Talent Acquisition Manager

About ARIA

ARIA is a R&D funding agency created to unlock technological breakthroughs that benefit everyone. We fund scientists and engineers to pursue research at the edge of the possible.

From climate change to AI, society faces enormous challenges and opportunities that can be uniquely addressed by science and technology. ARIA was created to activate the UK's world-class R&D in new ways, so we can meet these head on.

Our success is shaped by one question: how will ARIA transform the lives of the UK's future generations? Whether that's a life-changing new technology or a burgeoning new industry, it should be obvious that ARIA played a catalytic role.

Learn more about how we work here.

Role Summary

The scope of the role will evolve as ARIA continues to grow, but will broadly involve the following:

• Lead end-to-end recruitment for ARIA's essential operational functions, including Finance, Communications, People, Procurement, Policy, and the Executive Office. You aren't just filling seats - every campaign we run, we do so with intention. We are not just looking for exceptional talent, but for diverse, mission oriented, and values driven people.
• Serve as an ambassador for ARIA. You will manage complex (at times), multi-stage interview schedules, frequently aligning candidates across various global time zones, ensuring every candidate, regardless of the outcome, feels valued, heard, and receives a first-class experience.
• Act as a trusted strategic advisor to hiring managers and scientific leaders. You will guide them through complex hiring decisions, challenging assumptions when necessary, and coach them on inclusive, effective assessment techniques.
• Operationalise contingent workforce recruitment, partnering with the Head of Talent to manage contractor searches across all ARIA teams. Employ creative sourcing methods to uncover top talent and champion agile, innovative ways of working.

Salary: c£60,000 Location: Kings X, London; Tues - Thurs (3 days) at HQ, Monday + Friday, anywhere Employment Type: 12 months Fixed-Term (with the possibility of turning permanent), full time Closing Date: 23rd November - When the initial deadline has passed, we may transition to a rolling open date until a strong candidate pool is established - please apply as soon as possible to ensure your application is considered.

A successful candidate will bring the following skills/experience:

Essential criteria

• You operate with a high degree of autonomy. We don't micromanage; instead, we trust you to take full accountability for your campaigns, proactively identifying bottlenecks and building solutions before problems escalate.
• You have deep experience managing the end to end recruiting process for a range of corporate or operational roles, up to a senior level.
• You have a strong track record in actively sourcing for hard to fill roles, moving beyond organic applications to hunt for exceptional talent.
• You're agile and adaptable, thriving in environments where the right way isn't always written down.
• You're highly organised. We typically run campaign-style recruiting processes that require careful planning, communicating upfront timeframes, and close coordination both internally and externally.
• Being detail-obsessed, you understand that in a high-stakes agency, small details, error-free comms, consistent branding and seamless scheduling - build the credibility that's needed to hire the best.
• You're a systems thinker where you don't just do tasks; you build systems to make everything run smoother. You have a track record of using tech to eliminate friction.

Desirable criteria

We're a lean team wearing many hats so we'd love it if you had some of these, but they're not dealbreakers:

• Previous experience in a fast-paced, start-up/scale-up environment.
• Experience recruiting for niche technical or scientific roles, with the willingness and curiosity to help with key hiring processes in and around our opportunity spaces.
• You understand the UK talent landscape. You can speak the language of R&D and innovation, and you appreciate the nuances of hiring for a high-profile public agency.

We are constantly looking to build on our talent tech-stack, where it will improve recruiting processes and outcomes. See below for some of the tools we've implemented so far:

Pinpoint (ATS), LinkedIn Recruiter, Metaview, Applied, Airtable, and access to a suite of enterprise-grade LLMs (including Gemini and ChatGPT). We are a Google native organisation.

How to apply

Please submit your current CV and a cover letter detailing your suitability. We pride ourselves on reviewing every application personally.

Note: A cover letter is required to be considered.