Interim Head of Talent - 15-18 Month FTC, Fintech Scale-Up in Slough

Location: London (Hybrid – 1–2 days/week in office)

Contract: 15–18 month FTC

Salary: £120,000–£130,000 + benefits

About the company:

Hawkwood are delighted to be partnering with one of Europe's top 10 fastest-growing fintech scale-ups on an Interim Head of Talent search. This is a business that has achieved exceptional and sustained growth; doubling revenue year-on-year for the past five years while rapidly expanding its global team across London, New York and Belfast to meet growing customer demand. Over the last 12 months alone, headcount has grown from 200 to 400 employees as the business continues to invest heavily in product innovation, international expansion and customer success.

With a customer base that includes many of the world’s leading financial institutions, and a track record of strong performance in both challenging and ultra-competitive market conditions, the business has proven both its market relevance and long-term resilience.

About the Role:

Our client is looking for an Interim Head of Talent for a 15-18-month contract, starting in May 2026 (or sooner), to cover a period of parental leave, with a handover on either side. This is a high-impact leadership role, responsible for managing a team of seven talented recruiters across London, New York and Belfast, whilst ensuring the people, processes and tools are in place to deliver an ambitious hiring plan.

Key areas of focus:

• Strategy: Partner closely with the COO to track progress against the 2026 hiring plan and ensure hiring is aligned with company growth goals. Work with the Exec team to proactively identify hiring challenges and collaborate on solutions. Support the evolution of the Employer Value Proposition and Employer Branding strategy, partnering with People and Marketing to attract world-class talent globally. Identify and build strategic external partnerships (e.g. mentorship initiatives, early talent programmes, industry networks) to strengthen our long-term talent pipeline. Partner with the VP People during annual budgeting and ongoing planning, supporting thoughtful headcount planning, org design and resource allocation.
• Talent Operations: Ensure Talent Operations frameworks, systems and processes are built to support continued scale. Drive consistent, high-quality hiring practices across all regions (Americas, Europe, Asia). Build and maintain Ashby reporting and dashboards, enabling clear executive-level insight into hiring progress, pipeline health and team performance. Use data to identify trends, flag risks early and highlight hiring successes. Track and analyse key talent metrics alongside industry benchmarks and macro hiring trends.
• Team Leadership: Lead and develop a high-performing, globally distributed Talent team, fostering proactive sourcing, strong collaboration and best-in-class candidate engagement. Act as a senior leader within the People team, helping drive alignment between Talent strategy and broader People initiatives. Operate as a player-coach leader - providing hands-on support during peak hiring periods.

You’ll bring:

• A strong background in Talent leadership, ideally in high-growth technology or scaling environments.
• Experience building and evolving employer brands that attract exceptional talent.
• Comfortable working with senior leadership and pushing back when necessary to maintain high hiring standards.
• Team management experience, ideally with 3+ reports.
• Data-driven and understand how metrics and insights can transform Talent functions.

If you are interested in this opportunity, we kindly request that you apply via this LinkedIn advert, as opposed to sending us an email or LinkedIn direct message. We are eager to ensure that each candidate application is considered fairly, and receives a consistent experience. Unfortunately, we cannot ensure this standard if you enquire about a role via email or LinkedIn message, as it falls outside of our established process.