embedded: long-term recruitment outsourcing
A Talent Partner in your business, helping your leaders shape what and who comes next.
Learn about my ongoing Talent Partnership retainer for growing SaaS SMEs, bringing 30+ years of recruitment expertise to your leadership table to plan ahead, guide hiring decisions and recruit across your whole business.
When hiring becomes ongoing, recruitment needs to think further ahead.
You’re no longer making the occasional hire. Your team is growing, the business is changing and conversations about who you need, where you need them and when are happening more regularly.
The people inside your business often know what’s changing long before there’s a job description to write.
The next hire might start as a conversation about growth, a capability that’s missing, a team under pressure...
...or simply knowing the business will need someone 6 months from now that it doesn’t need today.
When I’m part of those conversations too, we can plan for the people your business needs next, rather than reacting when a gap appears.
EMBEDDED is my retained talent partnership model where I work alongside your leaders over the long term.
I anticipate what you might need, challenge the thinking around it and start looking at talent before a gap appears.
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Regular conversations with your leadership team about what’s changing, where capability might be needed and what hiring could be coming down the line.
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Market insight, salary guidance, challenging briefs and helping you make informed decisions about the roles and people your business needs — while keeping you ahead of how recruitment is changing, from shifting candidate expectations to the growing influence of AI.
Where useful, I can also facilitate psychometric assessments, including Hogan, to give us deeper insight into behaviours, team dynamics and what a new hire could bring.
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Identifying and building relationships with potential talent before every role becomes an immediate vacancy to fill.
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When it’s time to hire, I lead the process from search and headhunting through screening, interviews, offer and placement.
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Dedicated time to stay close to your plans, current recruitment and what’s changing across the wider business.
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Leadership, finance, commercial, operations, product and technology, all with the context I’ve built from working closely with your business.
Being consistently at your table means I can see what’s changing, what’s missing and who you need before a vacancy even opens.
Roles I recruit for:
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Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Managing Director (MD)
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
Chief Growth Officer (CGO)
Chief Product Officer
Chief People Officer
Chief of Staff
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Sales Director
Head of Sales
Sales Manager
Business Development Manager (BDM)
Account Executive (AE)
Sales Executive
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Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
Marketing Director
Head of Marketing
Marketing Manager
Marketing Executive
Product Marketing Manager
Digital Marketing Manager
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Customer Success Director
Head of Customer Success
Customer Success Manager (CSM)
Account Manager
Customer Experience Manager
Partnerships Manager
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Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Operations Director
Head of Operations
Operations Manager
Service Delivery Manager
Programme Manager
Project Manager
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Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Finance Director
Head of Finance
Financial Controller
Finance Manager
Finance Compliance & Operations Manager
Finance Analyst
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Chief People Officer
People Director
Head of People
HR Manager
People Manager
Talent / Recruitment
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Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
Head of Engineering
Engineering Manager
Development Manager
Technical Lead
Software Developer
Front-end Developer
Back-end Developer
Full-stack Developer
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Chief Product Officer
Head of Product
Product Manager
Product Owner
Business Analyst (BA)
Scrum Master
Project Manager
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Head of Data
Business Intelligence Lead (BI Lead)
Business Intelligence Manager (BI Manager)
Insights Analyst
Business Intelligence Analyst (BI Analyst)
Data Analyst
Data Engineer
Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning Engineer (AI/ML Engineer)
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Head of Infrastructure
Infrastructure Manager
Platform Engineer
Cloud Engineer
DevOps Engineer
Infrastructure Engineer
Get embedded → work alongside your leaders → anticipate what’s needed → build talent pipelines → lead recruitment → evolve with the business
Trusted by founder-led tech SMEs across the UK.
Over 30+ years experience recruiting business-critical roles across leadership, finance, commercial, operations, product and technology.
Meet debbie
Your strategic Talent Partner, embedded in your business.
I’ve spent 30+ years in recruitment, working across agency, in-house and scale-up environments. With Embedded, I bring that experience into your business as your retained Talent Partner.
I work closely with your leaders, stay involved in what’s changing and build a deeper understanding of your people, culture and plans over time.
I work with SaaS and tech businesses across the UK, with many of my clients based in London and the South East.
As a technology recruitment specialisT
I recruit across the whole business...
...whether it’s a Senior Product Manager or a Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Because the better I understand your business, your culture and the people already around the table, the better I can judge who belongs there next.
And the relationship doesn’t stop at placement. I’m always part of your conversations, thinking ahead and ready to lead the recruitment when you need me.
Client feedback
“Thanks to [Debbie’s] support, we were able to fill multiple roles efficiently with strong candidates, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking to hire in the data space.
They quickly understood our requirements - not just from a technical perspective, but also in terms of team fit and long-term potential. They presented high-quality, well-matched candidates in a timely manner. Communication was always clear and proactive, and they were responsive throughout the entire process, from initial briefing to final offer.
- Head of Department, SaaS Retail Tech
The process
Here’s how Embedded works
* Where it adds value, I can also facilitate psychometric assessment to understand how someone could work within and add to the team already in place.
who embedded is for
Partnering with founder-led SaaS SMEs as hiring becomes an ongoing conversation.
Embedded Talent Partnership is for growing UK tech businesses with regular or significant hiring ahead that want recruitment expertise inside the business, without building an internal recruitment function.
That might be continued growth, or a period of transformation that means you’ll be making a number of important hires over the next year or two.
I work closely with your leaders to understand what’s changing across the business, anticipate where new capability might be needed and lead recruitment across your whole team when it is.
FAQs
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Permanent Recruitment works on a role-by-role basis. Embedded Recruitment is an ongoing partnership. Because I’m working with you over time, I build a much deeper understanding of your business, your existing team and where you’re heading — context that can inform each hiring decision that follows.
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Not necessarily. The value of Embedded isn’t simply having a constant stream of vacancies. It’s having regular enough hiring needs that continuity, forward planning and dedicated recruitment capacity make commercial sense.
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Yes. I recruit across leadership, finance, commercial, operations, product and technology. As your recruitment partner, I have the context of the wider business too so you don’t need to bring in a different recruiter every time a requirement sits within a different function.
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Yes. That closeness to the people making decisions is an important part of the partnership. As your talent acquisition partner, I can be part of conversations around upcoming requirements, changing capability needs and individual hires, rather than only being brought in once a job description has been written.
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No. Embedded is a form of recruitment outsourcing that gives you ongoing expertise and dedicated capacity without employing or building an internal recruitment function. It can work as a long-term partnership, or for a defined period of growth or transformation when you know you’ll be hiring more significantly. I work closely with your leaders, building the context and understanding that comes from being part of your hiring conversations over time.
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The commercial arrangement is tailored to your anticipated hiring needs, with Embedded typically agreed over a 12-month period. We’ll look at what recruitment is likely to look like across that time and agree a structure that works for the partnership. Spreading the investment across the term helps smooth out your recruitment costs, giving you greater predictability as you hire.
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Embedded is usually something that develops once we’ve already worked together and know we’re the right fit. Many long-term relationships begin with a Critical SPRINT or Permanent Recruitment before developing into a closer ongoing partnership, but I’m always happy to explore.
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I’m based near Milton Keynes and work with SaaS and tech businesses across the UK, with many of my clients based in London and the South East. Where it’s useful, I’m also happy to spend time with you and your team in person.
embedded: your long-term recruitment outsourcing
Let’s think further ahead than the next vacancy.
Bring a Talent Partner into your business who understands where you’re going, works closely with your leaders and can help you make the hiring decisions that get you there.