Recruiting Associate / Specialist

The team and role

Our operations team (15 full-time staff) runs HR, recruiting, finance, governance, legal, office management, events and some of our tech systems. We’re planning to grow significantly this year to keep pace with the growth of the organisation.

Your responsibilities may include:

• Designing and running hiring rounds — helping team leads identify the talent profiles they’re looking for, design assessment pipelines, and source and evaluate candidates. This is likely to be the biggest part of your role.
• Building and improving our org-wide recruiting infrastructure to improve how our recruitment processes run. For example, developing templates and playbooks for recurring hiring rounds, creating systems to process applications at scale, or testing new ways of generating leads.
• Taking ownership of a particular area of our recruiting process, e.g. proactive outreach to potential candidates, our applicant tracking system, recruiting metrics.
• Helping us develop our approach to strategic recruiting questions, such as diversity, candidate use of LLMs, or the prioritisation of hiring rounds.
• Strengthening 80k’s ability to find and attract the best talent, such as by building our talent pipeline or making 80k more visible as a place people want to work for.employer branding.

We plan to hire people at both the associate and specialist level during this round. We expect to match candidates to the appropriate level as part of the application process, so you don’t need to decide which one to apply for. To give an idea of how the roles might differ:

• Associates own systems and processes end-to-end, identify improvements within their areas, and take on increasingly complex projects over time.

• Specialists independently lead on more poorly-scoped work, overseeing larger areas of responsibility and making more high-stakes judgment calls.

Over time, there’s room to grow into a more ambitious version of both roles, taking on larger parts of recruiting — for example specialising in a particular area or managing other recruiters. As you do this, you’ll play an increasing role in shaping how we work, making key decisions, and contributing to how the recruiting team evolves at 80k.

The role will be managed by Inés, our recruiting lead.

Who we’re looking for

We do not require you to have a large network (though it is beneficial) — we are looking for strong operators that can tackle problems thoughtfully and effectively. This means people who are:

• Organised and reliable: you’re able to keep track of a large number of tasks at once, rarely drop balls, and follow through on your commitments. Experience managing projects is a bonus, but not essential.
• Systems-oriented: you’re excited about getting into the weeds of our policies and processes, identifying discrepancies, and making our systems more efficient.
• Great at reasoning and communicating clearly: you can reason through problems well, identify the crux of disagreements, express yourself clearly and precisely, and demonstrate a high level of reasoning transparency.
• Good in interpersonal situations: you can build strong working relationships, read and anticipate others’ emotional responses, and handle sensitive situations appropriately.
• User-focused: you care about giving candidates and hiring managers a great experience of working with you, can adapt to meet the needs and preferences of others, and are happy to roll up your sleeves for less glamorous work when needed.
• Ambitious, growth-oriented, and mission-aligned: you are excited to learn, engage substantively with critical feedback, and work to make our recruiting function the best it can be.

Previous experience

At the associate level, previous experience is not required.

At the specialist level, candidates would ideally have at least two years of previous experience. This doesn’t have to be directly relevant to operations — it might be in another generalist role such as consulting, communications, project management, or community building.

Logistics

This is a full-time role, ideally based in London, UK. We can sponsor UK visas in most cases. We’d also consider remote candidates who can work at least four hours per day between 9 AM–6 PM 9AM–6PM UK time.

Salary and benefits

The salary will vary based on skills and experience, but to give a rough sense, indicative ranges are £78,091–£100,831 (London), $111,295–$143,704 (Washington DC), $97,008–$125,257 (US remote), and £67,553–£87,224 (other remote). we expect starting salaries to be between £80,000 to £90,000 for remote candidates, with upwards adjustments for London and US locations.

Our benefits include:

• 25 days of paid holiday, plus public holidays
• Private medical insurance
• Long-term disability insurance
• Pension scheme / retirement plan with employer contributions
• Up to 14 weeks of fully paid parental leave and childcare allowance for children under five
• £5,000 annual mental health support allowance
• £5,000 annual self-development budget
• The option to use 10% of your time for self-development
• Gym, shower facilities, and unlimited free food provided at our London office

How to apply

To apply, please complete this application form by 11 PM BST on June 7, 2026. Applications will be assessed on a rolling basis, so we recommend applying early.

The application process will vary depending on the candidate and role, but is likely to include 1–3 written work tests, an interview, and an in-person multi-day assessment. We offer payment for work tests and trials, conditional on your location and right to work in the UK.

We’re aware that factors like gender, race, and socioeconomic background can affect people’s willingness to apply for roles for which they meet many but not all the suggested attributes, and would especially like to encourage people from under-represented backgrounds to apply, even if you don’t meet all the suggested criteria.