Talent Success Manager – Design Recruitment

Hotsourced Ltd.; South Africa; Remote; ZAR 500,000 - 650,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Commission opportunity

Fully remote from South Africa

Equipment support

Mentorship from founder

Ownership from day one

Job summary

hotsourced is seeking a Talent Success Manager to join as the first hire, reporting to the founder and building the talent function from the ground up. You will own sourcing, engagement and data systems to scale recruitment for design, product and technology talent, all within a fully remote setup from South Africa.

You’ll work autonomously in a fast-growing, entrepreneurial environment, shaping processes, databases and long-term talent strategy while collaborating with the founder to create

Qualifications

• 4–6 years' experience in recruitment, talent sourcing, research or related roles.
• Strong research and market mapping capabilities.
• Excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
• Highly organised with precise data management and attention to detail.
• Comfortable using databases, CRMs, spreadsheets and AI tools.

Responsibilities

• Identify high-quality design, product and technology talent across channels.
• Research and map markets for current and future searches.
• Build focused candidate pools with quality over volume.
• Maintain and enrich the internal talent database and CRM.
• Develop scalable recruitment processes and workflows.

Skills

Research skills

Sourcing ability

Communication

Relationship-building

Organisational skills

Curiosity

Proactive

Remote work

Design recruitment

Tools

LinkedIn Recruiter

Apollo

Clay

CRM/ATS

Claude

Job description

About the Company

Our client is a growing UK-based design recruitment and capability consultancy helping product companies build, develop and scale high-performing design teams.

They are at an exciting stage of growth, and this is an opportunity to join as their first hire, working closely with the founder to build the talent function, strengthen their talent network and create scalable recruitment infrastructure.

About the Role

We are looking for a Talent Success Manager who combines strong research and sourcing ability with excellent communication, relationship-building and organisational skills.

This is not a traditional recruitment resourcer role.

You will be responsible for identifying exceptional design and product talent, engaging and nurturing relationships, maintaining the company's internal talent database, conducting market research and helping build systems that make the recruitment operation smarter and more scalable.

You will have considerable autonomy and ownership from day one. The ideal person will enjoy working in an entrepreneurial environment where processes are still being built and where they can contribute ideas rather than simply follow an established playbook.

What You'll Do

Talent Sourcing & Research

• Identify high-quality design, product and technology talent through LinkedIn, Apollo, Clay and other relevant channels.
• Conduct targeted talent research and market mapping for current and future searches.
• Build focused, high-quality candidate pools rather than relying on high-volume sourcing.
• Research companies, teams, career histories and talent markets to identify relevant individuals.
• Assess candidates for quality, relevance and potential fit.

Candidate Engagement & Relationships

• Write thoughtful, personalised outreach that reflects an understanding of the candidate and opportunity.
• Build strong initial relationships with prospective candidates.
• Manage candidate conversations professionally and represent the business and its clients exceptionally well.
• Maintain relationships with strong candidates even when there is no immediate opportunity.
• Build a long-term network of high-quality design and product professionals.
• Take ownership of the company's internal talent database and treat it as a key business asset.
• Ensure candidate information is accurate, structured, tagged and up to date.
• Clean and organise existing data to improve searchability and future sourcing.
• Track candidate experience, interests, relationships and engagement.
• Continuously improve the quality and usefulness of the internal talent pool.

Systems, AI & Process Improvement

• Use tools such as LinkedIn, Apollo, Clay and Claude to improve research and sourcing efficiency.
• Explore AI and automation opportunities that reduce repetitive work and improve quality.
• Help develop repeatable workflows and processes as the business scales.
• Identify gaps in the current recruitment process and proactively suggest improvements.
• Help transition the business towards its internal database as the primary source of truth.

Business & Community Support

• Support the development of the company's talent community and candidate network.
• Contribute ideas around content, engagement and market intelligence.
• Develop an understanding of the design recruitment market and the qualities that distinguish exceptional talent.
• Work closely with the founder and take increasing ownership as the business grows.

What We're Looking For

• Ideally 4–6 years' experience in recruitment, talent sourcing, research, sales, talent acquisition or another comparable people-focused role.
• Ambitious candidates with less experience will be considered if they demonstrate exceptional potential and the right capabilities.
• Strong research skills and the ability to identify relevant, high-quality people.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
• Highly organised with exceptional attention to detail.
• Comfortable working with databases, CRM systems, spreadsheets and digital tools.
• Naturally curious and willing to learn new technology and AI tools.
• Proactive and comfortable taking ownership without needing constant direction.
• Able to work independently in a remote environment.
• Commercially aware and able to understand what makes a candidate genuinely valuable to a client.
• Recruitment agency or executive/talent search experience.
• Experience working in a startup, scale-up or entrepreneurial environment.
• Exposure to design, product, technology or digital recruitment.
• Experience with LinkedIn Recruiter, Apollo, Clay, CRM or ATS platforms.
• Experience managing, enriching or cleaning candidate databases.
• An interest in design and an ability to recognise quality in design/product talent.
• Experience using AI tools such as Claude or ChatGPT to improve workflows and research.

The Person We're Looking For

You don't need to tick every box.

We're particularly interested in someone who is:

• Curious – you naturally want to understand people, companies and markets.
• Commercially minded – you understand that good recruitment is about solving a business problem, not simply filling a vacancy.
• People-oriented – you enjoy speaking to people and building relationships over time.
• Detail-driven – you care about the quality and accuracy of information.
• Tech comfortable – you are excited by AI, automation and new tools rather than intimidated by them.
• Proactive – you see something that could work better and take the initiative to improve it.
• Entrepreneurial – you're comfortable helping build something that doesn't yet have all the answers.
• Design curious – you have an appreciation for good design and can develop an eye for exceptional talent.

What Success Looks Like

Within the role, success means:

• High-quality design and product talent is consistently identified and engaged.
• Candidate outreach is thoughtful, relevant and effective.
• Strong candidate relationships are developed and maintained over time.
• The internal talent database becomes accurate, structured and increasingly valuable.
• Market mapping and talent research become faster and more sophisticated.
• AI and technology are used intelligently to improve productivity and quality.
• Recruitment workflows become more efficient as the business grows.
• The talent network becomes a genuine long-term asset for the company.
• You increasingly operate independently and take ownership of key areas of the talent function.

Working Arrangement

Location: South Africa – fully remote

Schedule: Flexible start and finish times, aligned with the UK-based team

Employment: Permanent

• R500,000 - 650,000.00 per annum, depending on experience and level.
• Commission opportunity as the recruitment desk grows.
• Fully remote working arrangement from South Africa.
• Equipment support, including the option to use a company-rented device or receive an allowance for using a personal laptop.
• Direct exposure to and mentorship from the founder.
• Opportunity to become a key member of the team as the business scales.
• Significant ownership and autonomy from day one.
• Opportunity to work at the intersection of talent, design, technology and AI.

A Reality Check

This role is for someone who wants to build, not simply execute.

As the first hire, you'll work directly with the founder to build the talent network, database and processes that will support the company's growth. You'll need to be proactive, comfortable with ambiguity and confident working things out as you go.

If you enjoy finding exceptional people, building relationships, using technology and creating better ways of working, you'll have meaningful ownership from day one.