LinkedIn profile optimisation for senior roles
What recruiters search, what they read, and the specific sections worth rewriting if you only have an hour.
LinkedIn is a search product before it is a social network. Optimising a senior profile means being findable for the right query and convincing in the first screen.
The headline is a search field and a claim
Recruiters search titles, skills, and tools. Your headline should contain the title you want to be found for, plus the problem you solve. "Supply Chain Director, scale up operations and multi site consolidation" outperforms "Experienced leader passionate about people".
The About section: three paragraphs, no adjectives
Paragraph one, what you do and for whom. Paragraph two, two or three quantified proof points. Paragraph three, what you are open to next. Write in first person. Remove every sentence that would apply equally to a thousand other people.
Experience entries need scope lines
Under each title, add one line of scope: team size, budget, region, product or portfolio. Then two or three bullets with outcomes. Recruiters compare scope across candidates far more than they compare responsibilities.
Skills and endorsements still drive search
Pin the skills that match your target role. The order matters, and outdated skills at the top pull you into the wrong search results.
Signals of activity, used sparingly
A short comment on a relevant industry post every few weeks is enough to keep you visible. Daily posting is not required and rarely changes senior hiring outcomes.
The consistency check
Your CV and your LinkedIn profile should tell the same story with different levels of detail. Contradictions between the two are one of the most common reasons a promising profile stalls at screening. The free alignment scan compares both documents and reports where they diverge.