Talent Scientist - Graduate Lead

Remote; San Francisco (CA); Remote; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Distributed work environment

Learning budget USD 2000 per year

Annual compensation review

Recognition rewards

Annual holiday leave

Maternity and paternity leave

Employee Assistance Programme

Ability to travel to new locations

Priority Pass lounge access

Job summary

Canonical is a pioneering tech firm and the publisher of Ubuntu. We are building a graduate hiring strategy to assess world-class junior talent across global universities. The role emphasizes partnerships, analytics and objective hiring decisions based on data and psychometrics.

This remote-first position supports the EMEA region with occasional travel to events, and offers a competitive compensation package with a performance bonus and development opportunities.

Qualifications

• Exceptional academic background from high school and university with a degree in psychology or people-based subject.
• Experience hiring talent in the technology industry with a graduate-hiring focus.
• Strong maths and analytics experience to drive measurable outcomes.
• Ability to identify trends and patterns using SQL.
• Interest in psychometric assessments and their interpretation.
• Experience conducting behavioural and competency-based interviews.
• Familiarity with tools like Greenhouse, LinkedIn, Superset and DISC assessments.
• Self-driven, highly organized, and capable of remote work with travel 2–4 times per year.

Responsibilities

• Build partnerships with leading academic institutions to raise awareness of graduate opportunities.
• Create a compelling proposition to attract top graduates to Canonical.
• Drive talent analytics to provide real-time insights to the business.
• Conduct in-depth behavioural interviews to gain insights into motivation and behaviour.
• Develop relationships with global stakeholders to ensure delivery of hiring agenda.
• Drive data-driven insights to support decision-making and process improvements.
• Consider employer brand and candidate experience in interactions.
• Review and streamline hiring processes and tools for continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with external partners and platforms to maximize ROI.
• Champion diversity and inclusion throughout sourcing and selection.

Skills

Academic excellence

Data-driven mindset

Analytical problem solving

SQL literacy

Diversity and inclusion

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Psychology or People sciences

Tools

Greenhouse

LinkedIn

Superset

Thomas International/DISC assessments

SQL

Job description

As a pioneer remote-first tech company with a product that inspires people globally, we attract a huge number of applicants to our organisation. We have created a hiring process that is totally unique empowering our business based Hiring Leadership team to lead talent selection. Our Talent Science team ensures that our processes are effective and that the business is able to make the best decisions to select exceptional talent. This is an exceptional opportunity to join a team that is changing the way an organisation hires.

We have a mission to ensure that we follow objective, scientifically rigorous and efficient processes to select the very best new colleagues regardless of location, culture or background. We work closely with a carefully selected hiring cohort to ensure we have exceptional judgement with a hiring model that supports the selection of world class talent, regardless of location, culture or background. We drive initiatives, build automations and offer an expert viewpoint on assessing talent.

We are looking to advance our graduate hiring strategy to ensure we can reach and assess world class junior talent. The role will focus on building strong partnerships with top ranked universities across the globe. The suitable individual will bring experience of leading graduate hiring on a regional or global scale within the technology industry. You will possess a strong academic track record with the ability to analyse data, assess performance outcomes and build dashboard to monitor your outcomes. This is not a recruiter position; it's about the science of talent and performance, raising awareness and insights across the business so that they are able to select the best talent available from our global talent pool.

Location: This is a remote position based in the EMEA region

What your day will look like

• Build effective partnerships with leading academic institutions to raise awareness of our graduate opportunities.

• Create a highly effective proposition to inspire top talent to apply to Canonical.

• Drive talent analytics to provide our business with real-time insight, partnering with the business to help them move through their hiring processes efficiently.

• Conduct in-depth behavioural talent interviews providing considerable insights into motivations and behaviours.

• Build key relationships with global stakeholders to ensure we deliver against our hiring agenda, closely monitoring hiring activities, driving results and ensuring that there is consistency in our operational processes.

• Drive data driven insights, making sure our decision making process is robust and supportive to inform our decisions.

• Consider our employer brand and how our interactions with a candidate impacts their experience.

• Review and streamline hiring processes and tools to drive continuous improvement.

• Work with external third parties and platforms to ensure we maximise our return on investment.

• Bring a passion for diversity and inclusion, ensuring we remove unconscious bias from our hiring process and ensuring our sourcing strategy underpins this.

What we are looking for in you

• An exceptional academic background from both high school and university, with a Bachelors or Masters degree in a Psychology or People based subject.

• Experience of hiring talent in the technology industry, with an informed view point on graduate hiring essential.

• A highly data drive mindset with the ability to create measurable outcomes (strong maths and analytics experience essential).

• Strong analytical problem solving ability to identify trends and patterns using SQL.

• Passionate about how an organisation selects talent using scientific approaches with viewpoint on how to predict and measure hiring outcomes.

• Exposure/appreciation of psychometric assessments preferable, including interpretation.

• Experience of conducting behavioural, competency based interviews with the ability to train stakeholders and advise on how to get the best out of an interview.

• Experience of the following tools advantageous: Greenhouse, LinkedIn, Superset, Thomas International/DISC assessments.

• A high level of personal organisation and self drive to work remotely and be effective.

• Willingness to travel to company events 2-4 times a year, for up to two weeks each.

What we offer you

We consider geographical location, experience, and performance in shaping compensation worldwide. We revisit compensation annually (and more often for graduates and associates) to ensure we recognise outstanding performance. In addition to base pay, we offer a performance-driven annual bonus. We provide all team members with additional benefits, which reflect our values and ideals. We balance our programs to meet local needs and ensure fairness globally.

• Distributed work environment with twice-yearly team sprints in person

• Personal learning and development budget of USD 2,000 per year

• Annual compensation review

• Recognition rewards

• Annual holiday leave

• Maternity and paternity leave

• Employee Assistance Programme

• Opportunity to travel to new locations to meet colleagues

• Priority Pass, including lounge access, for company travel

About Canonical

Canonical is a pioneering tech firm at the forefront of the global move to open source. As the company that publishes Ubuntu, one of the most important open source projects and the platform for AI, IoT and the cloud, we are changing the world on a daily basis. We recruit on a global basis and set a very high standard for people joining the company. We expect excellence - in order to succeed, we need to be the best at what we do. Canonical has been a remote-first company since its inception in 2004. Working here is a step into the future, and will challenge you to think differently, work smarter, learn new skills, and raise your game.

Canonical is an equal opportunity employer

We are proud to foster a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and background create a better work environment and better products. Whatever your identity, we will give your application fair consideration.