Recruitment Manager

theInterna is a managed internship placement business connecting a network of 500+ European startups with students and career changers worldwide, across four revenue lines: tech bootcamp partnerships, education abroad providers and universities, a direct-to-consumer career accelerator, and a paid recruitment service.

This role owns everything that happens after a partner or student says yes: matching, placement, delivery quality, partner relationships, and the growth of the recruitment business. You run delivery end to end so the founder can focus entirely on new partnerships and strategy. It is the most operationally important role in the company.

Core responsibilities

1. Delivery and matching

• Own end-to-end placement delivery across all client lines: tech bootcamps, education abroad providers, universities, and the B2C accelerator.
• Match every student to a host on the monthly cycle, achieving a 100% placement rate for all guaranteed-placement partners (education abroad providers, tech bootcamps and universities whose candidates are contractually guaranteed an internship), with every match confirmed at least one week before the cohort start date.
• Ensure learning agreements and placement contracts are signed by all parties at least one week before each internship begins.
• Run student and host onboarding for each placement: kick-off, expectation setting and project scoping (full training provided during handover).
• Communicate with students and hosts across a range of channels as the situation requires, predominantly via the business WhatsApp, LinkedIn and email.
• Resolve all in-placement issues: rematches where a placement is not working, mediation between student and host, and additional mentorship where needed.
• Run the mentorship programme across Cybersecurity, Data Science, Software Engineering and any new streams: organise sessions, schedule mentors, and manage mentor quality.
• Own the end-of-placement process: completion certificates, host feedback and testimonials, and for German placements ensuring the host issues the Praktikumszeugnis within two weeks of completion (a legal obligation on the host that theInterna cannot fulfil on their behalf).
• Project-manage the visa programme with team: ensure students pay the visa fee on time and assemble their documents to deadline.

2. Partner and client management

• Own the day-to-day relationship with every tech bootcamp, education abroad provider and university partner from the point of signature onward.
• Deliver a regular written progress report to each partner per active cohort (the Recruitment Intern can support preparation).
• Retain every core partner and deepen each relationship, identifying opportunities to expand volumes or add new programmes, and flagging commercial openings to founder

3. Recruitment business growth

• Grow the paid recruitment service
• Own the recruitment sales pipeline end to end: qualify demand, pitch, close, and deliver.
• Direct the Recruitment Intern on candidate sourcing, screening and shortlist preparation.

4. Host network and CRM

• Nurture and develop the core host relationships: keep hosts active on the platform, understand their hiring appetite, and maintain their willingness to host or hire.
• Support new host sourcing where possible, with lead generation continuing to be fed by cold outreach; the priority is depth of relationship with existing hosts, not volume of new ones.
• Own, maintain and improve the CRM as the single source of truth for host and partner relationships.

5. Process, tech and AI

• Take on and maintain the delivery handover documentation as a living playbook, so every core process is documented and repeatable.
• Identify and implement tools, automation and AI across matching, reporting and administration to reduce manual work and increase placement capacity.

What success looks like

• Placement rate: 100% of guaranteed-partner candidates placed, matched at least 1 week before cohort start.
• Contracting: all learning agreements signed by all parties at least 1 week before start.
• Completion documents: certificates and (for Germany) the Praktikumszeugnis secured within 2 weeks of placement end.
• Partner retention: every core partner retained, with the reporting cadence met for every active cohort.
• Founder reporting: written update to Founder three times per week without exception.

Decision rights and escalation

You decide: individual matches, day-to-day partner communication, mentor scheduling, in-placement issue resolution, CRM and process changes.

You escalte to Founder: anything touchin contract terms, legal or compliance matters (including any certificate or employment-law dispute), any issue that could put a core partner relationship at risk, and any new commitment to a partner beyond agreed volumes. When in doubt, elevate early: raising something is never wrong.

First 90 days

• Month 1: full handover from the outgoing delivery and partnerships leads, supported by written handover documentation; meet every active partner and the core host companies; shadow the live monthly matching cycle.
• Month 2: own the delivery cycle end to end; recruitment pipeline running through the intern-supported engine at or above the current placement rate; partner reporting cadence running.
• Month 3: delivery running; recruitment passing first process and tooling improvements shipped.

Compensation

Compensation, working pattern and contract structure to be discussed directly.