Talent Hub Lead

Defence Builder is building Ukraine's leading defence & dual-use tech ecosystem — spanning an accelerator, a venture fund, and a capabilities unit — designed to serve every major stakeholder in the defence market through one entry point at the intersection of capital, expertise, and infrastructure. We're now launching the Talent Hub, and we're looking for someone to lead it: to read the sector's live demand, help strong specialists find roles that match their ambitions and skills, and, in doing so, contribute to the growth of the entire defence sector.

Why this role exists

Defence technology in Ukraine moves at frontline speed. People don't. The strongest engineers, R&D leaders, commercial operators, and production specialists are often in the wrong seat — or can't see where they're needed most. That mismatch is a bottleneck for the whole sector.

The Talent Hub exists to close it. This role owns the sector's live hiring demand and turns it into precise matches: strong specialists placed into roles that fit their ambitions and skills, on terms that work for both sides. Every good match isn't just one filled seat — it's a faster company, a stronger product, and, ultimately, growth for the entire defence sector.

This is not a role that closes tickets. It's the opportunity to build a full business unit from scratch — inside an ecosystem that already has its network and direct access to the sector's leading companies. You start by running the current demand hands-on; you grow it into a standalone unit with its own processes, network, and economics.

Role overview

Key responsibilities

On day one this is a full-cycle recruiting role on demand that already exists — companies across the ecosystem come to us with open roles, and you own each one end-to-end, from brief to closed placement.

• Take over all current open roles from ecosystem companies. Pick up the live demand that's already there and own it — every active search companies have handed to Defence Builder.

• Source candidates yourself and build the longlist and shortlist. Run active sourcing across the ecosystem, partners, and your own network; screen, and deliver a longlist and a final shortlist the client can act on.

• Own client communication. Be the single point of contact for the hiring company — align on the brief, report on progress, and manage the process through to a decision.

• Pull in the right ecosystem units for hard-skill interviews. Bring in the relevant business units and domain experts across the ecosystem to run technical / competence interviews, matched to each role.

• Give review and analytics on the search. Report back on the pipeline, drop-off reasons, current market rates, and what the search is telling us about the role and the market.

• Build your own network. Grow a network of specialists and trusted contacts so positions increasingly close through referrals and trust, not cold outreach.

• Represent the Talent Hub at industry events. Show up for Defence Builder at sector events, conferences, and closed-door sessions — building the Talent Hub's presence and sourcing both talent and demand in person.

• Work with the PR team and the Portfolio Manager. Coordinate with PR on employer-brand content, open-role announcements, and event presence; sync with the Portfolio Manager on portfolio companies' hiring needs so demand and support flow both ways across the ecosystem.

• Shape demand further. Beyond the roles handed to you, proactively surface new hiring needs across the sector and turn them into searches.

• Understand who the sector's companies are hiring and why — right now, and which roles will become critical next.

• Track how compensation, availability, and talent flows are moving across the sector.

• Turn that intelligence into a clear, prioritised view of live demand across the ecosystem.

• Build the ecosystem around people: maintain relationships over time so talent and demand both keep flowing back to Defence Builder.

• Participate in and represent DB at industry events, closed-door sessions, and delegations — sourcing talent and demand in person.

• Lead negotiations with companies and candidates so a match actually happens — and holds.

• Align interests between hiring companies and specialists, and drive each engagement to a concrete outcome.

Growth opportunity

This role starts as a single person closing the full cycle on existing demand — and is meant to grow from there. As you prove the model, the opportunity is to turn it into a scalable service, build out its processes and economics, and hire people underneath you over time. You're not just filling roles; you're building the unit that will run them.

Expected outcomes (first 6 months)

30 days:

• All current open roles from ecosystem companies picked up, mapped, and owned — with a clear brief and search plan for each.

• First 2 placements closed.

• Active sourcing running, with longlists and shortlists moving for every open role.

60 days:

• The business model is tested and proven — a further 4 placements closed (6 in total), each run end-to-end from brief to hire.

• A repeatable full-cycle process in place: sourcing, screening, hard-skill interviews with ecosystem units, client communication, and reporting.

• An active talent bank and personal network started, with the first roles closing through referrals and trust.

90 days:

• A steady flow of placements, with the Talent Hub operating on its own cadence, tracker, and reporting.

• First searches generated from demand you surfaced proactively — not just roles handed to you.

• Recognised by companies and candidates alike as a reliable, proactive point of contact for defence-tech talent.

6 months:

• The Talent Hub Lead is the primary owner of the sector's hiring demand within Defence Builder.

• A clear plan — and early proof — for scaling the Talent Hub into a full service, with the case to start hiring people into the unit.

• A living network that keeps feeding both demand and candidates back to Defence Builder.

Candidate profile

Background

• Experience in recruiting, talent, bizdev, community building, or founding/operating a venture — ideally where you built something rather than ran a fixed process.

• A track record of driving concrete outcomes: placements, deals, partnerships, or a community you grew from scratch.

• Familiarity with the defence / dual-use or wider tech and venture ecosystem (Ukraine or international) is a strong plus.

• Fluent Ukrainian and English — written and spoken; comfortable working with international talent, partners, and markets (Nordics, wider Europe, allied markets).

Who we're looking for

• Entrepreneurial by nature — you want to build your own unit inside a strong ecosystem, not execute someone else's process. You see an opportunity and take it.

• A strong negotiator — you align the interests of different parties and drive a deal to a result.

• A community builder — people are drawn to you; you can gather a network around an idea and keep it alive after the event ends.

• A researcher — you dig deep into the market, companies, and people, and reach conclusions others can rely on.

• At home in the context — you either understand the defence / dual-use sector or are genuinely eager to immerse yourself in it, fast and carefully.

• Comfortable with ambiguity — you're comfortable owning many open threads and building the playbook as you go.

Who we're not looking for

• A passive recruiter who waits for briefs and applications to come in — this role drives demand and sourcing proactively.

• Someone who needs a fully-defined process and a detailed playbook from day one.

• A pure sourcer with no appetite to build a unit, network, and reputation around the function.

• Someone who sees this as filling seats rather than growing the whole sector by putting the right people in the right place.

What we offer

• The chance to build a business unit — not just fill a role — with a mandate to grow the Talent Hub into a standalone arm of the ecosystem.

• Direct access to organisations in the network (gov / NGO / industry) and the sector's leading companies.

• A team with deep domain expertise and the backing of partners: Sigma Software, Kyiv School of Economics, and Buntar Aerospace.

• Participation in international events, delegations, and ecosystem activations.

• High autonomy and a front-row seat at the intersection of defence tech, venture, and national resilience.

• Competitive compensation (discussed individually).

If you're already picturing how you'd build this unit — tell us. Share what you've built before, and how you'd see the Talent Hub a year from now.