Dave's Hot Chicken UK & Ireland
Talent Acquisition Partner
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Job Title: Talent Acquisition Partner
Reporting To: Head of People
Location: 2/3 days in Azzurri Group HO or DHC restaurant with occasional travel to restaurants when required
Dave’s Hot Chicken started as a late-night parking lot pop-up—three friends, $900 and a portable fryer slinging hot chicken in East Hollywood. Fast forward and it’s a global sensation with a cult following—including icons like Drake and Usher. Known for its mind-blowing flavour and addictive heat, Dave’s is bringing the vibe to the UK—and they’re looking for bold, hype-driven people to join the team.
Overview of the Role
We are a high-growth premium quick-service restaurant brand entering an exciting phase of rapid expansion. We have 15 restaurants nationally with aggressive plans for more in the next 12 months plus European expansion…and we’re just getting started.
We’re looking for a proactive and experienced Talent Acquisition Partner to join our team, someone who is equal parts strategist and hustler. We are breaking our reliance on expensive recruitment agencies and taking total ownership of our talent pipeline. You will be the architect behind our new sourcing engines and the driving force on the ground, ensuring every New Restaurant Opening (NRO) and existing store is packed with crews and leaders who embody the Dave’s DNA.
Key Responsibilities:
- To attract, select, and secure the absolute best talent in the QSR industry. You will build and manage a direct-sourcing machine that slashes our agency spend, while simultaneously giving our managers the exact tools they need to hire elite crews from our applicant pools.
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The Building
As part of our "Blueprint for Growth" strategy, you will take the lead on Talent Attraction & Acquisition. Over the next 12 months, you will:
- Launch an in-house headhunting strategy for General Managers (GMs) and Assistant Managers (AMs) to drastically reduce agency spend and cut down our time-to-hire.
- Shift our New Restaurant Openings from pure attraction to precision selection. You will design standardised cultural-fit scorecards and high-energy assessment guides for our hiring managers to use.
- Introduce a rigorous, objective assessment process (stress-testing commercial acumen and cultural fit) for all external management hires before they get the keys to a store.
- Train our GMs and Area Managers on the new selection toolkits so they can confidently run their own hiring events.
- Define and deliver an exceptional candidate experience for every candidate.
- Support the wider People Team with communicating our EVP to potential candidates and raising awareness of our employer branding.
The Day-to-Day
- Manage our Applicant Tracking System (Talent Funnel), ensuring job postings are compelling, brand-aligned, and highly visible.
- Ensure everyone who applies to Dave's gets a fast and engaging candidate experience, whether they get the job or not.
- Conduct initial screening for all management vacancies, acting as the ultimate gatekeeper for the Dave's culture.
- Build a talent pool of future external managers ready to be deployed when needed.
- Act as a true partner to Operations Director, Operations Development Director, Operations Managers and GMs, holding weekly recruitment check-ins to anticipate staffing needs before they become an emergency.
- Maintain our live recruitment data on the Central People Dashboard, focusing on time-to-hire, cost-per-hire, and agency spend reduction.
- Manage our job sites and review our attraction and sourcing methods to ensure they are fit for purpose and are attracting the right calibre of candidates.
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Person Specification:
- Proven background in fast-paced, high-volume recruitment, ideally within QSR, hospitality, or retail. You have either worked as an in-house recruiter or worked in agency looking to take that step into in-house.
- Has the ability to balance a commercial approach with best practice.
- Confident managing competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to influence and build trust at all levels.
- Proactive and solutions-focused with excellent organisational skills.
- Acts with integrity, confidentiality, and sensitivity at all times.
- Strong written skills and a confident verbal communicator.
- High level of attention to detail.
Our People Philosophy
"You bring the heat. We build a mind-blowing career."
By joining us at this critical scaling phase, you won't just be filling vacancies. You will be building the foundational talent structures of one of the most hyped QSR brands in the UK. We back ambition, reward performance, and will give you the platform to step up and build your career alongside the rapid growth of the brand.
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