Senior/ Lead Technical Recruiter

Job Description

Location: New York City

Salary: $120,000–$200,000 base salary

Working style: Hybrid (2–3 days in office)

Full Time, Permanent

Hawkwood is partnering with a prestigious global professional services firm in search of a Senior Technical Recruiting Lead to join their New York City office.

With more than 20 offices globally, the firm is internationally recognized for its exceptional talent, sophisticated client work, and commitment to innovation.

Technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and digital transformation are key areas of strategic investment, with the organization developing technology, AI-powered solutions, and innovative digital capabilities to transform how it operates and delivers services to clients.

As the firm continues to expand its technology and innovation capabilities, it has created a new position within its Talent Acquisition function, dedicated to supporting the growth of these strategically important areas.

The Opportunity

As a Senior Technical Recruiting Lead, you'll act as the firm's dedicated technical recruiting specialist, taking ownership of end-to-end hiring across a broad range of engineering, product, AI, machine learning, architecture, and emerging technology disciplines.

Working directly with the Global Head of Talent Acquisition and partnering closely with senior business and technology leaders across international markets, you'll have the autonomy to develop and execute technical recruiting strategies that support the firm's continued investment in technology and innovation.

The scope of hiring will span Software Engineering, AI/ML Engineering, Data Engineering, Solutions Architecture, Product, UX/UI, and other specialist technology functions, supporting the development of proprietary technology, innovative digital products, and client-facing solutions.

As a standalone technical recruiting lead, you'll be responsible for driving searches independently, from defining hiring requirements and developing sourcing strategies through to identifying, engaging, and securing exceptional technical talent.

Beyond recruitment delivery, you'll act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders, bringing valuable market intelligence, challenging and refining hiring requirements, and helping shape the firm's broader approach to technical talent attraction.

This is a highly visible, hands-on individual contributor opportunity suited to someone who thrives with autonomy, enjoys building and improving recruitment capabilities, and is excited by the opportunity to make a meaningful impact within a prestigious international organization.

Key Priorities

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• Take ownership of the firm's specialist technical recruitment activity, operating as a standalone recruiting lead with significant autonomy and accountability for hiring delivery.
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• Lead end-to-end recruitment across Software Engineering, AI/ML Engineering, Data Engineering, Solutions Architecture, Product, UX/UI, and other emerging technology disciplines.
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• Partner directly with the Global Head of Talent Acquisition and senior business and technology leaders to understand hiring priorities, define technical requirements, and develop effective recruitment strategies.
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• Own complex and specialist searches from initial briefing through to offer acceptance, including senior and difficult-to-fill technical positions.
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• Proactively identify, source, engage, and attract highly sought-after engineering and technology talent through direct sourcing, talent mapping, market research, and creative outreach strategies.
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• Build and maintain strong talent pipelines across a broad range of technical disciplines, supporting both immediate hiring requirements and longer-term workforce needs.
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• Act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders, providing market intelligence and guidance on talent availability, compensation, location considerations, and competitive hiring dynamics.
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• Challenge and refine hiring requirements where appropriate, using market insights and technical recruiting expertise to develop realistic and effective search strategies.
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• Support international recruitment initiatives, partnering with stakeholders across different geographies and navigating varied hiring requirements.
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• Develop compelling approaches to attracting specialist technical talent to a global professional services organization, effectively communicating its investment in proprietary technology, AI, and innovation.
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• Manage multiple concurrent searches independently, ensuring clear stakeholder communication, effective recruitment processes, and a consistently strong candidate experience.
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• Help shape and develop the firm's technical recruiting capabilities, identifying opportunities to refine processes, strengthen sourcing strategies, and improve talent attraction as the business continues to grow.
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What They're Looking For

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• Strong experience in Technical Recruiting, Engineering Recruitment, or Technical Talent Acquisition, gained within an in-house recruitment function.
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• Proven experience recruiting Software Engineers and other specialist technical talent, ideally spanning AI/ML Engineering, Data Engineering, Solutions Architecture, Product, and broader software development disciplines.
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• A strong track record of direct sourcing, talent mapping, and successfully delivering complex, senior, or difficult-to-fill technical searches.
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• Experience recruiting across multiple technical disciplines, with the ability to quickly understand unfamiliar technologies, specialist requirements, and evolving hiring priorities.
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• Extensive stakeholder management experience, with the confidence to partner directly with senior business and technology leaders, influence hiring decisions, and challenge hiring requirements where appropriate.
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• Experience recruiting technical talent within a non-tech-native organization, such as Financial Services, Professional Services, Legal Technology, or another established business investing in engineering and innovation, would be particularly advantageous.
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• Experience recruiting across international markets and partnering with stakeholders across multiple geographies.
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• Strong market mapping, research, sourcing, and talent intelligence capabilities, with the ability to identify and engage specialist talent in highly competitive markets.
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• A proactive, resourceful, and solutions-oriented approach to recruitment, with the ability to navigate ambiguity, adapt to changing priorities, and manage multiple searches simultaneously.
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• Someone who can balance strategic thinking with hands-on execution, contributing to recruitment strategy while remaining closely involved in direct sourcing and hiring delivery.
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• Excellent communication, relationship-building, and organizational skills, with a commitment to delivering a thoughtful, high-quality candidate experience.
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• Experience leveraging recruitment technology, sourcing tools, ATS platforms, and data to improve hiring outcomes would be advantageous.
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Next Steps

We recognize how competitive the 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 message directly. 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 enquire about a role via email or LinkedIn message, as it falls outside of our established process.