TA Lead (Engineering)

Seekhr | People & Talent Recruitment; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Seekhr | People & Talent Recruitment is partnering with a London-based tech scale-up to recruit a Talent Acquisition Lead – Engineering. You will own end-to-end engineering hiring for senior roles across international locations, shaping strategy and building proactive talent pipelines.

You will work closely with VPs of Engineering and Directors, implement structured interview processes, leverage data to drive decisions, and elevate the candidate experience while balancing speed, quality and

Qualifications

• Extensive technical recruitment experience in high-growth tech or FinTech.
• Proven track record hiring senior engineers and leaders.
• Strong stakeholder management with engineering leadership.
• Experience scaling engineering teams across multiple locations.
• Strategic and hands-on recruitment approach.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end recruitment for senior engineering roles across international locations.
• Develop and execute a comprehensive engineering recruitment strategy.
• Partner with senior engineering stakeholders to define capability gaps and hiring plans.
• Build proactive talent pipelines to reduce reactive hiring.
• Lead interview frameworks, assessments and calibration discussions.
• Provide data-driven insights and reporting on recruitment performance.

Skills

Engineering recruitment

Stakeholder management

Sourcing & headhunting

Data-driven recruitment

ATS & recruitment tech

Strategic workforce planning

Interview framework design

Employer branding

Tools

ATS

Sourcing platforms

AI-assisted recruitment tools

Job description

Talent Acquisition Lead – Engineering - Series C

Location: London, UK

Sector: Technology / FinTech / High-Growth Scale-Up

Employment Type: Permanent, Full-Time

The Opportunity

We are partnering with an ambitious, high-growth technology business that is continuing to invest significantly in its engineering capabilities across multiple European markets.

As the business enters its next phase of growth, we are looking for an exceptional Talent Acquisition Lead Engineering to take ownership of technical recruitment strategy, build high-performing talent pipelines and act as a trusted advisor to senior engineering leadership.

This is a highly visible position that combines strategic talent partnering with hands-on recruitment delivery. You will play a pivotal role in shaping how the organisation identifies, attracts, assesses and hires outstanding engineering talent, ensuring that every appointment contributes meaningfully to the strength and capability of the technology function.

The successful candidate will be much more than a traditional recruiter. You will understand the complexities of scaling engineering teams, challenge conventional hiring approaches and bring the commercial judgement, technical recruitment expertise and operational discipline required to deliver exceptional hiring outcomes.

You will have the opportunity to influence recruitment strategy, improve hiring infrastructure and establish best-in-class processes across an international engineering organisation.

Key Responsibilities:

Engineering Talent Acquisition Leadership

• Take ownership of end-to-end recruitment for critical and complex engineering positions, including Senior and Staff Software Engineers, Engineering Managers, Technical Leads and specialist engineering profiles.
• Develop and execute a comprehensive engineering recruitment strategy aligned with business objectives, technology priorities and future workforce requirements.
• Partner closely with senior engineering stakeholders to understand capability gaps, organisational priorities and long-term hiring plans.
• Lead recruitment across multiple international locations, ensuring a consistent approach to talent identification, assessment and candidate experience.
• Establish proactive talent pipelines for business-critical engineering skill sets, reducing reliance on reactive recruitment.
• Act as a subject matter expert on technical talent markets, competitor activity, compensation trends and emerging engineering disciplines.
• Balance speed, quality and commercial priorities while maintaining consistently high standards throughout the hiring process.

Strategic Stakeholder Partnership

• Build strong, credible relationships with VPs of Engineering, Engineering Directors, Engineering Managers and senior technical leaders.
• Operate as a strategic advisor, challenging hiring assumptions and influencing decisions through market intelligence, data and commercial insight.
• Lead detailed hiring briefings to establish clear role requirements, technical competencies, expected outcomes and appropriate seniority levels.
• Support engineering leadership with workforce planning, organisational capability assessments and future talent requirements.
• Provide informed recommendations on talent availability, recruitment challenges, location strategies and alternative approaches to securing specialist skills.
• Facilitate structured hiring discussions and ensure decisions are based on clear evidence, capability and long-term business needs.
• Influence senior stakeholders confidently, including when recommending changes to hiring requirements, processes or candidate expectations.

Technical Sourcing and Talent Intelligence

• Design and deliver innovative sourcing strategies to identify and engage exceptional engineering professionals in competitive talent markets.
• Build targeted talent communities across software engineering, platform engineering, infrastructure, security and other specialist technical disciplines.
• Use advanced sourcing techniques, talent mapping, market research and competitor intelligence to identify both active and passive candidates.
• Leverage AI-enabled sourcing platforms, automation and modern recruitment technology to improve productivity and candidate engagement.
• Develop personalised outreach strategies that resonate with highly sought-after technical professionals.
• Explore alternative sourcing channels, including technical communities, industry events, professional networks and strategic partnerships.
• Establish sustainable talent pipelines for recurring and business-critical engineering requirements.

Recruitment Process Excellence

• Evaluate existing technical recruitment processes and identify opportunities to improve efficiency, consistency and hiring quality.
• Design and implement structured interview frameworks, assessment criteria and competency-based evaluation processes.
• Work with engineering leadership to define clear technical hiring standards across different engineering disciplines and seniority levels.
• Introduce consistent interview scorecards and evaluation methodologies to support objective, evidence-based decision-making.
• Lead interview debriefs, facilitate calibration discussions and help hiring teams reach timely, well-informed decisions.
• Coach hiring managers and interviewers on effective assessment techniques, candidate engagement and structured interviewing.
• Ensure recruitment processes provide an exceptional candidate experience while maintaining the rigour required for senior technical appointments.
• Drive continuous improvements in interview efficiency, stakeholder accountability and recruitment outcomes.

Data, Analytics and Recruitment Performance

• Establish clear recruitment metrics and performance indicators to measure hiring effectiveness across the engineering function.
• Monitor time-to-hire, time-to-fill, conversion rates, sourcing effectiveness, offer acceptance and candidate experience.
• Analyse recruitment funnel performance to identify bottlenecks, improve conversion and strengthen hiring decisions.
• Develop meaningful recruitment dashboards and reporting that provide senior stakeholders with visibility of hiring progress and risks.
• Use data and market insights to challenge assumptions, prioritise recruitment activity and inform workforce planning.
• Assess the effectiveness of sourcing strategies, interview processes and recruitment technology.
• Champion a data-led approach to improving recruitment efficiency without compromising candidate quality.

Building and Scaling the Talent Function

• Play a leading role in developing a scalable, high-performing engineering recruitment capability.
• Help establish consistent recruitment standards and best practices across engineering teams and international locations.
• Identify opportunities to improve ATS utilisation, recruitment automation, reporting and overall operational efficiency.
• Collaborate with the wider Talent Acquisition and People teams to align recruitment processes with organisational structures, career frameworks and employee development.
• Contribute to employer branding initiatives that strengthen the organisation’s reputation within the engineering community.
• Support knowledge sharing, mentoring and capability development across the broader recruitment function.
• Lead cross-functional talent projects that improve the organisation’s ability to attract, assess and retain exceptional technical professionals.

About You

We are looking for an accomplished technical recruitment professional who combines deep engineering hiring expertise with strategic influence, strong commercial judgement and a genuine passion for building exceptional teams.

You will ideally bring:

• Extensive technical recruitment experience, ideally gained within high-growth technology, FinTech, SaaS, payments or product-led organisations.
• A proven track record of senior engineering recruitment, including complex appointments across software engineering, platform, infrastructure, security or other specialist technical disciplines.
• Strong engineering stakeholder management, with experience partnering directly with Engineering Directors, VPs of Engineering and other senior technical leaders.
• Experience scaling engineering organisations, ideally across multiple countries or within businesses undergoing significant growth and transformation.
• A strategic and hands-on approach, with the ability to develop long-term recruitment plans while personally delivering challenging technical hires.
• Advanced sourcing expertise, including proactive headhunting, technical talent mapping, market intelligence and creative approaches to candidate engagement.
• Experience improving recruitment processes, including interview frameworks, technical assessments, hiring calibration and recruitment workflows.
• Strong analytical capability, with the confidence to interpret recruitment data and translate insights into practical improvements.
• Experience with modern recruitment technology, including applicant tracking systems, sourcing platforms, AI-assisted recruitment tools and automation.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the credibility to challenge senior stakeholders constructively and make evidence-based recommendations.
• A continuous improvement mindset, with a willingness to question established practices and introduce more effective ways of working.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity, adapting quickly to changing priorities while maintaining a high standard of delivery.