Principal, Talent Intelligence – US Lending

We want to know the US lending talent market better than anyone else.

OakNorth is building its US lending business, and we are looking for someone to build the talent intelligence capability behind that growth.

Your job is to know where the exceptional people are before we need to hire them.

You'll map the market, understand how the best lending teams are built, develop relationships with outstanding people across the industry and give our leadership real-time intelligence on where talent, teams and opportunities are moving.

This isn't a traditional recruiting role focused on filling vacancies.

It's a strategic, external-facing role for someone who loves understanding markets, finding people others don't know about and building relationships long before there is a job to discuss.

You'll work directly with senior leaders across our US Lending business while being part of OakNorth's Global Talent Acquisition team.

You'll have the opportunity to build this capability from the ground up.

What You'll Do

Know the Market

Become our expert on talent across the US commercial lending ecosystem, including:

Commercial and middle-market banking

Private credit and direct lending

Specialty finance

Sponsor finance

Asset-based lending

Corporate banking

You'll understand the firms, teams and individuals shaping these markets — who's growing, who's moving, where teams are being built and where the next generation of talent is emerging.

Find Exceptional People Before We Need Them

We don't want to start searching when a vacancy opens.

You'll continuously identify and build relationships with exceptional people who could become important to OakNorth in the future.

You'll find them through:

Market mapping and original research

Industry relationships and referrals

Conferences and professional networks

Deal and transaction activity

Industry publications and awards

Leadership moves and team changes

AI-powered research and intelligence tools

You'll be curious enough to look beyond LinkedIn and creative enough to uncover people our competitors haven't found.

Build Trusted Relationships

You'll develop a powerful network across the US lending market.

These won't always be recruitment conversations.

You'll build long-term relationships with senior lenders, emerging leaders and market influencers — understanding their careers, ambitions and views on the market.

Over time, we want OakNorth to be one of the first calls exceptional lending professionals make when they're thinking about their careers.

Turn Intelligence Into Business Insight

You'll turn what you're seeing in the market into useful intelligence for our leadership team.

That could include:

Talent and competitor heatmaps

Team and leadership movements

Compensation intelligence

Emerging talent

Competitor hiring activity

New market entrants

Team stability and succession risk

Geographic talent pools

Market opportunities

The goal isn't research for the sake of research.

Your insight should help OakNorth make better decisions about where, when and who we hire.

Build Our Talent Intelligence Platform

You'll use Ashby as our Talent CRM and create a living picture of the US lending talent market.

You'll build and maintain:

Talent communities

Executive relationships

Competitor maps

Market intelligence

Future hiring pipelines

Relationship history

Talent dashboards

You'll help us move from traditional recruiting pipelines towards a long-term talent ecosystem.

Experiment With AI

We want to rethink how talent intelligence is built.

You'll experiment with AI and emerging technology to improve research, market mapping, relationship management, workflow automation and reporting.

You'll have the freedom to test new approaches rather than simply follow an established recruiting playbook.

What Success Looks Like

Within your first year, we want you to have built a talent intelligence capability that our US Lending leaders actively use to make decisions.

We should have:

A clear map of the most important firms, teams and talent across our priority lending markets

Strong relationships with exceptional people before vacancies exist

Live intelligence on competitor teams and market movements

High-quality future talent pipelines

Better visibility of compensation and talent trends

A growing network of emerging and established lending leaders

An Ashby Talent CRM that contains genuinely valuable market intelligence

Most importantly, when we decide to enter a market, build a team or make a critical hire, we should already know who we want to speak to.

Who We're Looking For

We're deliberately open-minded about where you've built your career.

You might currently work in:

Executive search

Talent intelligence or strategic sourcing

Commercial banking or private credit

Lending-focused research or market intelligence

Strategy or competitive intelligence

Another environment where you've developed deep knowledge of the US lending market

We're more interested in how you think and operate than whether you've previously held this exact title.

You'll likely be someone who:

Understands the US commercial lending landscape and can quickly build credibility with senior professionals

Loves researching markets and finding people others miss

Is naturally curious about firms, teams, deals and people

Builds relationships without needing an immediate transaction

Can turn fragmented market information into useful commercial insight

Is comfortable speaking with senior executives

Has a strong hunter mentality and isn't reliant on inbound applications

Enjoys building something from scratch

Uses technology and AI to work smarter and move faster

Has an entrepreneurial mindset and strong bias for action

An existing network across US lending would be valuable, but the ability to build one is just as important.

Why OakNorth?

OakNorth was founded by entrepreneurs to help ambitious businesses scale.

Since launching in 2015, we've built one of the UK's leading commercial banks and are now building the next chapter of OakNorth in the United States.

This role gives you something unusual: the opportunity to create a talent intelligence capability from scratch and work directly with the leaders building our US lending business.

There isn't an established playbook to inherit.

You'll help write it.

Benefits and Perks

401k plan with Principal (ON match up to 4%)

Medical Care (managed through Insperity) - employees can add their family to their plan if needed

Dental & Vision bundle

Insperity Health Savings Account Program - this is a tax-advantaged employee benefit which can help manage health care costs by allowing employees to set aside some of their current earnings on a pretax basis for reimbursement of qualified health care expenses during the plan year

EAP

20 days Holiday