Head of talent acquisition in digital consultancy

Hippo Digital is a rapidly growing digital consultancy passionate about building and delivering transformative digital solutions for a diverse range of public and private-sector clients. We are recruiting for a Talent Acquisition Lead to support our next phase of growth.

• Take accountability for recruitment performance and hiring outcomes across an assigned portfolio, which may cover technical permanent, non-technical permanent or associate recruitment.
• Translate approved and forecast workforce demand into a clear, prioritised and deliverable portfolio recruitment plan.
• Personally lead the end-to-end recruitment of selected critical, senior, specialist or difficult-to-fill roles.
• Develop sourcing and attraction strategies for recurring and business-critical capabilities, building proactive pipelines rather than relying solely on reactive applications.
• Act as the senior recruitment partner to Profession leaders and hiring stakeholders, providing evidence-based advice on talent availability, salaries, timescales, assessment and delivery risk.
• Provide clear priorities, day-to-day direction, coaching and recruitment expertise to the Talent Acquisition Partner supporting your portfolio.
• Ensure attraction and assessment processes are inclusive, structured, proportionate and appropriate to the professional disciplines within your portfolio.
• Maintain a consistent and engaging candidate experience, ensuring communication, feedback and decision-making are timely and professional.
• Identify professionals who combine deep craft expertise with the communication, adaptability and client focus required to succeed in a consultancy environment.

• Significant experience delivering end-to-end recruitment in a fast-paced environment, including senior, specialist and difficult-to-fill appointments.
• A strong understanding of one or more of the talent markets relevant to Hippo, including: User Research, Content Design, Service Design and User Experience Design; Product Management, Business Analysis and Agile Delivery Management; Software Engineering, Data Engineering/Science/Analytics, Technical Architecture and QA.
• Advanced direct-sourcing skills and experience developing proactive pipelines for scarce, specialist or recurring capabilities.
• The credibility and confidence to advise senior stakeholders, constructively challenge assumptions and facilitate decisions when priorities compete.
• A strong understanding of structured and inclusive assessment methods, from technical exercises and system-design discussions to portfolio reviews, case studies and competency-based interviews.
• A methodical approach to recruitment, using applicant tracking systems and analytics to understand demand, pipeline health, conversion, source effectiveness and delivery risk.

• As Well As a Competitive Salary Which We’re Transparent About From The Outset, You Can Also Expect a Range Of Benefits:
• Contributory pension scheme (Hippo 6% with employee contributions of 2%)
• 25 days holiday plus UK public holidays
• Perkbox access for a wide range of discounts
• Critical illness cover
• Life assurance and death in service cover
• Volunteer days
• Cycle-to-work scheme for the avid cyclists
• Salary sacrifice electric vehicles scheme
• Season ticket loans
• Financial and general wellbeing sessions
• Flexible benefits scheme with options of: private health cover, private dental cover, additional company pension contributions, additional holidays (up to an extra 2 days), wellbeing contribution, charity contributions, tree planting
• Plus, we offer a generous relocation support package of up to £8k (please ask for terms and conditions) to help make your move a smooth one.