Talent Lead (Contract)

twentysix; Tendring; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

twentysix is seeking a Senior Talent Acquisition Leader to drive global full-cycle recruitment across regions and levels, including executive search and CEO-level partner alignment.

You will create proactive sourcing strategies, mentor a growing team, and collaborate with C-suite and People Operations to ensure hiring priorities match business goals. This role emphasizes employer branding, data-driven decision making, and rapid, high-quality hiring across markets.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in Talent Acquisition, preferably tech consulting.
• Proven full-cycle recruitment across regions and executive search.
• Experience leading a team and mentoring direct reports.
• Strong stakeholder management and C-suite advisory skills.
• Data-driven with ATS analytics and metrics reporting.
• Familiarity with AI-powered recruiting tools (Claude, Gemini).

Responsibilities

• Lead full-cycle recruitment across levels and regions.
• Oversee global talent operations and align with leaders on hiring priorities.
• Develop proactive sourcing strategies and build pipelines across disciplines.
• Mentor and develop the talent team to operational excellence.
• Collaborate with executives to align search progress and decisions.
• Champion employer branding and diversity in all hiring activity.
• Track and report key recruitment metrics to drive improvements.

Skills

Talent Acquisition

Full-cycle recruitment

Executive search

Leadership & coaching

Stakeholder management

ATS analytics

Data-driven

AI recruitment tools

Tools

Claude

Gemini

ATS

Job description

RESPONSIBILITIES

Lead full-cycle recruitment across all levels and regions—sourcing, interviewing, selection, and onboarding—as an active contributor alongside the team, not solely in a supervisory capacity.

Oversee global talent operations and maintain regular communication with regional leaders to ensure alignment on hiring priorities, team capacity, and delivery across all markets.

Develop and execute proactive sourcing strategies—anticipating future talent needs before they become urgent—and maintain robust pipelines across disciplines and seniority levels.

Regularly check in with the talent team to ensure clarity on priorities, workload distribution, and performance, fostering a well-directed and collaborative team environment.

Attend casting meetings consistently to stay current on active and upcoming hiring priorities and new business needs, ensuring the talent function is always positioned to respond with speed and precision.

Manage executive-level hiring end-to-end, including regular follow-up with the CEO and executive leaders to align on search progress, candidate evaluation, and hiring decisions; support interview scheduling and candidate review coordination as required.

Collaborate with People Operations and the Executive Assistant to facilitate in-person interview logistics for executive candidates, as needed.

Maintain regular communication with the CPO to keep a pulse on the organization's broader hiring landscape and ensure talent strategy reflects the company's big-picture direction.

Partner closely with hiring managers to align recruitment with business goals and evolving team priorities.

Champion employer branding, candidate engagement, and diversity initiatives across all hiring activity.

Track and report on key recruitment metrics—time-to-fill, source effectiveness, cost-per-hire—and use data to continuously improve processes and outcomes.

Encourage the adoption of AI tools and drive enablement across the team, actively identifying opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness through technology and smarter ways of working.

Optimize recruitment processes for efficiency and quality of candidate experience.

Leverage applicant tracking systems (ATS) and other recruitment technologies to drive operational effectiveness.

REQUIREMENTS

6+ years of progressive experience in Talent Acquisition, with a strong preference for technology consulting or a related field.

Proven success managing full-cycle recruitment and high-volume hiring across all levels, including executive search.

Experience overseeing talent operations across multiple regions, with demonstrated ability to partner effectively with geographically distributed teams and leaders.

Experience managing or mentoring a team, with the ability to lead, coach, and develop direct reports toward operational excellence.

Proven ability to act as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, including C-suite, with a strong understanding of business strategy and organizational dynamics.

Excellent interpersonal, communication, and stakeholder management skills, with the confidence and discretion to navigate complex relationships and competing priorities.

Data-driven mindset, with experience using ATS and recruitment analytics to inform decision-making and report on key metrics.

Strong grasp of recruitment technologies, including AI-powered tools (including Claude and Gemini), with a drive to continuously improve hiring processes through innovation and enablement.