Senior Specialist Recruiter

about the role

We’re looking for a Senior Specialist Recruiter to join the team, focused on permanent recruitment for qualified clinical professionals in the optical and audiology sectors, working with high-street and independent practices across the UK. This is a candidate-led, high-value market where demand is high, and success comes from building relationships, executive search, headhunting, and strategic candidate management.

While this isn’t high-volume recruitment, you’ll be making multiple high-fee placements per month, and working in a market where demand is always high. You’ll manage end-to-end recruitment, from headhunting to on-boarding. Alongside this, you’ll play a key role in strengthening relationships with existing clients and developing new business opportunities.

As a Senior Recruiter, you’ll bring experience, a commercial mindset, and a sharp instinct for finding and engaging the right people. You’ll lead by example, working efficiently, spotting opportunities, handling complex hiring processes, and helping improve how we deliver results as a team.

This is a role for a recruiter who thrives in a candidate-driven market, enjoys the depth and detail of high-value placements, and understands how to strategically approach passive talent. If you enjoy headhunting, consultative recruitment, and making a real impact on people’s careers, this is the perfect opportunity for you.

what’s on offer?

• Unparalleled pay – including a base salary from £32,000 to £40,000 depending on experience, and an uncapped, highly rewarding commission scheme on top.

• A completely open and transparent salary structure (with base salaries higher than we’ve seen anywhere else) that offers stability, recognition and a clear path to progression.

• Really great culture (everyone says it, but we really mean it) - we put our team first, we support our people, we innovate, and we have fun.

• Support from our in-house marketing team, who use innovative technology and creative campaigns to engage and deliver warm, high-quality leads directly to you.

• 33 days holiday (incl. bank holidays) - rising to 36 after just three years.

• Private health insurance - plan including medical cover, therapies, mental health support and dental and opticians cashback.

• Ongoing training and development - we’ll support your development with both external training (such as ILM Management courses) and in-house sessions led by our leadership team.

• 4pm finish on Fridays - get an early start to your weekend.

• Team events - we reward our top performers (of course), but we also like to be inclusive when it comes to celebrating success. We’re a team at the end of the day, so you’ll always be invited to team events.

about us

At talentshed, we do recruitment differently. We foster a supportive (not salesy) environment, and our team don’t think they’re Leo in Wolf of Wall Street. We pride ourselves on always doing the right thing and putting people first - people being you, our candidates and our clients. On top of that, we’re ahead of the curve, using cutting-edge recruitment technology and innovative, marketing-led methods to reach candidates and clients that other agencies can’t.

what about you?

We’re looking for three main things:

1. You’re a decent, down-to-earth person who resonates with our ethos and culture.

2. You’ve got at least 2 years recruitment experience and thrive in a candidate-led, high-value market. You’re comfortable handling detailed recruitment processes, engaging passive candidates, and managing multiple placements per month, all while building strong relationships with both candidates and clients.

3. You’re genuinely driven (not in the way everyone says they are on their CV, but in a real way) - the kind of drive that pushes you to keep going, to improve, and make things happen. You take ownership of your work, put the effort in where it matters, and understand that success is built on consistency, and a positive mindset.

what’s next?

That’s up to you, really. There’s always a lot of hesitation around applying for jobs in recruitment, but there doesn’t need to be (here, anyway). For us, hitting “apply” just means you’re interested to find out more. From there we’ll provide you with more information and pick up any conversations informally (and confidentially) so you can find out all about us and this opportunity at your own pace.