Recruitment Lead Digital Experience & Engineering

DEPT®; Rotterdam; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Social and cultural events

Buddy programme

Learning & development

OpenUp wellness benefits

Hybrid working policy

Job summary

DEPT® is seeking a Recruitment Lead for Digital Experience & Engineering to shape talent strategy and lead senior-hire efforts across EMEA. You will partner with leadership to define requirements, build pipelines, and drive data-driven decisions that accelerate growth.

The role is hybrid in the Netherlands (Rotterdam) with 2-3 days in the office and an option to work abroad for up to 13 weeks per year, plus opportunities to influence employer branding and recruitment processes.

Qualifications

• In-house recruitment experience in a digital/agency setting.
• Track record hiring across UX/UI Design, Digital Strategist, Account Management, Technical Project Management.
• Experience recruiting in multiple EMEA markets (London, Amsterdam, Berlin).
• Comfortable managing senior stakeholders in a matrix organisation.
• Direct-sourcing experience: Boolean, market mapping.
• Data-driven; able to defend hiring story with metrics.
• Autonomous, proactive mindset with curiosity to reinvent hiring.
• Proficient Dutch and English speaker.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement talent strategy for Digital Experience services across key EMEA markets.
• Act as trusted advisor to senior leadership and shape hiring briefs.
• Turn hiring data into actionable insights for leadership decisions.
• Pioneer new sourcing channels and AI-enabled tooling; raise hiring standards.
• Build proactive talent pipelines and market maps before roles open.
• Head-hunt senior talent directly via LinkedIn Recruiter and networks.
• Represent DEPT® at events to boost employer brand and talent network.
• Champion candidate experience across EMEA and promote DEPT® culture.
• Share playbooks and mentor the recruiting team to raise performance.

Skills

In-house recruitment

Hiring across UX/UI Design

Hiring across Digital Strategist

Hiring across Account Management

Hiring across Technical Project Mgt

EMEA market experience

Stakeholder management

Direct-sourcing (Boolean)

Data-driven hiring

Dutch & English proficiency

Tools

LinkedIn Recruiter

AI-enabled tooling

Job description

DEPT® is a Growth Invention company built to help the world's most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, our 4,000+ specialists deliver growth invention services across Brand & Media, Experience, Commerce, CRM, and Technology & Data. We're 50|50 tech and marketing, partner-led, and first to move. Clients include Google, Lufthansa, Meta, eBay, and OpenAI. We have been certified B Corp and Climate Neutral since 2021.

As a Recruitment Lead Digital Experience & Engineering, you will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of our agency by developing and implementing strategic talent acquisition initiatives for our Experience & Engineering service teams across EMEA.

Our Experience & Engineering teams develop technical solutions and create beautiful designs to deliver exceptional and engaging digital experiences for our clients. You will hire the talent that creates these digital experiences; think UX/UI Design, Strategist, Technical Project Manager, Account Managers.

You will embody DEPT®'s culture as the initial ambassador for candidates, ensuring a seamless and positive experience throughout their recruitment journey. By collaborating closely with leadership teams, you will gain a deep understanding of role requirements, deliver regular updates on hiring progress, and offer valuable market insights and drive informed decision-making together with the leadership team.

• Netherlands
• A flexible, hybrid working policy (2-3 days from the office, depending on location) and the opportunity to work from abroad for 13 weeks a year.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Alongside the Head of TA, you will develop and implement the talent strategy for our Digital Experience services across key EMEA markets. You're shaping how we hire at the senior and strategic end, not just running the searches.
• Operates as a trusted advisor to senior leadership, managing expectations, challenging the brief when the ask doesn't match reality, and turning "unicorn" requests into searchable, fillable mandates.
• Use data to lead, not just report; turn hiring intelligence into the insight that shapes leadership decisions and unblocks them before they stall.
• Drive innovation across the function; pioneer new sourcing channels, AI-enabled tooling and assessment approaches, and set the standard for how DEPT® hunts rather than inheriting it.
• Build and own proactive talent pipelines and market maps so we're never starting a search cold; you know where the A-players sit, and why they'd move, before the role even opens.
• Headhunt directly at the top end. You live in LinkedIn Recruiter and your own network, going after passive senior talent at rival networks and boutiques rather than waiting on inbound.
• Be the face of DEPT® in the market; represent us at industry events, on panels and in the talent community, building our employer brand and a network that pays off long before we have a vacancy to fill.
• Champion candidate experience across EMEA, making sure every future Depster feels the "small enough to care" side of us from first touch.
• Raise the bar across the recruiting team; share playbooks, mentor, and lift how we hunt as a function.

WHAT YOU'LL BRING

• Significant in-house recruitment experience, inside a digital or integrated agency. You understand billability, utilisation, and agency life.
• A track record of hiring across UX/UI Design, Digital Strategist, Account Management, Technical Project Management; you understand these roles and where to find the best candidates.
• Experience recruiting in multiple EMEA markets; you know the difference between running a search in London, Amsterdam and Berlin, and you adapt accordingly.
• Comfortable managing senior stakeholders in a matrix organisation, with the confidence to push back and lead hiring strategies.
• Real direct-sourcing; Boolean, market mapping, pedigree mapping across rivals
• Data fluency; you're comfortable building and defending a hiring story with metrics, not just gut feel.
• Navigational Intelligence; the instinct for how to actually get things done inside a global, fast-moving, partner-led organisation.
• A proactive and autonomous mindset, balanced with the relentless curiosity to keep reinventing how we hire.
• Proficient Dutch and English speaker.

WHAT YOU'LL GET

• Social and Cultural Events, plenty of opportunities to connect with colleagues through organised activities and celebrations.
• Inspirational Talks, bringing the outside in with regular guest speakers and events.
• Learning and Development, supporting your growth with continuous opportunities to learn and advance.
• Buddy Programme: You will be paired with a 'Buddy' to help you through your first weeks' at DEPT®.
• A reputation for doing good. DEPT® has been a Certified B Corp® since 2021, has been named 'Great Place To Work since 2022' in the Netherlands and named 'Agency of the Year' at both The Lovies and The Webby Awards.
• Awesome clients. Whether big or small, local or global - at DEPT® you'll get the opportunity to work with clients of all sizes and across all industries. And we celebrate all of our successes together!

WE OFFER

• A flexible, hybrid working policy (2-3 days from the office, depending on location) and the opportunity to work from abroad for 13 weeks a year.
• 24 vacation days per year and the possibility to buy an unlimited number of extra vacation days.
• DEPT®/YOU Learning Menu and DEPT®/YOU Special Programs. Develop your skills with courses and programs tailored to your needs.
• Stay happy and healthy with a contribution to your health through the OpenUp platform, gym and wellness discounts, and healthy lunches at the office.
• Get a discount on your lease bike and ride in style. You can also enjoy hassle free-commutes with an NS Business Card.

WHY DEPT®?

We are a Growth Invention company built to help the world's most ambitious brands grow faster. Operating at the intersection of technology and marketing, we create what is next by pioneering ideas, acting fast, and moving further because standing still just is not in our DNA.

We are drawn to people who stay curious, move with intent, and never stop inventing. Our culture runs on three values: better together, relentlessly curious, and get sh*t done. It is how we work, how we grow, and how we make things that matter.

At DEPT®, you will find the freedom to explore, the space to collaborate, and the trust to make a real impact for our clients, for each other, and for the world we are helping to build.