Lead Recruitment Strategy & Employer Branding

About the role

Help shape the future growth of Highberg. Highberg has a clear ambition: to become a leading European consultancy in the field of transformation. With more than 480 colleagues and operations across multiple European markets, we are building one integrated organization: One Highberg. We combine an entrepreneurial and results-driven mindset with a warm, people-centered culture and high employee satisfaction.

To support our growth ambitions, we are looking for an experienced Lead Recruitment Strategy & Employer Branding who can take recruitment to the next level and ensure that candidates across Highberg experience a consistent, high-quality recruitment journey.

This role is unique. At many organizations, recruitment is primarily focused on filling vacancies. At Highberg, it is about building the organization of tomorrow. In this role, you will help us make the transition to a mature, data-driven, and future-proof recruitment function that supports our ambitious growth plans. You will play a key role in shaping how we attract, engage, and hire talent across Highberg, creating a recruitment organization that is scalable, consistent, and built for the future.

• Amsterdam, Utrecht & Zoetermeer

Why Highberg?

At Highberg, everything revolves around people. Around colleagues who want to make a difference, take ownership, and work together based on trust and craftsmanship. We believe real change happens when strategy, execution, and humanity come together. That starts with our own team. This is why we create an environment where you can continue to grow, apply your expertise, and expand it further. An environment where you can make lasting impact.

Bringing strategy to life

At Highberg, you are not a remote advisor. You work closely with clients on challenges that truly matter, from strategy through to implementation. This allows you to make an immediate impact and see the results of your work in practice.

Collaborative, human, and professional

We work closely together, share knowledge, and strengthen one another to achieve the best possible outcomes. Our culture is open and built on trust, with room for both ambition and humanity. We listen, celebrate successes, and hold each other accountable, always with attention to people as well as to quality.

European outlook, locally rooted

With teams in the Netherlands and the DACH region, you work in an organization with a broad, European perspective. At the same time, the culture remains personal and close-knit. This gives you the opportunity to collaborate internationally at a high level, within a committed and engaged team.

Culture as a catalyst

Our culture is a key reason why colleagues enjoy working at Highberg. We place trust in our people, value initiative, and believe it is important that everyone can continue to develop. This enables you to get the best out of yourself, while together contributing to sustainable growth.

Your role as Lead Recruitment Strategy & Employer Branding

In this role, you will be responsible for further professionalizing recruitment across Highberg. You will develop a unified recruitment vision for all our hubs and translate this into a consistent approach, processes, dashboards, and employer branding initiatives. A key part of your role will be driving alignment, stakeholder buy-in, and successful implementation of new ways of working.

You will work closely with HR Business Partners, Marketing, and business leaders across our different hubs. While HR Business Partners remain responsible for vacancies and business alignment, you will own the recruitment strategy, ensure a strong pipeline of qualified candidates, and continuously optimize and further develop our recruitment capabilities.

You will also lead the working students who provide operational recruitment support across our various hubs.

Your work will consist of:

Develop the One Highberg Recruitment Experience

• Design and implement a unified recruitment approach across all hubs.
• Ensure a professional and consistent candidate experience, from first contact through onboarding.
• Continuously improve recruitment quality, speed, and candidate satisfaction.

Build the One Highberg Employer Brand

• Partner with Marketing to create a distinctive and compelling employer value proposition.
• Further develop our employer branding strategy across the Netherlands and Europe.
• Ensure a consistent and recognizable positioning of Highberg in the talent market.

Recruitment Analytics & Dashboarding

• Lead the continued development of the One Highberg Recruitment Dashboard.
• Translate recruitment data into actionable insights for management and HR.
• Drive the achievement of recruitment targets together with HR Business Partners across the various hubs.
• Define, monitor, and report on key recruitment metrics, including time-to-hire, quality-of-hire, source effectiveness, and candidate experience.

Implement European Legislation & Compliance

• Translate European pay transparency requirements into a future-proof recruitment process.
• Advise HR, management, and hiring managers on the impact of new legislation.
• Ensure compliance while maintaining an excellent candidate experience.

Who are you?

• You are comfortable working in a dynamic environment that is continuously evolving, with a complex stakeholder landscape.
• You combine strategic thinking with a pragmatic, hands-on approach.
• You have experience with recruitment processes, employer branding, and recruitment analytics.
• You are able to guide stakeholders through change and successfully drive engagement and adoption.
• You have strong organizational awareness, quickly understand different interests and perspectives, and navigate a partner-led environment with ease.
• You are AI literate and able to apply AI in a conscious, critical, and responsible way to enhance your work.

What are we asking?

• You have at least 10 years of experience in recruitment, talent acquisition, or workforce planning.
• You possess a master’s level (WO) working and thinking capability.
• You have affinity with consultancy, professional services, or other knowledge-intensive organizations.
• You have experience in project management, change initiatives, and leading a small team.
• You have excellent verbal and written communication skills in Dutch.

What are we offering?

• Attractive and Comprehensive Employment Package: We offer a competitive salary aligned with your experience, ranging from €5,750 to €6,500 per month based on a full-time contract, along with a variable compensation scheme. This is complemented by an attractive package including holiday allowance, mobility benefits, and a pension plan.
• The Best of Both Worlds: the intellectual sharpness and quality of a high end consultancy firm, combined with the agility and engagement of an entrepreneurial organization.
• Ownership, Autonomy & Entrepreneurship: You will have a high level of ownership over your work and responsibility to shape recruitment within Highberg and turn new ideas into reality. You will work closely with HR, Marketing, and business leadership to drive meaningful change.
• The Opportunity to Build: At Highberg, recruitment is about much more than filling vacancies. In this role, you will help build the organization of tomorrow and directly influence how we attract, select, and engage senior talent across Europe.
• A Collaborative and Accessible Environment: Our organizational structure is flat, decision-making is close to the business, and strong ideas quickly gain traction and support.
• Flexible Working with Strong Connections: Hybrid working is part of how we operate, complemented by regular opportunities to connect in person for collaboration, knowledge sharing, inspiring sessions, and company-wide events such as the Highberg Festival.

About Highberg

Highberg is a European transformation consultancy. We support organizations in realising their strategic ambitions by combining clear direction with execution.

We believe sustainable change happens when deep expertise and human dynamics are in balance. That is why we work closely with our clients, not only as advisors, but as partners in realisation.

Our teams combine analytical depth with pragmatism and build solutions that not only work on paper, but above all in practice.