Senior Talent Acquisition Partner - Data (12 month FTC)

Company Mission In the future, commerce will be instant, local, and seamless. What we now call "e-commerce" will simply be how we shop . Relay is building the logistics network that e-commerce should have had from the start. We're designed from the ground up for sustainability - environmental, social, and economic. By rethinking both the middle and last mile, we cut miles driven, reduce carbon emissions, lower costs, and return value to local communities. Behind the scenes, we orchestrate this with cutting-edge tech: from smart routing and real-time planning to seamless tools that empower our ground teams. We’re not just building the future, we're scaling it fast. We just closed a $35M Series A, the largest ever for a logistics tech startup in Europe. Brands like Vinted, TikTok, and Temu are choosing Relay to power their UK expansion. We're growing at a top 0.01% among all European Series A startups.

Role Overview As a Senior Talent Acquisition Partner – Software Engineering , you will be instrumental in building out Relay’s high-performing engineering teams. You will partner closely with engineering leadership, hiring managers, and the People Team to ensure that we attract, hire, and retain world-class software engineering talent. Over the next 12 months, you’ll play a pivotal role working directly with the Tech TA Lead and Engineering Directors and Founders, scaling our engineering function and establishing repeatable, scalable hiring practices that enable Relay to grow sustainably.

What you’ll do:

• End-to-End Recruitment - Own the hiring process for a range of software engineering roles – from sourcing and initial screening through to offer negotiation and onboarding. Ensure an exceptional candidate experience throughout.
• Interviewer Coaching & Training - Train and support hiring managers and engineers on best practices for technical interviewing. Help design and run effective interview processes that fairly assess engineering skills, problem-solving, and team fit.
• Stakeholder Management - Build trusted partnerships with engineering leaders, technical interviewers, and cross-functional stakeholders. Support strategic hiring plans and help shape headcount forecasts.
• Data-Informed Hiring - Track and report on hiring metrics – time to fill, conversion rates, source effectiveness, DE&I outcomes, and more – and use this data to guide continuous improvement of our recruitment practices.
• Technical Talent Sourcing - Leverage a mix of traditional sourcing platforms (LinkedIn, GitHub, Stack Overflow) and modern AI-powered recruiting tools to identify and engage high-quality software engineering talent. Use intelligent sourcing platforms and automation tools to surface hidden talent, personalise outreach at scale, and reduce time-to-hire. Build and maintain talent pipelines for current and future roles, while cultivating long-term relationships with engineering communities both online and offline.
• Market & Technical Awareness - Stay current on the engineering landscape – from evolving tech stacks and tools to market trends in hiring. Bring insights back to the business to keep our hiring strategies ahead of the curve.

Who you are: Proven experience in talent acquisition, with a strong focus on software engineering or other technical roles (e.g., backend, frontend, DevOps, full stack). Solid understanding of the software development lifecycle and key technical skills (e.g., Python, TypeScript, cloud infrastructure, microservices, CI/CD, etc.). Familiarity with technical assessments and interview formats (e.g., pair programming, system design interviews, take-home tasks). Proficiency with tools like LinkedIn Recruiter, ATS platforms, and sourcing from GitHub and Stack Overflow. Strong analytical skills – able to interpret hiring data and recommend optimisations. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills – comfortable collaborating with senior leaders, engineers, and external candidates alike. A proactive mindset – eager to learn, iterate, and continuously improve the hiring process. We understand that the ideal candidate may not tick every box, and that’s okay. If you bring strong foundational skills and a clear drive to help build an outstanding engineering team, we’d love to hear from you.

Relay is offering Generous equity package Performance bonus in the form of equity High-performance culture with 2 promotion windows per year 25 days' annual leave, plus bank holidays Bupa Global Business Premier health plan – including mental, dental, and optical cover Enhanced Parental Leave: 20 weeks of fully paid maternity leave & 4 weeks of fully paid paternity leave Contributory pension scheme Friday office lunches Access to cutting-edge AI tooling Free gym membership via our co-working spaces Cycle-to-work scheme Regular team socials, events, and offsites!!