We live in a world that runs on physical industries like energy, logistics, manufacturing. These sectors are essential to our economy and daily lives, yet they are held back by inefficiencies, fragile legacy systems, and decades-old ways of working. This is not just a business problem; it is a societal one. When grids fail, supply chains stall, or factories falter, entire economies are disrupted.
These companies face unique, complex challenges that typical software was never designed to solve. Cogna was founded to change this. Our mission is to give critical industries their own AI-powered Software Factory: a way to build and deploy bespoke digital tools that solve pressing operational challenges.
Since our launch in May 2023, we’ve seen incredible customer traction and revenue growth. We’re backed by leading VCs, including Notion Capital and Hoxton Ventures, and we’re building a world-class team to take on one of the most important challenges of our time.
Tackling challenges at this scale takes people who are curious, adaptable, and motivated by impact. If our mission resonates with you, we encourage you to apply, even if your experience doesn’t match every requirement. We are committed to building a diverse team that reflects the industries and societies we serve.
About the role
We’re looking for an exceptional Talent Partner (Engineering) to join our growing team, owning processes from end-to-end. This is a full-time, high-impact role for someone who genuinely thrives on sourcing the highest-calibre of engineering talent, building processes that scale, and ensuring every candidate has a best in class experience.
You’ll partner closely with our engineering and product teams to design and execute hiring strategies for deeply technical, hard-to-find talent - from backend and full-stack engineers to AI and platform specialists.
What you’ll do
- Build and execute sourcing strategies for niche technical roles for engineering hires across Python, Go, Rust and TypeScript.
- Map target markets, identify high-signal talent, and engage proactively - ahead of demand.
- Deliver an exceptional candidate experience from first touch to offer.
- Partner and collaborate with hiring managers to define role profiles, assess candidates, and maintain alignment throughout.
- Operate as a trusted advisor to engineering leadership, providing insight on talent markets and hiring velocity.
- Contribute to Cogna’s employer brand presence across technical communities and sourcing channels.
What we’re looking for
- 6+ years of experience in talent acquisition, with at least 4 years focused on engineering or technical roles.
- Proven experience scaling at least one venture-backed startup (Seed–Series B) with ownership of technical hiring.
- Deep and creative sourcing capability - Boolean fluency, multi-channel outreach, and storytelling that converts.
- Experience hiring in deep-tech or AI-heavy environments, sourcing exceptional software engineers.
- Strong stakeholder management and communication skills - trusted, data-driven, and commercially aware.
- An obsession around providing a best in class candidate experience and raising the hiring bar.
- Comfortable working at speed in an ambitious, high-performance environment
What we offer
- Competitive salary and share option plan
- 25 days annual leave, plus public holidays
- Excellent pension scheme, fixed at 7.5%
- Private healthcare, including family cover and pre-existing conditions
- Flexible hybrid working with 2 days per fortnight in our Farringdon office
- Regular social events and offsites
- Access to a gym and fitness classes in our office building
Top Skills
What We Do
Overlooked and unaddressed inefficiencies are slowing down our most vital industries. Whether in utilities, construction, facilities management, logistics, or beyond - complex infrastructure and siloed legacy systems are hampering productivity.
Traditional off-the-shelf software can’t address these unique challenges—and few organisations have the resources for custom-built solutions.
Cogna is a precision solutions provider that uses AI to automate the IT consultancy process to identify the trickiest business pain points and create simple, usable solutions to remedy them.
We put software creation into our customers' hands, letting them describe their own challenges and delivering AI-powered custom software in days, not months or years, at a fraction of typical costs.
