Senior Talent Partner - Commercial, AI-First Talent Acquisition Function, Leading Fintech in London

• Senior Talent Partner (GTM & Commercial)
• London | Hybrid (3–4 days per week)

The Opportunity

Hawkwood is delighted to be partnering on a confidential search for a Senior Talent Partner to join one of Europe's most successful technology scale-ups and one of the world's fastest-growing profitable digital banks.

Built by entrepreneurs to challenge the status quo, this technology-led business combines proprietary technology, data and commercial expertise to deliver faster, smarter lending decisions for ambitious, founder-led companies.

Having deployed more than $21bn in lending across the UK and US, the organisation continues to invest heavily in its people, technology and international growth.

As the business enters its next phase of scale, Talent Acquisition is undergoing a significant transformation.

Reporting to the Director of Global Talent Acquisition, you'll join a team that is fundamentally rethinking how hiring should operate.

From AI-enabled workflows and recruiter productivity to global hiring processes, recruiter enablement and candidate experience, the function is being rebuilt from the ground up - creating a rare opportunity to shape how Talent Acquisition evolves, rather than simply operating within an established model.

Alongside leading end-to-end recruitment across Go-to-Market, Marketing, Finance, People, Operations, Legal and Risk & Compliance, you'll act as a genuine Talent Partner to senior stakeholders - bringing market insight, challenging thinking and helping hiring managers make better decisions as the business continues to grow.

You'll be encouraged to challenge existing ways of working, experiment with new ideas and play an active role in building the future of Talent Acquisition.

What you'll do

• Lead end-to-end recruitment across Go-to-Market, Marketing, Finance, People, Operations, Legal, and Risk & Compliance.
• Partner closely with senior leaders to develop hiring strategies aligned to business growth.
• Act as a trusted Talent Partner, providing market intelligence, talent insights and commercial challenge throughout the hiring process.
• Directly source exceptional talent, building proactive pipelines for both immediate and future hiring needs.
• Deliver an outstanding candidate and hiring manager experience from initial engagement through to offer.
• Help shape an AI-first Talent Acquisition function by improving sourcing, automation, recruiter productivity and candidate engagement.
• Contribute to the continued evolution of Ashby, recruitment analytics, and data-driven decision-making.
• Drive continuous improvement across recruitment processes, hiring quality and operational excellence.
• Play an active role in building scalable Talent Acquisition capability as the organisation continues to grow internationally.

You will bring

• Experience recruiting within a high-growth technology business, ideally founder-led or VC-backed
• A proven track record of supporting organisational scale across commercial and corporate functions.
• Strong direct sourcing capability, with the ability to build talent pipelines rather than relying on inbound applicants.
• Experience partnering with senior stakeholders, influencing hiring decisions and providing credible market insight.
• A bias for action, with the confidence to navigate ambiguity, solve problems and maintain momentum in a fast-moving environment.
• A builder's mindset, enjoying the challenge of creating structure, improving processes and continuously raising the bar.
• Strong ATS fluency and an appreciation for recruitment operations, reporting and data quality.
• Genuine curiosity about AI and emerging technologies, with the ambition to help redefine how Talent Acquisition operates through experimentation, automation and continuous innovation.
• A collaborative, ownership-led approach and the resilience to thrive in a high-performing, scaling business.

We recognise how challenging this current job market is for candidates, and Hawkwood is therefore striving to provide the best candidate experience we can.

If you are interested in this opportunity, we kindly request that you apply via this Linked In advert rather than by email or 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 inquire about a role via email or Linked In message, as it falls outside of our established process.