Global Early Careers Campus Recruiter in London

We’re becoming an AI-native business in how we work, build, and grow. This means hiring high-quality interns and graduates who are energised by AI and motivated by the pace, ownership, and exposure that comes with a founder-led business. Early careers is a core pipeline into the roles that matter most at OakNorth. This role is about building that pipeline — with a clear focus on quality, retention, and long-term impact, not just hiring volume.

The opportunity: This is a builder role, not a maintainer. You will design and run OakNorth’s global early careers programme — spanning internships and graduate hiring across London, New York, Gurgaon, Bangalore, and Manchester. Embedded within the wider Talent function, you’ll connect early careers to experienced hiring, workforce planning, and long-term talent development. There is no finished playbook. You’ll define it — building a programme that is structured, scalable, and aligned to real business demand.

What success looks like (Year 1):

• A clear, scalable internship and graduate programme designed
• Internships established as the primary feeder into high-quality hires
• Strong, engaged hiring manager base — aligned on bar and actively participating
• A forward workforce plan in place, with hiring driven by real business demand
• Measurable quality of hire: strong conversion, retention, and early performance.

What you’ll own:

• Programme design & delivery: Own a two-track early careers programme: internships, Apprenticeships, Insight week and a 1-year graduate scheme. Define rotations, learning pathways, mentoring, and conversion frameworks. Set clear standards and success metrics from entry through to post-programme performance. Build internships as the primary feeder into graduate hiring. Own the full lifecycle: Attraction → Assessment → Offer → Onboarding → Programme → Conversion → Retention. Track performance, conversion rates, and long-term outcomes.
• Talent & business alignment: Translate business hiring needs into structured early careers pipelines across: Debt Finance, Engineering, Product, Finance & Legal, Operations. Partner with hiring managers to define what good looks like. Build a forward-looking workforce plan based on real demand. Continuously improve pipeline quality using data and insight. Connect Talent, People Partners, L&D, and business leadership.
• Attraction & university strategy: Build a focused university strategy across the UK, US, and India. Prioritise depth over breadth in relationships. Represent OakNorth on campus through events, partnerships, and societies. Develop a compelling early careers narrative against banks, Big Tech, and startups. Partner with Talent and Marketing to ensure consistent messaging.
• Selection & assessment: Design a rigorous, fair, and scalable selection process. Assess for potential, not polish. Implement high-signal, low-bias assessment methods. Train hiring managers to assess consistently. Define and track quality of hire (performance, progression, retention). Ensure strong outcomes beyond hiring — retention and development.
• Global coordination: Align programme structure and standards across UK, US, and India. Partner with local teams to adapt programmes to each market. Coordinate hiring cycles, budgets, and reporting. Maintain a clear global view of pipeline health.
• Stakeholder partnership: Operate as part of the core Talent team. Align early careers with experienced hiring and broader people strategy. Influence hiring plans and talent investment decisions. Provide clear, data-led insights on pipeline quality and ROI.

Priority pipelines: You will build reliable, high-quality feeder pipelines into critical junior roles across the business, including Debt Finance, Engineering, Product, Finance, Legal, and Operations. Build a clear pathway from intern → graduate → junior role, particularly for hiring where consistency, quality, and retention are critical.

AI & the future of work: OakNorth is becoming an AI-native business — and how we hire should reflect that. Use AI tools to improve sourcing, assessment, and programme delivery. Apply data and insight to continuously improve hiring quality. Build modern, high-signal candidate experiences. Engage with AI-curious and high-potential talent communities.

What we’re looking for:

• Core experience: A recruiter with 4+ years in early careers / campus recruiting. Track record of building programmes end-to-end. Experience operating within a broader Talent function. Exposure to global hiring (UK, US, India preferred).
• Capabilities: Strong instinct for quality over volume. Experience measuring outcomes (performance, retention, conversion). Builder mindset — comfortable creating and iterating. Able to operate at pace in a high-growth environment. Credible with both students and senior stakeholders. Data-driven and outcome-focused. Curious about AI and its impact on hiring.
• Culture fit: Focused on long-term talent value, not short-term hiring. Holds a high bar and owns outcomes. Connects the dots across teams. Brings energy and authenticity.

What this role isn’t:

• A standalone campus role disconnected from Talent.
• A coordination-heavy or purely operational role.
• A people management role (initially).
• A role with a fixed playbook.