Skills

Leadership Adaptability Stakeholder Management Coaching Team Leadership Recruitment Analytics Team Development

Job Specifications

Location: UK (Ideally, 1 day in the office a week)

Department: People & Talent

Hours: Full-time

About YLD:

Everything we do is to empower our clients to move forward. Our purpose is to help our clients develop the capabilities they need to outperform their competitors. Our success is a consequence of ensuring our clients are successful. Our company is built on extraordinary people; we aim to attract, inspire, develop and retain them. YLD is a software engineering and design consultancy; we create digital capabilities for our clients that last beyond our engagement. We have offices in London, Lisbon, Porto.

About the role:

As our Senior Talent Lead, you'll drive YLD's growth through strategic talent acquisition and resource planning. Reporting to the Head of People, you'll own our end-to-end recruitment strategy while partnering with our Head of Client Services to ensure optimal staffing allocation across client projects. Working alongside our Talent Lead (who manages the day-to-day operations of two Talent Partners), you'll act as a hands-on sourcing expert and strategic partner with delivery teams to forecast and fulfil our workforce needs.

Your day-to-day responsibilities:

Team Leadership & Development

Manage the Talent Lead and provide strategic guidance and mentorship to the Talent team
Lead by example in complex sourcing, stakeholder management, and candidate experience
Support talent team development through coaching on advanced sourcing techniques and consulting industry knowledge
Foster a culture of continuous improvement and knowledge sharing across the talent function
Act as escalation point for complex hiring challenges and senior stakeholder relationships

Strategic Partnership & Stakeholder Management

Partner with the Head of People & Talent Lead to build a flexible hiring and staffing strategy
Act as senior advisor to The Head of Client Services and Client Partners on workforce planning
Lead strategic initiatives across talent acquisition and resource optimisation
Drive data-driven recruitment processes with clear metrics and dashboards
Train hiring managers on best practices and inclusive hiring

Resource Planning & Staffing Allocation

Partner with The Head of Client Services and Client Partners to forecast staffing needs based on project pipeline
Optimise consultant utilisation through strategic workforce planning
Create flexible staffing models for different engagement types and client demands

Expert Sourcing & Delivery

Execute high-level sourcing strategies across technical and non-technical roles
Build and maintain diverse talent pipelines through direct outreach and community engagement
Own full recruitment lifecycle for critical hires
Manage supplier relationships and optimise our ATS (Greenhouse)

Cross-functional Collaboration

Advise our Head of Client Services and Function Heads on workforce planning and hiring strategy
Support employer branding and EVP development
Collaborate with the Head of People & Finance on headcount planning aligned to business forecasts

Preferred experience:

Proven senior talent acquisition experience in fast-paced tech/consulting environment and at least 2 years experience leading a team/department
Strong resource planning background, ideally in consulting or professional services
Expert-level sourcing skills with track record of finding hard-to-fill technical roles
Deep recruitment analytics and data-driven decision making
ATS expertise (preferably Greenhouse) and process optimisation
Experience managing teams and people.

This role is for you if:

You're a strategic thinker with strong business acumen and understanding of how staffing impacts client delivery
You're data-driven with strong forecasting and analytical capabilities
Have experience hiring both perm and contractors across different geographies
You are exceptional at sourcing passive candidates and building talent communities
You are a collaborative senior professional who influences stakeholders and works effectively with talent teams
Passionate about diversity, inclusion, and candidate experience

This role is not for you if:

You want a lively office with lots of in-person time. Whilst you would be in our office (near Kings Cross) once a week, most of the team is remote
You prefer predictability. We're growing and pivoting, adaptability is key
You don't enjoy managing volume hiring, we're growing quickly and have some short assignments which requires volume
You don't enjoy switching from strategy to tactical decision making

Why join us

You'll be part of a team that grows every day, sharing knowledge and learning together. We include everyone -- hierarchy doesn't get in the way of great ideas. We win together by doing what's right for our clients, delivering honest, sustainable solutions. We build relationships grounded in trust and ethics, and we celebrate innovative, inspiring solutions that push technology forward.

As well as the chance to work with a forward-thinking, eth

About the Company

YLD is a software engineering, data engineering, and product design consultancy, specialising in customer experience and disruptive technologies. We were among the first adopters of innovative technologies like Node.js, React.js, React Native, Kubernetes, and GraphQL, which are now staples for many businesses. YLD was also an early adopter of Design Systems as a service and founded Design Systems London, a non-profit community focused on design and product. We leave your teams and tech in a better space by curating bespok... Know more