Hawkwood

A potentially category defining Frontier AI Lab that has grown to a $1.2bn valuation within 18 months of launching. Angels including the Perplexity CEO have invested, alongside top VCs, and they already have a roster of Fortune 500 customers using their product. We're running the search for their first People Operations hire - someone to build best-in-class, automated HR systems, using the best technology. They have an office in San Francisco but are also open to hiring fully remotely (within US) for the right candidate. Find out more here: https://lnkd.in/e2sPdWwZ

AI fluency is already becoming a non-negotiable among start-ups hiring their VP People. And it's being assessed at two levels: • Operational: using AI to drive efficiency across the people function • Strategic: shaping how AI impacts org design, capability, and workforce planning To get a clearer view, we recently partnered with Helen M. (Organisational Psychologist at Google DeepMind) to bring together a small group of senior People leaders in tech to compare notes on AI transformation. A few themes came through: • The gap in AI adoption between otherwise comparable companies was wider than expected • Even well-regarded tech businesses are only adopting limited AI use in their People org • There appeared to be little correlation between the technical depth of the product sold by the company, and their level of AI adoption within the People function • The biggest blocker was capacity: limited time, lean teams and internal approval processes slowed meaningful AI adoption We also touched on how this is landing across the workforce: • Outside major cities in the UK, access to and understanding of AI is still very uneven • Many early-career individuals are using tools like ChatGPT in a very basic way, rather than using it as a thought partner or experimenting with other tools like Claude • Sentiment varies significantly by function and stage, with operations teams tending to be more concerned about displacement, while technical teams are more likely to see automation as progress For People leaders, the challenge right now isn’t having all the answers, it’s having a clear point of view and vision - likely developed through some hands-on experience experimenting with the various use-cases of AI. Thanks to Helen & everyone who joined us! Peter Miller, Andrew Mulder, Nadine Guirguis, Emma Collingwood, Chloe Lavin, Selina Purdie PhD, Anna Doyle, Laura Peakall, FCIPD & Ellie Laycock-Heavens

It looks as though the Forward Deployed Engineer is set to be one of the most sought-after hires of the next few years - especially given the latest news out of Anthropic and OpenAI. This presents a great opportunity for Internal Recruiters to secure a job at some of the world’s most exciting AI companies, by helping to assemble these (soon to be enormous) teams. While Tech Recruiters from scale-ups are obvious candidates, GTM Recruiters who recruit post-sales, and even Recruiters from maturer digital transformation consultancies (usually overlooked by SaaS hiring managers) will likely become more sought-after by the most prominent AI names. I expect to see a lot of movement among the latter group in particular, as their employers confront the growing threat to their business model, and their best and brightest jump at the chance to be part of a hyper-scaler for (probably) the first time. Software is eating the world.

I’m partnering with one of Europe’s leading AI infrastructure scale-ups on the search for a Head of Talent Acquisition. This is a business that has become one of the standout AI success stories in Europe - now a unicorn backed by tier 1 investors including Accel and Sequoia, with more than $200m raised and over $100 million ARR. Led by an ambitious founding team, the company is entering a pivotal phase of scale across Europe and the US as enterprise adoption continues to accelerate. They are now looking for a strategic TA leader to build and evolve the hiring operating model required to support the next phase of international growth. This is not a traditional Head of Talent role. They need someone who can operate at executive level while building a highly scalable, AI-enabled Talent Acquisition function; balancing hiring quality, operational rigour, automation, and speed in a genuinely high-growth environment. It’s a career-defining opportunity for someone who has scaled within fast-moving tech businesses and wants to help shape the future of how ambitious AI companies build. 📍 Remote-first (Europe/UK) 💼 £200,000 + Equity + Benefits 🚀 High-growth AI infrastructure scale-up Please apply via the link below.

I am delighted to be partnering with Tessl on the search for their first People Lead. Founded by Guy Podjarny of Snyk, Tessl is a London-based, well-funded AI-native startup building the infrastructure layer for AI-powered software development, helping coding agents work more reliably across real-world engineering environments. With $125m raised from Index Ventures, Accel, GV and boldstart, they’re now moving from early technical validation into scalable growth. This is a foundational People role for someone who has built in VC-backed tech environments, understands the pace and ambiguity of early-stage scale, and can own the operating foundations across people ops, payroll, benefits, compliance and employee experience - if that sounds like you, or someone exceptional in your network, I’d love to hear from you! Please apply via the below link: https://lnkd.in/d9-jQhHu

I'm currently working with one of the world’s leading frontier AI labs to help find them a Senior HR Business Partner. You’ll partner directly with the CTO, working with some of the most advanced technical talent in the world, and playing a key role in shaping how the organisation builds, develops, and scales its people capability. In this role, you’ll operate at the intersection of strategy and execution, influencing organisational design, performance, and leadership capability, while building the infrastructure needed for a business that is scaling at pace. It will suit someone who has operated in high-growth, technically complex environments and has experience working with senior engineering or research leaders. We are looking for someone who is comfortable with ambiguity and the ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery. Key details  📍 London (2 days per week)  💼 Up to £225k + equity  📅 Start date: 3 months (maximum) If this is relevant, please apply via the advert rather than by DM. https://lnkd.in/eKeuiTCA

📣 People Operations Manager - Series A AI scale up - high ownership, high impact 📣 I’m partnering with a high growth, VC backed AI scale up (c.90 people, scaling fast) enabling companies to deploy no code AI, already seeing rapid growth across the UK and US. We’re looking for a People Operations Manager to come in and really build. This is for somebody who: - thrives in ambiguity and fast moving environments - are genuinely AI native in how they work - love automating, improving, and scaling People processes - enjoy building from scratch rather than inheriting polished structure You’ll partner closely with leadership, shaping how People Ops evolves as they scale, and using AI to build a next generation People function. If you’ve worked in a scaling VC backed tech and want to have a huge impact, please check it out and apply below 👇🏻

We’re looking to hire 2 new Recruiters into our team, at Hawkwood: 1 in London and 1 in USA (preference for West Coast, Austin or New York, but open-minded). For the US hire, ideally you'll local knowledge & experience, but we may be able to sponsor a 5 year US visa for the right candidate. You’ll need a handful of years’ experience recruiting into Tech companies for that to be viable. For the UK opening, you’ll do hybrid-working from our Shoreditch office in London, and we’re open to a range of experience levels. An accomplished Recruiter from a relationship-driven specialist firm could be interesting, but we can also train someone with potential. Without wanting to tempt fate, we have a really stable and high-performing team of passionate, motivated Recruiters. Hawkwood offers them the chance to recruit for many of the best technology companies, while receiving strong compensation, work flexibly, and scope to play a meaningful role in shaping the future of the business. If you are interested in hearing more, please contact me for a confidential discussion.