Talent Acquisition Lead

cord ltd; City of London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading technology company in London is hiring a Talent Acquisition Lead – Product & Engineering. This role involves developing and executing strategies to attract and hire top technical talent across Product, Engineering, and AI. Ideal candidates will have experience in technical recruiting and scaling teams in high-growth environments, along with strong stakeholder influence skills. A focus on candidate experience and innovative sourcing strategies is essential.

Qualifications

• Hands-on experience in technical recruiting, specifically in Engineering, Product, and AI/ML.
• Experience in scaling Product & Engineering teams in high growth businesses.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders with data and insights.

Responsibilities

• Develop and deliver the talent acquisition strategy for Product & Engineering.
• Lead a small high-performing TA team.
• Build relationships with AI and engineering communities.

Skills

Technical recruiting

Stakeholder influence

Sourcing strategies

Candidate experience

Team leadership

Tools

AI tools

Ashby

LinkedIn Recruiter

Job description

We’re hiring a Talent Acquisition Lead – Product & Engineering to design, drive, and deliver how we attract and hire world‑class Product, Engineering and AI talent in London.

Responsibilities

Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and deliver the Product & Engineering talent acquisition strategy for London, aligned to Orbital’s growth and squad expansion plans.
• Lead, coach, and develop a small high‑performing TA team (2–3 people).
• Act as the senior talent advisor to Product, Engineering, Design and AI leadership—guiding role design, workforce planning, and hiring prioritisation.
• Use talent insights, market data, and performance metrics to influence hiring decisions and future skills planning.
• Partner on cross‑functional initiatives across capability building, hiring process excellence, and TA technology.

Talent Attraction & Sourcing Excellence

• Build and execute innovative sourcing strategies for complex technical and AI/ML roles, creating diverse and sustainable talent pipelines.
• Develop compelling content, storytelling, and campaigns that amplify Orbital’s culture and engineering mission to relevant talent.
• Build relationships and integrate with London’s AI and engineering communities to strengthen brand visibility and talent engagement.

Stakeholder Partnership & Hiring Excellence

• Partner directly with CTO, Product & Engineering leaders on hiring strategy, role calibration, assessment frameworks, and decision‑making.
• Run high‑quality role briefings, interview training, and debrief sessions to drive alignment and consistency.
• Champion a thoughtful, inclusive, high‑touch candidate experience through every stage of the process.
• Provide quarterly insights and updates to the Head of Talent, CTO and leadership team.

Process, Data & Innovation

• Ensure consistent, accurate use of all TA tech (Ashby, LI recruiter, WTTJ) to enable reporting, forecasting, and operational excellence.
• Share hiring metrics and insights to drive transparency and accountability with senior teams.
• Lead adoption of AI tools, automation, and emerging recruitment technology to increase speed, quality, and efficiency.
• Continuously iterate on hiring practices to optimise for performance, quality of hire, and candidate experience.

Requirements

• You’ve spent your career in hands‑on technical recruiting. You’ve hired across Engineering, Product, , and ideally AI/ML—and know how to consistently source, engage, and close top talent.
• You’ve scaled Product & Engineering teams in high growth businesses before. You know what high‑performing squads look like and how to hire for them. You will excel in environments where speed and quality must coexist.
• You’re both strategic and execution‑minded. You can shape hiring strategy one moment and dive into a search with urgency the next.
• You influence senior stakeholders with confidence. You bring data, insight, and a point of view to engineering and product leaders.
• You care deeply about candidate experience. You build inclusive, respectful processes that reflect who we are and how we work.
• You thrive in ambiguity. You build structure where needed, operate with pragmatism, and help create the playbook as we grow.
• You understand Talent as a business lever. You see hiring as shaping teams, enabling performance, and building the future of Orbital.

A Few Nice‑To‑Haves

• Experience with Ashby and modern TA tooling and automation.
• Exposure to scaling a UK‑based tech or AI organisation.