Talent Lead

Talent is the DNA of what makes us, us. Every function's ceiling is set by the quality of hires, and we’re looking for a Talent Lead to raise the bar. 

As Talent Lead you would own the end-to-end recruitment process, rolling up your sleeves and finding the best talent in the market. We’re looking for someone who is happy to hunt down the next superstar, take ownership of the process, and business partner our leadership team to shape what we need next.

How you would interact with business leaders

We see recruiters as both hunters and advisors - committed to finding the best talent, and then sitting with leaders across the business to craft a process to secure them, rather than just ‘post and pray’.

We encourage our Hiring Managers to be fully involved in the hiring process - from co-creating the hiring plan, optimising job descriptions, through to designing case studies. The Talent Lead is our centre of expertise - challenging us to execute the best possible process. 

Your role 

Building on the foundations of our hiring framework and process, we want a Talent Lead who will drive continuous improvement, and have the creativity to identify where we need to flex things for different roles. You’ll have a real opportunity to shape things, and make a mark.

No two days are the same, but in this role someone would:

• Source high quality talent - own the strategy and the doing for how we find great people
• Raise the bar - challenge us to make sure we’re hiring the right person everytime
• Think two steps ahead - work out who we need to grow the business and where we can find them
• Own the end to end operational process
  • Running training sessions for Hiring Managers new to recruiting
  • Owning the HR systems integration between our ATS and HRIS, to ensure an operationally seamless experience 
  • Preparing contracts, templates, and managing references as an FCA regulated firm

This role is for someone who strives with real ownership, and cares about the full process and experience.

People scope

This is a Talent role, but there’s the opportunity to spend 20% of your time supporting the People function with operational activities. An ideal candidate would be willing to lend a hand across the People function where capacity allows, supporting the People Operations Lead to keep everything in check. This could look like:

• Support with engagement activities
• Support with the employee lifecycle
• Support with continually reviewing our employee value proposition

Ideal candidates will have

• 5+ years of experience in recruitment; also open to candidates with a sales background with recruiting experience 
• End-to-end ownership of roles, rather than having just being part of a recruitment team
• Experience in a start-up environment or technology firm
• Comfortable in a fast-moving environment, able to prioritise and ‘manage up’ 
• Nice to have: experience with Greenhouse

What we expect from you

• A passion for efficiency and scalability, providing visibility through documenting the recruitment pipeline, so Hiring Managers and the Leadership team have a clear view of progress and any blockers
• A collaborative mindset; happy to sit down with anyone in the business, from a Hiring Manager to the CEO 
• An interest in crafting and developing our Employer Value Proposition to be as strong as it can be; we’re not a traditional big-corporate, and our EVP reflects this
• Excellent organisational skills, and a bias for action 

Success looks like this at Octopus Money

• You can handle ambiguity. You’re comfortable using judgement to create structure and applying first principle thinking
• You’re someone who ‘chases the ball’, rather than just hoping others pick it up. We look for determination, resilience and a healthy dose of optimism  
• You thrive in a fast paced environment. You’re open to course correct when needed, and challenge yourself and others to

About Octopus Money

🐙 We’re on a mission to become the most recommended financial services business in the UK 🐙

Money shapes every part of life. Yet most people never get the support they need:

• Half of Brits reach retirement age without enough to live the life they want
• Financial stress is a leading cause of poor mental health
• Only 8% of people have access to 1-to-1 financial advice

There’s no shortage of information. What people actually need is clarity, guidance and a plan that makes sense for them.

That’s where we come in.

Octopus Money brings together financial planning, investment expertise and smart technology so people can understand their options and take action with confidence. We help people build a clear plan for their savings, investments and pensions and make investing simple with managed portfolios built by experts. We also support employers who want their teams to feel more secure and in control. 

Some people need regulated advice. Others need coaching. Many need both at different points in life. Our service adapts to what each person needs. 

We believe everyone deserves money support that works for real life.

We value people who: 

Make every conversation matter
You care about how you make people feel. You communicate clearly, listen well and build trust with customers and colleagues. You want every interaction to move things forward.

Move with urgency and focus
You like getting stuck in. You care about making progress, not perfection. You stay focused on what matters, learn quickly and find smart ways to keep things moving.

Own it
You take responsibility for your work and the outcomes it creates. You’re comfortable solving problems, making decisions and tackling challenges head on. You hold yourself to a high standard and want to make a real impact.

The interview process

Our interview process typically includes: 

• An intro call with our talent team
• A competency-based interview with the hiring manager
• A panel interview with a short task presentation
• A conversation focused on how you work and what you value

We’ll keep it simple and respectful of your time, and you’ll meet the people you’ll actually work with. Our average process takes around four weeks but we’ll always work around your availability.

What’s in it for you

Base salary: £50,000 - £55,000 (depending on experience) + benefits

Where we work

We believe in the power of in-person collaboration three days a week, but we also know people need flexibility. We give you 6 weeks a year to work away from the office when you need to; whether you want to work abroad, or just need to be at home. 

How we work

Culture starts with the right behaviours at the top. Our leaders are hands on, get stuck in, and see no job as too small. Across the business, we try to strip out unnecessary process wherever we can: people don’t need to join meetings where they’re not needed, and we challenge our teams to regularly question what’s draining their time. We talk openly about ‘stumbles of the week’, and celebrate each other with Inkspiration awards.

We want everyone in our business to see the value of their personal impact, and that’s reflected in individual bonuses. And, we’re an employee owned business, with a Share Incentive Plan.

About Octopus Group 

We're part of Octopus Group, a privately-owned business that's spent 25 years doing things differently. Octopus Group builds businesses designed to outlast it, aiming to leave things a little better for the generations that follow.

That same instinct runs through the whole group:

• Octopus Energy changed how millions of people think about their energy provider, built on fairness, transparency and a genuinely good customer experience
• Octopus Legacy is changing how people plan for the end of life
• amicable is building a better way to go through divorce
• Aurora is rethinking education
• Seccl is building the fintech infrastructure behind modern investing
• Octopus Investments and Octopus Capital back the ideas and businesses of tomorrow

We share that same DNA, doing the same thing in a different corner of people's lives: money.

Octopus Group doesn't just talk about entrepreneurship, the group enables it. Springboard, a program open to anyone however junior or senior, lets people pitch an idea to win funding. A number of businesses have been started this way, founded by former Octopus employees.