Talent Partner

About Pencil

Pencil is revolutionizing advertising technology via an advanced SaaS solution that leverages Generative AI to transform content creation. The company's goal is to establish AI as a go-to tool in advertising, supporting creatives rather than replacing them. Pencil aims to empower not just large brands but also small enterprises and individual creatives.

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced and proactive Talent Partner on a freelance contract basis to play a critical role in scaling our team. This position involves managing full recruitment processes across various functions, building robust talent pipelines, and serving as a trusted advisor to hiring managers. Ideal candidates thrive in fast-paced, autonomous, and problem-solving environments, where they can influence hiring strategies and deliver excellent results.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end recruitment cycles including sourcing, screening, interviewing, extending offers, and closing candidates.
• Collaborate with hiring managers to develop precise job descriptions, competency-based interview plans, and effective evaluation scorecards.
• Proactively source candidates through diverse platforms and techniques, ensuring prompt and attentive handling of inbound applications.
• Ensure a superior candidate experience from initial contact through onboarding handover.
• Conduct thorough initial interviews assessing candidates' skills, behaviors, motivations, and cultural fit.
• Advise and coach hiring managers on interview best practices, reduction of bias, assessment methods, and decision-making processes.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date data in applicant tracking systems and recruitment dashboards.
• Consistently represent the company's culture and values in all interactions.

Candidate Profile

• Experienced in recruiting within fast-growing technology or startup settings, particularly supporting rapid headcount expansions while maintaining high hiring standards.
• Demonstrated success hiring for Product and Engineering functions.
• Proven ability to execute full recruitment lifecycle management over multiple disciplines.
• Dedicated to continuous improvements in speed, quality, and equity of hiring processes.
• Keen assessment abilities emphasizing quality and cultural contribution.
• Data-driven approach utilizing metrics and insights to inform decisions and recommendations.
• Empathetic, emotionally intelligent with proven capability to build trusted relationships.
• Comfortable collaborating with senior leaders in a global, distributed organization.

Ideal Traits

• Confidently hire across Product and Engineering while also managing roles in Growth, Operations, and emerging positions such as Agent Architects.
• Acts as a true partner to hiring managers by challenging, coaching, persuading, and guiding them.
• Utilizes innovative sourcing strategies and modern recruiting tools to find untapped talent pools.
• Relentlessly advocates for an exceptional candidate experience.
• Employs data analytics to identify issues, guide decisions, and assess results.
• Integrates Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion consistently throughout all stages of the hiring process.

Success Metrics

• Timely filling of roles according to agreed schedules.
• Quality of hire judged by hiring manager satisfaction, positive feedback from new hires, and pass rates at interview stages.
• Strong pipeline health characterized by proactive sourcing and diverse candidate pools.
• Favorable candidate experience indicated by positive feedback, low drop-off, and prompt communication.
• Recruitment process excellence including adoption of scorecards, usage of interview plans, data precision, and workflow reliability.
• Demonstrable DEI impact through diverse sourcing and inclusive hiring practices.

Additional Information

This position is a contract role based in the United Kingdom and requires onsite presence. Applicants should be willing to work on a contractual basis.