Senior Talent Acquisition Partner - Deep Tech

OQC; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

OQC in Reading is seeking a senior Talent Acquisition partner to connect the business with senior and specialist talent across UK and international markets. You’ll combine talent market expertise with data-led judgement to make hiring sharper, more effective, and better for candidates.

You’ll own end-to-end recruitment, challenge briefs, shape strategies and lead process improvements across governance, documentation and ATS workflows as the company scales through growth.

Qualifications

• Experience delivering complex recruitment in technical or deep-tech environments.
• Proven ability to scale recruitment with direct sourcing.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Experience designing tailored sourcing strategies and assessments.
• Proven track record building proactive candidate pipelines.
• International recruitment experience.
• Strong data literacy and process improvement mindset.
• Experience creating governance and recruitment documentation.
• Experience leading TA projects.
• Good judgment, organisation, and decision-making under pressure.
• Proficient in ATS and recruitment workflows.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.

Responsibilities

• Own complex, end-to-end hiring across UK and international markets; adapt to local needs with Head of Talent Acquisition.
• Challenge briefs with senior managers; refine requirements and create job descriptions aligned with career levels.
• Build targeted sourcing strategies and proactive pipelines for hard-to-fill roles.
• Design structured interviews, scorecards and selection methods for consistent decisions.
• Use recruitment performance data to identify bottlenecks and improve time to hire and offer acceptance.
• Implement governance, documentation and ATS workflow improvements; protect records and confidentiality.
• Coach hiring managers and colleagues on inclusive recruitment and assessment.

Skills

Complex recruitment

Direct sourcing

Stakeholder management

Sourcing strategies

Talent pipelines

International recruitment

Data literacy

Process improvements

ATS proficiency

Communication skills

Governance & documentation

Tools

ATS

Job description

At OQC, we aren’t just theorising about the future; we’re building it. Born from a philosophy of bold innovation, we’ve successfully transitioned quantum computing from an academic dream into a commercial reality.

The most exciting thing is that we’re just getting started and we’ve recently closed our £260 million Series C funding round which is the largest fundraise ever completed by a quantum computing company in Europe.

The Purpose

You’ll connect OQC with the senior and specialist talent needed to build the future of quantum computing. Combining talent market expertise with data-led judgement, you’ll deliver complex hires across UK and international markets while making our recruitment sharper, more effective and better for candidates.

The Role

This is a hands-on role with real ownership: you’ll challenge hiring briefs, shape recruitment approaches and turn process improvements into everyday practice.

We are scaling aggressively and this role is going to be challenging so we need someone is comfortable working under pressure, and a business going through positive transformation through growth.

What You’ll Be Working On

• Own complex hiring end to end. Deliver senior and specialist recruitment across UK and international markets, adapting to local considerations and agreeing market-specific recommendations with the Head of Talent Acquisition.
• Get the hiring brief right. Partner with and constructively challenge senior hiring managers to clarify business needs, refine requirements and create job descriptions aligned with OQC career levels.
• Reach hard-to-find talent. Build targeted, direct sourcing strategies, sharpen attraction messaging and develop proactive talent pipelines against agreed hiring priorities.
• Make assessment count. Design structured interviews, scorecards and selection methods that support consistent, evidence-based decisions, and provide clear recommendations on candidate progression.
• Turn data into better outcomes. Use recruitment performance and market insight to identify bottlenecks, advise stakeholders and improve delivery against agreed measures, including time to hire and offer acceptance.
• Improve how we recruit. Independently implement agreed changes across documentation, governance, ATS workflows and candidate and hiring-manager experience, maintaining accurate records and protecting confidential information.
• Build hiring capability. Coach hiring managers, interviewers and People colleagues on inclusive recruitment and assessment, acting as a trusted resource when hiring challenges become complex.

What We’re Looking For

• A track record of delivering complex, senior, specialist or hard-to-fill recruitment in highly technical, scientific, engineering or deep-tech environments.
• Experience delivering recruitment at scale, with a strong focus on direct sourcing channels to attract, engage and hire high-quality talent.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the confidence to challenge senior leaders constructively, understand the underlying hiring need and negotiate effectively.
• Experience designing tailored sourcing strategies and structured assessments for specialist talent markets, using evidence to make robust candidate recommendations.
• A track record of building proactive pipelines for senior, specialist or hard-to-fill roles.
• International recruitment experience, adapting sourcing and selection approaches to different markets and local considerations.
• Strong recruitment data literacy, with experience diagnosing problems and independently designing and implementing practical process improvements.
• Experience developing recruitment documentation, governance or operating processes.
• Experience delivering Talent Acquisition projects or improvements involving multiple stakeholder groups.
• Sound judgement and strong organisation: you can manage competing priorities, make decisions with incomplete information and adapt as business needs change.
• Confident ATS and recruitment workflow management, attention to data quality and confidentiality, and a working understanding of relevant recruitment and employment requirements.
• Clear written and verbal communication, with experience coaching hiring managers or colleagues on inclusive interviewing, recruitment and assessment.

The ‘Nice-to-Haves’

• Recruitment experience in the US, Singapore, Spain or Japan.

Closing date for applications:

Wednesday 21st October at 5pm (GMT)

Why Join OQC

You will join a world-class team at the forefront of the next computational era. We offer a culture of bold innovation, the chance to work with unique lab infrastructure, and the opportunity to see your work redefine the limits of computation.

Learn more about our benefits and positive work culture here: https://oqc.tech/company/careers-at-oqc/