// FULL RECRUITMENT OUTSOURCING //

RPO / TALENT OUTSOURCING

Full recruitment outsourcing - from strategy through to offer stage - without the agency markup or the internal overhead.

► BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL WHAT IS RPO? ↓
£250K+
Cost Savings Delivered
18 DAYS
Average Time-to-Hire
99%
Offer Acceptance Rate
95%
Agency Cost Reduction

// DEMYSTIFYING RPO //

WHAT RPO ACTUALLY MEANS FOR YOUR BUSINESS

RPO stands for Recruitment Process Outsourcing. The term comes from enterprise. The reality, for a scale-up or SME, is much simpler.

You hand us your hiring. Not as a brief you fire into the void and wait for CVs back - but as a real partnership. We own the process end-to-end: building the strategy, running the sourcing, screening the candidates, and managing every stage through to a signed offer.

You stay in the loop on decisions that matter. You don't get buried in process admin, calendar chaos, or 200-person candidate longlists.

For companies that need to hire 10 to 100+ people per year without the overhead of a full internal TA function - and without the cost of running everything through agencies - RPO is the infrastructure layer you've been missing.

CLEARING UP THE JARGON

  • MYTH "RPO is only for large enterprises with hundreds of hires."
  • REALITY Most of our RPO clients are Series A–C scale-ups planning 10–60 hires per year. The model works precisely because you get enterprise-level rigour without enterprise-level cost.
  • MYTH "You lose control of hiring when you outsource it."
  • REALITY You gain visibility you didn't have before. Full pipeline transparency via our dedicated ATS portal. You make every final decision - we eliminate the friction getting there.
  • MYTH "RPO is another name for an agency retainer."
  • REALITY No per-hire fees. No success fees. No markups. A fixed monthly retainer covers the entire hiring scope, regardless of volume within the agreed parameters.

► RPO IS THE RIGHT FIT IF...

  • You're planning 10+ hires over the next 12 months
  • You want to reduce or eliminate agency reliance
  • Hiring managers are spending too much time on recruitment admin
  • You don't have a dedicated TA function (or it's too small to scale)
  • You need a process that transfers back to you cleanly at the end
  • You want predictable recruitment cost, not variable per-hire spend

► WHAT YOU GET THAT AGENCIES DON'T OFFER

  • A recruiter who knows your product, team, and culture - not a generic brief
  • Full ATS setup and pipeline management, not just CV pushing
  • Candidate experience ownership from first contact to offer
  • Hiring process documentation that stays with you after engagement ends
  • Employer brand alignment and consistent candidate messaging
  • Proactive reporting - time-to-hire, pipeline health, offer conversion

// SIMPLE. EMBEDDED. EFFECTIVE. //

OUR APPROACH

Four phases. One joined-up process. No handoff gaps.

PHASE 01

Strategy

Before a single job is posted, we map the full hiring plan. Role priorities, team structure, compensation benchmarks, sourcing channels, and timelines - agreed upfront, not improvised as you go.

  • Hiring plan scoping
  • Job architecture & levelling
  • Salary benchmarking
  • Sourcing channel strategy
  • ATS configuration
  • Interview process design

PHASE 02

Sourcing

Active, multi-channel sourcing - not waiting for inbound applications. We build targeted pipelines for each role using direct search, LinkedIn, talent networks, and employer brand content.

  • Direct headhunt & outreach
  • LinkedIn Recruiter campaigns
  • Job board strategy & copy
  • Referral programme activation
  • Employer brand messaging
  • Passive talent engagement

PHASE 03

Screening

Every candidate is screened rigorously before reaching your hiring managers. Competency-based interviews, culture-fit assessment, skills validation. You see only the candidates worth your time.

  • Initial candidate screening
  • Competency-based interviewing
  • Technical skills validation
  • Scorecard & evidence documentation
  • Shortlist presentation
  • Hiring manager prep packs

PHASE 04

Offer Management

Offer stage is where hiring often breaks down. We manage the close - compensation alignment, counter-offer handling, notice period negotiation, and candidate communication through to start date.

  • Offer structuring & alignment
  • Counter-offer handling
  • Notice period negotiation
  • Candidate communication & care
  • Pre-boarding check-ins
  • Pipeline transparency via ATS Powered by Treegarden

// WHAT YOU GET //

WHAT'S INCLUDED

Every RPO engagement includes the following as standard. No tiered feature unlocking.

Dedicated Senior Recruiter

One named recruiter embedded across your hiring - with full context on your business, culture, and priorities. Not a rotating team of juniors.

ATS Setup & Pipeline Management

Full applicant tracking setup, candidate tagging, pipeline stages, and reporting dashboards. Built on Treegarden - handed back to you at engagement end.

Job Architecture & Levelling

Role scoping, level frameworks, and salary benchmarking for every function you're hiring into. Prevents scope creep and misaligned expectations from day one.

Interview Process Design

Structured interview stages, scorecards, and assessments designed for each role type. Your hiring managers interview better and decide faster.

Employer Brand Collateral

Job descriptions, outreach messaging, candidate-facing explainers, and career page copy - all aligned to your brand and written to attract the right people.

Weekly Pipeline Reporting

Regular reporting on active roles: applications, pipeline stage, time-to-hire trajectory, and offer conversion. No black boxes.

Hiring Manager Coaching

We brief and prepare your interviewers before every panel. Consistent scoring. Less bias. Faster decisions.

Offer & Close Management

Compensation structuring, negotiation support, counter-offer handling, and candidate communication through to start date - including early pre-boarding contact.

Documented Process Handover

At the end of every engagement, we hand back a fully documented hiring process: playbooks, scorecards, ATS configuration, and sourcing templates. The infrastructure stays.

// REAL RESULTS, REAL CLIENTS //

WHAT WE'VE DELIVERED

AdTech Company, London

80 hires · 12 months · Embedded RPO

<1% agency reliance TTF 21 days (non-tech) TTF 35 days (senior) 99% offer acceptance 90% Y1 retention £250K+ cost savings

SaaS / MedTech, Global

Series B scale-up · Full RPO outsourcing

95% agency reduction TTH down to 21 days 98% offer acceptance 96% Y1 retention £180K cost savings

SaaS Platform, US / EMEA

Product team build · Multi-region hiring

Full EMEA + North America hiring Complete TA process implementation Engagement extended twice

Strategic Design Studio

US / Germany / UK · Senior hiring

Senior product & engineering 3 markets Engagement extended once

Client names available on request. Data from Calvin Botez's direct engagement history.

// UNDERSTAND YOUR OPTIONS //

RPO VS OTHER MODELS

How full RPO outsourcing compares to the alternatives - so you can make the right call for your stage.

Factor Traditional Agency Build Internal TA Mason Bedford RPO
Cost structure 15–25% per hire + retainers Salary + benefits + tooling Fixed monthly retainer
Time to first hire Fast push, slow quality Months to build the function Productive from week one
Business & culture knowledge None Deep - but takes 6–12 months Deep from day one
Process after engagement Nothing - no IP transferred Person-dependent, leaves with them Documented + transferred
Agency reliance post-engagement You remain dependent Reduced, eventually Eliminated by design
ATS & tooling Their ATS - no access You buy and manage it Configured and handed back
Accountability after placement None (fee already paid) Full, ongoing Full, ongoing
Scalability Costly to scale volume Rigid - headcount to adjust Scope adjusted as you grow

// FREQUENTLY ASKED //

QUESTIONS ABOUT RPO

Most of our RPO clients are between 30 and 500 employees. You don't need to be a global enterprise - you need a genuine, committed hiring volume (typically 10+ roles per year) and a desire to stop spending 15–25% per hire on agencies. If you're at that stage, RPO is built for you.
A fixed monthly retainer based on hiring scope and volume. We agree the parameters upfront - number of active roles, hiring functions, hiring manager time required - and you pay the same amount each month, regardless of how many hires complete. No per-hire success fees, no hidden markups.
We can typically start within a week of contract signing - for urgent briefs, often sooner. The onboarding process - systems access, hiring manager introductions, role briefs - runs in parallel with the first active sourcing campaigns.
Primarily tech, SaaS, fintech, AdTech, and digital media. Our deepest track record is in product, engineering, data, design, and commercial functions. We hire across the UK, EMEA, and North America.
You receive a full handover: documented hiring processes, interview scorecards, sourcing templates, ATS configuration, and an off-boarding brief for whoever takes over recruitment internally. The infrastructure doesn't leave with us.
We recommend a minimum of 3 months - enough time to build a strong pipeline, make high-quality hires, and deliver a meaningful process transfer. Shorter engagements are considered case by case, but tend not to deliver the same depth of impact.
Yes. RPO can function as a standalone function or as an overflow layer for an existing TA team facing a growth spike. We define scope clearly at the outset so there's no duplication, candidate confusion, or process collision.

// READY TO TALK? //

LET'S SCOPE YOUR RPO

Tell us about your hiring plans. We'll explain exactly how RPO would work for your business - no hard sell, no commitment required.

► BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL Explore Embedded Recruitment →