Embedded recruitment
Embedded recruitment, with skin in the game
In short: embedded recruitment puts a dedicated recruiter inside your team, working in your Slack, your ATS and under your brand, for a monthly fee. Ours is £5,500 a month$9,500 a month, plus 8% of base salary per hire, paid over 12 months through Pay While They Stay. If a hire leaves, those payments stop.
For technology teams hiring engineers, AI and data, product and go-to-market people every month. Three month minimum, then 30 days' notice.
The basicsWhat is embedded recruitment?
An embedded recruiter works as part of your team rather than as an outside supplier. They join your Slack, work in your applicant tracking system, email candidates from your domain and run your hiring as if they were on your payroll, for a monthly fee instead of a percentage per hire.
An agency is paid per placement and works from the outside. An in-house recruiter is a permanent salary with employer costs, tools and a notice period. Embedded sits between the two. Some firms call it embedded RPO or recruitment as a service: it is the same idea.
Hiring embedded software engineers? This page is about putting one of our recruiters inside your team. For engineering hires, see permanent recruitment.
How it worksOne of us, inside your team
- 1
Plan the hiring
We agree the hiring plan with you, scope each role and write a scorecard with every hiring manager.
- 2
Join your tools
Your recruiter works in your Slack and ATS, under your brand. Everything they build stays in your systems.
- 3
Source, screen, close
Sourcing, outreach, screening, interview scheduling, offers and closing, across four to six live roles at once.
- 4
Report and review
A weekly pipeline report and a monthly review with Mark or Mike: time to hire, sources, offer acceptance.
What it costsA published monthly fee, linked to your success
Rather than simply charge you for our time, we link part of our fee to your hires staying. Most embedded providers do not publish a price. We do.
Three month minimum, then rolling monthly on 30 days' notice. Plus VAT for UK clients.
Paid in 12 monthly instalments from the start date. If the hire leaves, the month you let us know is the last payment.
| Hires a month | Monthly fee per hire | 8% per hire | Total per hire | As a share of salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | £5,500$9,500 | £6,400$14,400 | £11,900$23,900 | 14.9%13.3% |
| 2 | £2,750$4,750 | £6,400$14,400 | £9,150$19,150 | 11.4%10.6% |
| Pay While They Stay only | None | 20% instead | £16,000$36,000 | 20% |
The honest line: if you are hiring fewer than about sevensix people a year, Pay While They Stay on its own will cost you less. Against an agency charging 15%, embedded only pays off from about twelvenine hires a year. We will tell you which is cheaper for your plan on the first call.
Where we sit in the marketNot the cheapest subscription. The one with skin in the game.
Some flat-fee embedded services cost less per month. What we checked in September 2026 and did not find elsewhere is a per-hire fee that stops if the hire leaves.
Part of our fee rides on retention
The 8% per hire is paid monthly over a year. If the hire leaves, the month you let us know is the last payment. A flat subscription is owed whether or not your hires stay.
A published price
Most embedded providers, including the best-known names, ask you to book a call for a quote. Our price is on this page, in pounds and dollars.
Four ways to hire, one firm
When hiring slows, step down to Pay While They Stay. When you need a CTO, move to executive search. VC-backed teams can use Aligned. You never have to change supplier.
Senior oversight every month
Your recruiter is backed by Mark or Mike, with 26 and 19+ years in recruitment, who review your hiring with you every month.
What's includedEverything a good in-house recruiter does
Without the salary, employer costs, tools and notice period of a permanent hire.
- A dedicated, experienced recruiter working inside your team, in your Slack and ATS
- Hiring plan, role scoping, and intake and scorecards with every hiring manager
- Sourcing and outreach, with a LinkedIn Recruiter seat included
- Hiring manager and interviewer training on structured interviews
- Job adverts, outreach messages and careers copy written in your voice
- Salary benchmarking for London, New York and San Francisco, and offer management
- A weekly pipeline report and a monthly review with Mark or Mike
Not included: executive and C-suite search (see executive search), job board advertising spend and your ATS licence.
How it comparesEmbedded vs agency vs in-house: which is cheaper?
It depends on how many people you are hiring. Here is the same comparison we would walk you through on a call.
| What you are comparing | Hurren & Hope Embedded | Typical embedded provider | Agency | In-house recruiter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How you pay | £5,500$9,500 a month, plus 8% per hire paid monthly over a year | A fixed monthly subscription, usually with no per-hire fee. Most providers, including Talentful, do not publish a price. Most UK providers we checked do not publish a price at allThe US providers we found that do publish charged about $2,300 to $10,000 a month | 15 to 25% of salary per hire, usually on the start date | Salary and employer costs for a senior recruiter: about £6,700 a month in Londonabout $15,400 a month in New York, before recruiting tools and the cost of hiring them |
| If a hire leaves early | The per-hire payments stop | Usually nothing back; a few offer a 90 day replacement | A sliding refund for 8 to 12 weeksA 60 to 90 day guarantee, usually a replacement | A sunk cost |
| Commitment | Three months, then 30 days' notice | Commonly three to twelve months | None per role | A permanent hire with notice and exit costs |
| Works in your Slack and ATS | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Price published | Yes, on this page | Rarely | Rarely | Not applicable |
| Best for | About 7 to 24 hires a year per recruiter | Steady monthly hiring where a flat fee suits your budget | One to five roles, or a niche one-off | A steady 15 to 25 or more hires a year |
Prices checked 29 September 2026. Embedded provider terms are from the providers' own pricing pages. Agency ranges are the market ranges used across this site.
How we worked out the in-house figures
London: Glassdoor's average total pay for a senior talent acquisition partner, £69,532 a year (Glassdoor, September 2026), plus employer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year (GOV.UK) and a 3% minimum employer pension on qualifying earnings (GOV.UK). That comes to about £80,500 a year, or £6,700 a month.
New York: the midpoint of Glassdoor's base pay range for a senior technical recruiter, $99,000 to $159,000 (Glassdoor, September 2026), grossed up for benefits, which make up 30% of private industry compensation costs (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2026). That comes to about $184,000 a year, or $15,400 a month.
Is it right for you?When embedded fits, and when it does not
Hiring every month
Roughly 7 to 25 hires a year, from seed to Series C, before your first in-house recruiter or when your talent team is at capacity. Opening a London, New York or San Francisco team counts too.
One or two roles
For a handful of hires a year, 20% of base paid monthly costs less than a monthly fee. How Pay While They Stay works.
CTO, VP and C-suite
Leadership hires need a confidential search rather than an embedded recruiter. About executive search.
How many people are you hiring this year?
Tell us, and on a 20 minute call we will show you whether embedded or Pay While They Stay costs you less.
Embedded recruitment questions
How much does an embedded recruiter cost?
Ours is £5,500 a month in the UK (plus VAT) or $9,500 in the US, plus 8% of base salary per hire paid over 12 months, which stops if the hire leaves. Most embedded providers do not publish a price. In September 2026, the US providers we found that do publish charged about $2,300 to $10,000 a month, usually with no per-hire fee and nothing back if a hire leaves.
What is the minimum contract?
Three months, then rolling monthly on 30 days' notice.
What happens if a hire leaves?
The 8% per-hire fee is paid through Pay While They Stay, so the month you let us know they are leaving is the last instalment for that hire, at any point in the first 12 months.
Will the recruiter work in our Slack and ATS?
Yes. They use your tools, your email domain and your processes, and everything they build stays in your systems.
How many roles can one embedded recruiter handle?
Four to six live roles at once. For senior technical hiring, plan on one to two hires a month per recruiter.
Is embedded recruitment cheaper than an agency?
It depends on your volume and on what the agency charges. Against our own 20% fee, embedded costs less from about seven hires a year; against an agency charging 15%, you need about twelve. At one hire a month on an £80,000 salary, ours works out at about 15% of salary per hire.Against our own 20% fee, embedded costs less from about six hires a year; against an agency charging 15%, you need about nine. At one hire a month on a $180,000 salary, ours works out at about 13% of salary per hire. Below that volume, Pay While They Stay is cheaper, and we will tell you so.
Is an embedded recruiter cheaper than hiring an in-house recruiter?
Often, and with less commitment. A senior in-house recruiter costs about £6,700 a month in London or about $15,400 a month in New York in salary and employer costs, before tools, and brings a notice period and exit costs. Ours is £5,500 or $9,500 a month with a three month minimum, plus 8% per hire that stops if the hire leaves.
Who owns the candidates and pipeline when we stop?
You do. Your recruiter works in your ATS, your Slack and your email domain, so every candidate, note and pipeline stays in your systems when the engagement ends.
Can we scale down or stop?
Yes. After the three month minimum the service rolls monthly on 30 days' notice. If your hiring slows to a few roles a year, you can move to Pay While They Stay and pay only per hire.
What is the difference between embedded recruitment and RPO?
RPO usually means outsourcing all or most of your hiring to a provider at scale, often for large companies. Embedded recruitment puts one or a few recruiters inside your team as part of it. Some firms call their service embedded RPO.
Do you include hiring manager training and employer brand?
Yes. We run intake and scorecards with every hiring manager, train interviewers on structured interviews, and write your adverts, outreach and careers copy. We do not produce video or design campaigns.
Where do you recruit?
London, New York and San Francisco. You speak to Mark or Mike directly.
Hiring every month? Put one of us inside your team.
Embedded in numbers