully. On-page and technical SEO improvements across our site (Shopify-based, multiple country/market pages, AU, NZ, US). Keyword strategy relevant to clear aligners, dental/ortho, and DTC healthcare — competitive landscape includes brands like Align Technology's Invisalign and other current teledentistry/aligner players. Monthly reporting that's actually useful: new links acquired with domain authority and context, ranking movement, organic traffic trends, not a vague PDF that just says "things improved." Disavow/cleanup of any toxic links as needed. Coordination with our marketing team (we have an in-house digital marketing lead) so SEO work supports broader campaigns rather than running in a silo. What you should bring: Proven experience in healthcare, medical device, or regulated industry SEO (we operate under health/medical advertising rules in multiple countries, so you need to understand we can't make certain claims). Real case studies or referenceable past work, show us actual links you've built, not just a service menu. Comfortable working with a small, fast moving startup team, we move quickly and don't love bureaucracy. Clear, direct communicator. We don't want fluffy reports or jargon, we want straight answers about what's working and what isn't. Budget: TBA Start: Immediate Duration: Ongoing, reviewed monthly, happy to start with a 1-month trial period before locking into a longer commitment.