Head of Talent Acquisition at Aiven36

There are two things that you might have heard about: that Aiven is a data platform, and how AI is taking over the world. Well, Aiven is actually building the infrastructure that makes building agents or AI applications for production use cases not only possible but most importantly simple. So not just a data platform, and not just a passenger in this new world. Anything but. From our humble beginnings in Finland back in 2015, we’ve now grown to over 400 people across 17 countries, and we achieved Centaur status in 2025 when we hit $100m ARR. But we’re not done yet. If anything, this is still the beginning. And this is where you come in. The Role Are you a seasoned Talent Acquisition Leader with the ambition to solve problems on a global scale? Does building the talent engine for a company that’s pioneering data infrastructure for the AI era sound like your jam? If so, then read on. Your Mission Build a talent engine to power Aiven’s next stage of growth. To do this begins with the right philosophical approach: you should view Talent Acquisition as a proactive commercial function, and put your focus on driving simple and effective solutions. When it comes to hiring, you’ll specialize in building teams of engineers and technical experts focused on distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, and the open-source ecosystem. Along with that are the GTM and Central teams that help commercialise Aiven’s operations. On top of this, you’ll own the roadmap for talent marketing and employer brand, talent operations, talent analytics and tooling. The expectation is that you’re optimising for efficiency, and leveraging AI and automation to allow the team more time for the value-adding human tasks. Your day-to-day will be switching context from the small to the big problems: unblocking the bottleneck here and there, delving in and out of data dashboards, while supporting leaders on making the right talent decisions for their team. To put it bluntly, the talent you and your team bring in will directly shape the stability, innovation, and roadmap of Aiven’s platform and growth. In concrete terms, this means you’ll: • Lead and scale a TA function that drives efficiency and quality in all that it does. • Think beyond just recruitment and more about best practice marketing, AI and automation and enablement. • Work with business leaders to build a roadmap that ensures Aiven gets the talent it needs on time. • Coach, train and educate to ensure Aiven is raising the talent bar with every hire. • Partner with the rest of the People team on full talent lifecycle initiatives to better improve the experience for all our candidates and employees. What We’re Looking For • You’ve walked the walk: You’ve got proven experience in scaling global talent functions in high-growth, product-driven environments. • You’re a true owner: You don't wait for instructions, but just get it done: define the roadmap, own the KPIs, and you get things done. You have strong judgment and the courage to challenge senior leaders when the talent bar is at risk. • AI fluency: You’ve built TA functions that leverage AI and automation as a competitive advantage. • Programmatic execution: You design processes that are clean, scalable, and obsessively efficient. You apply the same standards of "quality and velocity" to hiring that we apply to our Kafka architecture. • Strategic influence: You align competing stakeholders around company priorities. You communicate with clarity, lead with data, and maintain a relentless focus on business impact. Amazing! What’s next: If you think Aiven is the place for you and that our Values align with yours, send us your resume and we’ll get in touch! Global Benefits: Our global benefits are designed to help you thrive and grow, personally and professionally: • Participate in Aiven’s equity plan. • Balance work and life with our hybrid work policy. • Choose the equipment you need to set yourself up for success. • Use your Professional Development Plan budget for learning opportunities. • Receive holistic wellbeing support through our global Employee Assistance Program. • Inquire about our Global Time Off Commitment (Parental and Sick Leave, as well as Personal Time) • Enjoy country-specific benefits for our global cast. How to Recognize and Avoid Employment Scams: There has been a rise in fake job postings used by scammers to get personal information. At Aiven, all of our emails relating to recruitment come from an @aiven.io, @greenhouse.io or @eu.greenhouse.io domain and all of our interviews are conducted by video call or in person. Our interviews will never occur via text or chat. If you’re unsure of the legitimacy of a job opportunity/offer pertaining to Aiven, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [Upgrade to PRO to see contact]. Equal Opportunities: Aiven provides equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants for employment without regard to age, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, marital and family status or without regard to any other similar personal attributes. Aiven complies with applicable local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which the company operates. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, training and any other terms and conditions related to employment. At Aiven we are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities or special needs in our working environment and job application procedures. We make all reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities or who otherwise need support to thrive in the workplace. We are committed to continuously improving workplace accessibility. There is an option to request a discussion in the application process but if you have any questions before applying please write to us at [Upgrade to PRO to see contact]. #LI-Hybrid