Talent Lead
About the company
Relay is fundamentally reshaping how goods move in an online era. Backed by Europe’s largest-ever logistics Series A ($35M) led by deep-tech investors Plural, and a recently closed Series B ($95M), Relay is scaling faster than 99% of venture-backed startups. We're assembling the most talent-dense team the logistics industry has ever seen
Relay’s Mission is to free commerce from friction. Today, high delivery costs act as a hidden tax on e-commerce, quietly shaping what can be sold online and limiting who can participate. We envision a world where more goods move more freely between more people, making the online shopping experience seamless and accessible to everyone.
THE TEAM• ~160 people, around half in engineering, product and data
- 45+ advanced degrees across computer science, mathematics and operations research
- Thousands of data points captured, calculated, analysed and predicted for every single parcel we handle
- An intellectually vibrant culture of first‑principles thinking, tight feedback loops and relentless experimentation
Your tasks
The Opportunity The Talent Lead – Operations & Business at Relay will play a critical role in shaping and driving hiring strategies for our non-tech organisation. You’ll quickly establish yourself as the go-to TA partner for hiring managers in the org: consulting on best practices, sharing insights and reports, and continuously improving our talent acquisition function. You’ll help us make the right hiring decisions, bringing in top talent who are also a strong Relay fit.
Who Will Thrive in this role?
- You own end-to-end hiring: you can run the full lifecycle from sourcing and outreach through to offer, while keeping quality and pace high.
- You’re a trusted partner to senior stakeholders: you build strong relationships with Business and Ops Leadership and People, align on priorities, and help translate plans into hiring action.
- You’re operationally excellent: you create sharp JDs and scorecards, keep pipelines clean in Ashby, coordinate smoothly across hiring managers/agencies, and produce high-quality candidate packs/interview kits.
- You leverage systems and tools to scale impact: you use the ATS expertly and you’re curious and proactive about new tooling (sourcing tools, automation, AI) that improves productivity and quality of hire.
- You use data to drive decisions: you track and act on key TA metrics (sourcing activity, time-to-fill, time-in-stage, offer acceptance, candidate/HM satisfaction) and keep stakeholders clearly informed.
- You improve the machine, not just run it: you spot bottlenecks, propose fixes, and implement changes that improve speed, quality, and candidate experience.
Requirements
Must-Haves
- Proven track record as a Senior Recruiter or Talent Acquisition Lead..
- Background in hypergrowth startups or scale-ups.
- Structured, clear communicator with strong stakeholder management.
- Data-driven mindset, using metrics to prioritise, iterate and improve outcomes.
Who Thrives at Relay?
- Aim with Precision: You define problems clearly and measure your impact meticulously.
- Play to Win: You chase bold bets, tackle the hard stuff, and view constraints as fuel, not friction.
- 1% Better Every Day: You believe that small, consistent improvements lead to exponential growth. You move quickly, deliver results, and learn from every experience.
- All In, All the Time: You show up and step up. You take ownership from start to finish and do what it takes to deliver when it counts.
- People-Powered Greatness: You invest in your teammates. You give and receive feedback with care and candour. You build trust through high standards and shared success.
- Grow the Whole Pie: You seek out win-win solutions for merchants, couriers, and our customers, because when they thrive, so do we.
What we offer
Compensation & Benefits & Workplace
- Generous equity, richer than 99% of European startups, with annual top-ups to share Relay’s success.
- Private health & dental coverage, so comprehensive you’d need to be a partner at a Magic Circle law firm to match it.
- 25 days of holidays
- Enhanced parental leave.
- Located in Shoreditch, our office set-up enables the kind of in-person interactions that drive impact. We work 4 days on-site, with 1 day remote.
- Hardware of your choice.
- Extensive perks(gym subsidies, cycle-to-work, Friday office lunch, covered Uber home and dinner for late nights, and more).
How to apply
Fast and Focused Hiring Process
- Talent Acquisition Interview - 45 min
- Hiring Manager Interview - 60 min
- Case Study - 75 min
- Decision and offer within 48 hours; our process mirrors our pace of work.
If these resonate, and you combine strong technical fundamentals with entrepreneurial drive, let’s connect.