Talent Acquisition Partner

About Sovereign AI Sovereign AI is a UK-based AI infrastructure and software solutions provider building the next generation of sovereign-grade AI data centres across EMEA. Designed for resilience, security, and scale, we enable commercial and government customers to deploy advanced AI with confidence in environments where performance, reliability, and compliance are non-negotiable. Focused on regulated and mission-critical sectors including Government, Defence, Healthcare, and Financial Services, we are creating the trusted foundations for AI adoption at scale, combining robust infrastructure with disciplined governance to support long-term innovation and national-level capability.

This Role As Talent Acquisition Partner, you will own end-to-end recruitment for a defined set of business areas, working as a trusted advisor to hiring managers rather than an order-taker. Much of what you hire for is mission-critical and often security-cleared, so you will bring the rigour our government, defence, and critical infrastructure clients expect alongside genuine pace.

You will report to the Talent Acquisition Lead and have real ownership over how you source, assess, and land talent for your roles. This is a chance to shape how Sovereign AI builds the teams delivering sovereign technology programmes, with direct exposure to hiring managers, leadership, and the wider People & Talent function.

We are in a genuine growth phase, and every hire you make now directly shapes the capability we take into new programmes and new markets. You will build talent pipelines and hiring processes that scale as we do, giving you the kind of ownership and long-term impact that's hard to find once a function is already established.

Key Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end recruitment for your business areas, from role briefing through to offer and onboarding handover
• Partner with hiring managers as a trusted advisor, challenging role requirements and shaping sourcing strategy based on the market
• Build and maintain proactive talent pipelines for hard-to-fill and security-cleared roles across engineering, data, and technical delivery
• Write clear, compelling job adverts and role profiles that reflect our tone and attract the right calibre of candidate
• Lead direct sourcing through LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean search, and passive candidate outreach, reducing reliance on agency spend
• Screen, interview, and present shortlists matched against role requirements and clearance eligibility where applicable
• Coordinate the security clearance and vetting process with candidates and internal stakeholders, keeping timelines visible
• Own the candidate experience end-to-end, ensuring timely communication and a professional, well-run offer process
• Keep the ATS accurate and current, giving hiring managers and leadership real pipeline visibility

Experience

• Experience in an in-house or agency talent acquisition role, ideally covering technical or specialist hiring
• A track record of managing full-cycle recruitment from briefing through to offer
• Experience recruiting into regulated, government, defence, or critical infrastructure environments is a strong advantage
• Familiarity with UK security clearance processes (BPSS, SC, DV) desirable, or a genuine willingness to learn
• A track record of direct sourcing and building pipelines for niche or hard-to-fill roles
• Comfortable using an ATS and building structured, data-led recruitment reporting

Skills

• Strong stakeholder management — able to build credibility with hiring managers and challenge them constructively
• Skilled direct sourcer across LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean search, and other channels
• Clear, sharp written communication, particularly in job adverts and candidate messaging
• Highly organised, able to manage multiple live requisitions with competing timelines
• Discretion and sound judgement when handling sensitive candidate and clearance-related information
• Comfortable operating with autonomy while working to defined process and compliance standards