Recruitment Specialist

Cognita Schools; Madrid; On-site; EUR 40,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognita Schools in Madrid is seeking an experienced Recruitment Specialist to lead end-to-end hiring across our Madrid cluster. You will source, interview, manage offers, conduct pre-employment checks and coordinate onboarding, partnering with HR Business Partners and school leaders.

This is a permanent, full-time role with immediate start. The ideal candidate will manage multiple vacancies, build talent pipelines for teaching and specialist roles, and deliver an exceptional candidate

Qualifications

• End-to-end recruitment experience across multiple sites or schools.
• Experience in education or multi-site organisations preferred.
• Able to manage multiple vacancies simultaneously and meet urgent hiring needs.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication with school leaders and HR.
• Experience with ATS, LinkedIn Recruiter, and direct sourcing to attract top talent.
• Fluent in English and Spanish; safeguarding knowledge is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end recruitment across the Madrid cluster, from vacancy approval through onboarding.
• Source, interview, manage offers, and conduct pre-employment checks.
• Build and maintain talent pipelines to support planned and urgent staffing needs.
• Drive proactive sourcing strategies for teaching and specialist positions.
• Partner with school leaders, HR teams and candidates to ensure a high-quality experience.

Skills

End-to-end recruitment

Stakeholder management

Talent sourcing

Interviewing

Onboarding

ATS familiarity

LinkedIn Recruiter

Direct sourcing

Bilingual English/Spanish

Tools

ATS

LinkedIn Recruiter

Job description

Cognita is a global leader in independent education. Founded in 2004, we are a growing community of 90 schools in 20 countries - in Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East - serving more than 100,000 students. Each of our schools are proudly unique, however our collective purpose is to create an environment where everyone can, "Thrive in a rapidly evolving world".

We now have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Recruitment Specialist to join our fantastic team to support the schools in our Madrid cluster in Spain.

About the Role:

As a Recruitment Specialist, you will play a key role in delivering end-to-end recruitment across our Madrid cluster schools, ensuring a seamless and high-quality hiring experience from vacancy approval through to a successful first day. Working closely with HR Business Partners, school leaders and central teams, you will manage the full recruitment lifecycle, including sourcing, interviewing, offer management, pre-employment checks and onboarding coordination. You will take ownership of urgent hiring requirements, building and maintaining talent pipelines to support both planned and last-minute staffing needs, while driving proactive sourcing strategies for hard-to-fill teaching and specialist positions. With a strong focus on candidate experience, stakeholder partnership and continuous improvement, you will ensure schools are staffed with exceptional talent at the right time, adapting recruitment approaches to meet the unique needs and culture of each school while identifying opportunities to improve efficiency and consistency across the recruitment process.

This is a permanent, full-time role with an immediate start date.

Who We Are Looking For:

We are looking for a proactive and highly organised recruitment professional with proven experience managing end-to-end recruitment processes, ideally within education or a multi-site organisation. You will be confident managing multiple vacancies simultaneously, balancing competing priorities and responding quickly to urgent hiring needs without compromising quality. With strong stakeholder management skills, you will be comfortable partnering with school leaders, HR teams and candidates in a fast-paced environment. You will have experience using Applicant Tracking Systems, LinkedIn Recruiter and direct sourcing techniques to attract top talent, including international candidates, and will be fluent in both English and Spanish. A keen eye for detail, a strong sense of ownership and a commitment to delivering an exceptional candidate experience are essential. Experience within international schools, knowledge of safeguarding requirements and familiarity with platforms such as TES would be advantageous.

Cognita Schools are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, volunteers and other third parties to share this commitment. Safer recruitment practice and pre-employment background checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed.

We are an equal opportunities employer committed to diversity and treating all employees with dignity and respect regardless of background.