Mike Owen

Talent Acquisition Specialist

A Talent Acquisition Specialist with extensive 360 recruitment experience, operating in both an onsite/inhouse and agency capacity, supporting numerous industry sectors. Expertise in workforce planning, EVP definition, and sourcing strategies to address complex talent needs, championing diversity and inclusion initiatives. Enthusiastic about driving organisational growth through innovative talent solutions, with a continuing focus on improving candidate experience.

London
0
Certifications
Work Experience
Senior Talent Partner (Recruiter)
University College London (UCL)London
Sep 2024 — Present
  • Filled close to 200 roles across UCL’s Professional Services teams, specific to ISD
  • Recruited specialised tech talent in software, DevOps, databases, security, cloud, and AI/ML to meet diverse project needs
  • Managed daily ATS workflows in TalentLink/Cornerstone to track vacancies, enhancing candidate journey and reducing time-to-hire
  • Processed multiple Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) and managed visa applications through Immigra8, ensuring regulatory compliance and timely recruitment
  • Delivered £250,000 recruitment cost savings by cutting agency spend in 2025
  • Improved candidate experience through clear communication and timely feedback, strengthening employer reputation
  • LinkedIn Recruiter and professional network used extensively.
  • Processed multiple Certificates of Sponsorship (CoS) and managed visa applications through Immigra8, ensuring regulatory compliance and facilitating timely recruitment.
Career Break
IBMLondon
Aug 2023 — Aug 2024
  • Took a career sabbatical following redundancy with IBM to recharge after a substantial period of continuous employment
Principal Talent Acquisition Partner
IBMLondon
Apr 2022 — Jul 2023
  • Led end-to-end talent acquisition for London's Digital Tech teams, filling 55 positions from graduate to Director level
  • Mentored junior recruiters in London and Warsaw and led ATS training programmes
  • Designed and implemented international TA processes reducing time-to-hire for a CIO program with dozens of hires
  • Championed Diversity and Inclusion projects including Women in Tech and Black Business Week Exhibition
  • Managed stakeholder planning and weekly stand-ups to align recruitment strategy and timelines
Senior Talent Acquisition Partner
CelonisLondon
Apr 2021 — Mar 2022
  • Recruited top tech talent to support Celonis' leadership in data mining and processing software
  • Managed end-to-end TA process covering all technology recruitment areas including DevOps, Platform Specialists, C++, SRE, Full-Stack Dev
  • Maintained excellent stakeholder relationships across UK, Spain, and DACH
  • Developed expertise in Greenhouse ATS through daily use
  • Achieved recruitment targets within challenging time limits for Product and Technical Engineering teams securing sought-after C++ and Front-End Engineers
Senior Talent Acquisition Partner
IBMLondon
Aug 2018 — Apr 2021
  • Led Agile TA sprints placing 50+ desktop support engineers across two cycles for a London site
  • Built strong relationship with eCommerce engineering team, filling 20 challenging roles including relocation and Visa/CoS within 5 months
  • Chaired weekly stakeholder stand-ups improving communication and accelerating decision-making across EMEA, APAC, and North America
  • Applied LEAN and Scrum practices to recruitment workflows for faster response to critical hiring needs
Talent Acquisition Partner
Elements Talent SolutionsLondon
Oct 2017 — Aug 2018
  • Led full-cycle hiring for software and infrastructure roles, reducing time-to-fill with targeted sourcing
  • Built a new Reliability Engineering team from scratch at JUST EAT, delivering operational hires for Bristol office
  • Collaborated with stakeholders across London and Bristol using Agile sprints to align hiring priorities and timelines
  • Implemented technical screening processes for DevOps and cloud roles to improve candidate quality and hiring speed
Senior Associate (Recruiter)
Cognizant WorldwideLondon
Jun 2015 — Oct 2017
  • Led end-to-end recruitment across UKI, Spain, and DACH closing over 25 concurrent vacancies per quarter
  • Placed 20 multi-lingual technical support hires in Dublin meeting tight go-live timelines
  • Managed 360 recruitment activities from vacancy inception to onboarding using Taleo ATS
  • Coordinated cross-functional hiring across Software, AIM, Sales, and Consulting to meet client SLAs and improve fill consistency
Lead Recruiter
Parallel ConsultingLondon
Jan 2010 — May 2015
  • Led and mentored a team sourcing technical talent across Digital & Mobile technology in UK and DACH
  • Managed full recruitment life-cycle from business development to talent acquisition and account management
  • Handled tender processes and client relationships
Tech Recruiter
Hyperion GamingLondon
Dec 2008 — Dec 2009
  • Led full-cycle technical recruitment for betting and online gaming clients across Europe
  • Developed business relationships in UK, Ireland, Nordics securing contracts with Betfair, UniBet, and Bet365
Education
Bachelor of Arts, English Literature
University of Bangor
BA (Hons), English Literature
University of Bangor
Certifications
Diversity & Inclusion Be Equal Ally
IBM
AI Driven Recruiting
LinkedIn
Agile Advocate & Practitioner
IBM
Enterprise Design Thinking Practitioner
IBM
Links
Mike's LinkedIn
Mike's LinkedIn
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