Hawkwood
Talent Acquistion Specialist - VC - Start-up Incubator

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Talent Acquisition Lead - VC - Start-up Incubator
Location:
London (3-4 days per week in the office)
Salary:
Up to £100,000 + bonus & carry
Hawkwood are delighted to be partnering with one of Europe's leading startup incubators as they look to hire a Talent Acquisition Specialist.
If you're passionate about startups, venture and technology, this is a genuinely rare opportunity to build relationships with founders, investors and operators while becoming immersed in one of Europe's most exciting technology ecosystems.
Our client believes that great founders can come from anywhere. Rather than focusing on CVs or job titles, they're obsessed with understanding the qualities, behaviours and judgement that signal exceptional potential long before the rest of the market spots it.
This definitely isn't a traditional Talent Acquisition role.
You won't spend your days behind LinkedIn Recruiter, managing recruitment processes or filling vacancies. Instead, you'll be out in the market building genuine relationships with founders, investors and operators, grabbing coffees, hosting events, creating communities and becoming one of the best-connected people in the venture ecosystem.
Reasons to use Rodeo
I’m in my final year doing Economics and I don’t know whether to apply for grad schemes now or do a masters first. What do you think?
Honest answer — it depends on where you want to end up. A lot of top grad schemes (Big 4, civil service, banking) don’t need a masters. Let’s look at the ones you’d be competitive for now, and we can decide if a masters actually adds anything.
Also worth knowing: most autumn 2026 applications are open now. Timing matters more than you think.
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.
Graduate Consultant — 2026 Scheme
Why you're a good match
StrongYour economics background and your summer at a regional bank line up with what PwC looks for on the consulting scheme. Applications close in four weeks.
See breakdownIt 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.
Why you're a good match
You’ve got the grades and the economics background, and your bank internship is exactly the experience this scheme looks for. Apply soon — deadlines close within the month.
Experience fit
Your summer at the bank plus your econometrics coursework map directly to the day-one responsibilities on this scheme — client modelling, market briefings, and deal support.
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.
In this role, you'll:
- Build meaningful, long-term relationships with exceptional people across the venture, technology and founder ecosystem.
- Organise networking events, dinners and community initiatives that establish your organisation as the place ambitious people want to know.
- Develop a deep understanding of what exceptional potential looks like, helping shape how future founders are identified and assessed.
- Partner closely with senior stakeholders to translate long-term relationships into outstanding hiring outcomes.
- Build and nurture a highly engaged talent community, using market insight and relationship building to stay ahead of future hiring needs.
You'll be a great fit if you:
- Have developed exceptional judgement around people and enjoy spotting potential that others might overlook.
- Thrive on building authentic, long-term relationships and naturally become a trusted connector within your network.
- Love spending time in the market, meeting interesting people, organising events and building communities rather than relying solely on outbound messaging.
- Are curious, commercially minded and excited by helping shape something that doesn't yet have an established playbook.
- Want to build your career alongside some of the most thoughtful people in venture while helping define a completely new category.


Get help with your application
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If you're motivated by building relationships, exercising judgement and helping shape an entirely new approach to identifying exceptional founders, we'd love to hear from you.
A note on Applicant Experience
We recognise how challenging this current job market is for candidates, and Hawkwood are therefore striving to provide the best candidate experience we can.
If you are interested in this opportunity, we kindly request that you apply via this LinkedIn advert, as opposed to sending us an email or LinkedIn direct message. We are eager to ensure that each candidate application is considered fairly, and receives a consistent experience.
Unfortunately, we cannot ensure this standard if you inquire about a role via email or LinkedIn message, as it falls outside of our established process.
“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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