Foundation Partners
Talent Acquisition Specialist (6 month FTC)
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Hiring the right people is the single biggest determinant of success for founders and also the most time-consuming, distracting, and inconsistent part of scaling a business. At Foundation Partners we exist to give founders confidence that they will consistently access the best possible talent, at the right time, across Product, Engineering, and Go-To-Market, without compromising speed, quality, or focus.
We do this by embedding world-class talent operators into client teams faster than building internal capability, more cost-effective than agencies, and with significantly higher signal-to-noise than traditional recruitment models.
Role Purpose & Overview
The Embedded Talent Specialist/Sourcer is a hands-on role designed for a recruiter whose core strength is direct sourcing, probably across multiple talent verticals. You will be part of an expanding team this area and part of a small founding team. The opportunity to work across some of the fastest growing start ups in Europe and beyond will mean you will gain career defining experience .....very quickly!
This role is focused on finding, engaging, and converting exceptional talent in competitive markets. You will operate as a trusted sourcing partner to founders, hiring managers, and Embedded Talent Leads, owning the top-of-funnel strategy and execution across Engineering, Product, or GTM roles.
You are not a transactional sourcer. You bring market intelligence, creativity, and first-principles thinking to every search, understanding where the best talent actually lives, how they move, and what motivates them to engage.
Key Responsibilities
When you join us you will be able to work across multiple clients and with our Talent Leads (Al, Lisa, and Emily) to ensure we have the best talent at all times. You will have the opportunity here to work across the following areas:
Sourcing & Pipeline Ownership
You will own the end-to-end direct sourcing strategy and execution for critical roles across: Engineering (Backend, Frontend, Full-Stack, Mobile, Data, Platform), Product (Product Managers, Designers, Product Leaders), GTM (Sales, Marketing, RevOps, Customer Success) Build and maintain high-quality, always-on talent pipelines using proactive outbound sourcing rather than reactive applications. Identify non-obvious talent pools through all means necessary such as advanced Boolean search, specialist platforms, communities, and referrals. Create and recommend sourcing channels beyond standard job boards Continuously test, iterate, and refine sourcing approaches to maximise response rates, quality, and speed.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Multi-Platform & Advanced Tooling Experience
Leverage and optimise sourcing tools such as:
LinkedIn Recruiter as well as boolean / X-ray search Juicebox, Metaview, and other AI sourcing intelligence tools. Partner with Embedded Talent Leads to experiment with new sourcing technologies (AI-assisted search, automation, enrichment tools). Maintain clean, accurate pipeline data to ensure visibility and decision-making at all times.
Market Intelligence & Advisory
You will act as a live feed of the market for Embedded teams and clients informing them of :
Talent availability and scarcity, compensation expectations and market shifts, and candidate motivations and objections. Advise on realistic sourcing strategies based on market conditions rather than idealised role specs. Provide feedback loops to refine role definitions, candidate personas, and outreach messaging.
Embedded Partnership & Collaboration
Work closely with Embedded Talent Leads and client hiring managers as a true extension of the team. Participate in intake sessions, role calibration, and pipeline reviews. Be present inside the business to understand product, customers, roadmap, and growth goals so sourcing decisions are grounded in reality. Communicate proactively and clearly at all times pipeline health should never be a mystery.
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Core Behaviours & Mindset
First-principles thinker: You don’t just run searches, you ask why the role exists and where the best people will realistically come from. MVP mentality: Perfect searches don’t ship hires. Speed, learning, and iteration matter. Calm under pressure: Urgent without being reactive; structured without being rigid. Data-led: You track response rates, conversion, time-to-shortlist, and continuously optimise. Relentlessly proactive: You don’t wait for candidates to apply, you go where they already are. Over-communicator: Stakeholders should always know what’s happening before they ask.
Qualifications & Experience
2+ years in Talent Acquisition or Sourcing, ideally starting in high-performance agency/search environments or in the Startup /Scaleup world. Demonstrated expert-level sourcing capability across at least one of: Engineering, Product, GTM Significant experience working with startups and scale-ups (Seed–Series B). Proven success sourcing in competitive, low-signal markets where talent is scarce. Deep familiarity with modern sourcing tools, platforms, and methodologies.
Whats On Offer
Location - Central London (Tottenham Court Road)
Hybrid Set Up - 2-3 Days a week in office or client sites
Salary - Competitive
A People team built for ambitious businesses
The old model for People & Talent doesn’t work for today's businesses. We've built a better one.
Traditionally, early-stage Founders had two options: handle People & Talent themselves, losing precious time they should be spending on product or go-to-market, or hire a generalist, expected to cover everything from culture to recruitment to performance. We offer a more impactful alternative: A fully flexible, fractional People & Talent team with specialist skillsets and hands-on delivery, ready to start driving impact for your business in weeks, not months.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
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