Recruiting Lead in Haywards Heath

At Universal Quantum, we are building the next generation of quantum computers — machines capable of solving problems once thought impossible. Our technology has the potential to transform industries from healthcare to aerospace, materials science, and beyond. We are seeking a Recruiting Lead to shape how we attract and hire exceptional talent as UQ scales. You’ll combine hands‑on recruiting with leadership of a lean, high‑performing team while ensuring an exceptional hiring bar and candidate experience.

What You’ll Accomplish

• Deliver exceptional hiring outcomes.
• Own end‑to‑end recruitment for critical roles as we scale rapidly, including some of the most challenging and high‑impact hires in deep tech, working alongside and enabling a growing recruiting team.
• Build creative, high‑conviction, in‑house sourcing strategies to engage exceptional off‑market candidates.
• Meet ambitious hiring targets while maintaining an exceptionally high talent bar.
• Be accountable for key hiring outcomes, including offer acceptance rates, time to hire, quality of hires, and the strength of talent pipelines.
• Lead a world‑class recruiting function and set the standard for how we hire.
• Manage and develop a high‑performing recruiting team through servant leadership, motivation, inspiration and empowerment.
• Drive consistency and improvement across hiring processes.
• Design and optimise candidate journeys, ensuring every interaction delivers value.
• Build structured, fair and inclusive hiring processes that enable every candidate to perform at their best.
• Expand access to underrepresented talent and develop broad, high‑quality talent pipelines across all functions.
• Scale recruiting as a strategic, data‑driven function.
• Leverage Workable ATS to its full potential through templates, scorecards, and structured workflows.
• Present recruiting metrics and hiring strategy to leadership, influencing decisions & business planning.
• Lead external talent partnerships with strong commercial judgement.
• Use data and market insight (including talent trends and compensation benchmarks) to inform hiring strategy and improve processes.

The 3 Most Critical Attributes We’ll Use to Compare Candidates

• Exceptional individual contributor with a passion for the craft. You have a proven track record of delivering outstanding hiring outcomes in technical environments. You take pride in the craft of recruiting, from sourcing to candidate experience to quality and longevity of hire. You care deeply about people, and it shows in the relationships you build and the standards you hold.
• Leadership skillset with a team‑first mindset. You may not have formally managed a team before, but you demonstrate clear leadership qualities. You empower others, create momentum, and communicate with precision. You can translate insights into compelling narratives, present confidently to senior stakeholders and contribute to hiring strategy. You consistently put team success ahead of personal recognition and use strong judgement to prioritise effectively.
• Systems thinker with a data‑driven approach. You think beyond individual hires to how recruiting works as a system. You bring structure, use data to inform decisions, and continuously look for ways to improve how we operate and scale.

Must Have Skills

• 5+ years recruiting experience in high‑growth technology environments, hiring for challenging technical roles (deep tech, hardware, semiconductor or scientific domains preferred).
• Proven success in measurable hiring outcomes (time to hire, offer acceptance, candidate quality, depth and diversity of talent pipelines).
• Ability to translate recruiting data and insights into sharp, structured narratives, including creating compelling decks and presenting hiring insights & plans effectively to leadership teams.
• Comfort operating in a high‑growth startup environment, working at pace under ambiguity and with evolving processes.
• Experience building inclusive, high‑quality pipelines through thoughtful and intentional hiring practices.
• Hands‑on experience improving recruiting operations (ATS optimisation, structured interview frameworks, scalable hiring processes).
• Experience recruiting across international markets, including the UK.

Nice to Have Skills

• Direct leadership experience of a high‑performing recruiting team.
• Experience recruiting both hardware & software roles within deep tech, quantum, or scientific research environments.
• Experience scaling recruiting functions.
• Familiarity with European talent markets, particularly Germany.

Benefits

• Competitive salary.
• Meaningful equity participation.
• Flexible holiday allowance (28 days minimum).
• Flexible working.
• 10% matching pension.
• Generous parental support policy.
• Private health / dental insurance & group life insurance.
• £2,000 annual personal development budget.
• Relocation support.

We are committed to nurturing diversity and inclusion. At Universal Quantum, we’re passionate about working with and for all kinds of minds. We are committed to building an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive, and we hold ourselves accountable through continuous improvement, transparency, and the way we design our hiring and working practices. We welcome team members from all backgrounds and actively work to ensure everyone can flourish.