Lead Talent Acquisition Partner (Tech) - High Growth, Scale Up

Location:
London

Working model: 4 days in the office

Hawkwood is partnering with a high-growth, VC-backed, technology business to hire a Lead Talent Partner.

Our client has built an integrated system that helps businesses simplify operations, grow sustainably and deliver exceptional customer experiences. They are scaling rapidly and building a high-performance culture where ambition, pace and customer impact go hand in hand.

As part of this next chapter, they are looking for an experienced Technical Talent leader to take ownership of Engineering hiring, lead an established team and build deeply trusted relationships with senior Engineering leadership.

This is a senior, high-ownership role sitting at the intersection of Talent strategy, Engineering leadership and hands-on technical hiring.

You’ll partner directly with senior Engineering leaders, becoming their go-to person for everything talent-related- from workforce planning and hiring strategy through to assessment, talent density, market intelligence and solving difficult hiring challenges. You’ll also lead an established small team, with the potential to grow the team further as hiring increases.

This is a genuine player-coach role, so while leadership and strategy are a significant part of the remit, you’ll remain close to the craft and personally own some of the most important senior and specialist Engineering searches.

• Own the Engineering hiring strategy across multiple hubs, across London and Europe.
• Build trusted relationships with Engineering leaders, becoming a genuine partner rather than simply a recruitment service.
• Translate Engineering growth plans into a clear workforce and hiring strategy.
• Lead, coach and develop a team, setting priorities and creating an environment where they can do their best work.
• Use data, market insight and storytelling to influence senior stakeholders and challenge thinking around hiring.
• Own hiring performance and provide senior leadership with a clear view of pipelines, challenges, trade-offs and outcomes.
• Continue evolving assessment, interview design, calibration and hiring processes as the organisation scales.

• Deep experience hiring Software Engineering and technical talent, including senior and hard-to-find profiles.
• Experience owning Engineering recruitment strategy rather than solely delivering against requisitions.
• A strong track record of partnering with VP, Director and C-level stakeholders.
• The credibility and resilience to work with highly experienced, opinionated technical leaders and build long-term relationships with them.
• The ability to influence through data, evidence and market insight, while knowing when to challenge and when to disagree and commit.
• Previous experience managing and developing recruiters, ideally Senior Talent Partners or Technical Recruiters.
• Strong knowledge of technical talent markets and modern sourcing strategies.
• Experience building or improving hiring processes, assessment methodologies and calibration.