Job Description

Find the person others might miss

The role starts the night before.

Perth is heading into afternoon, Manila will soon be offline, Auckland is nearly done for today. A hiring manager has called. It's urgent, not "we forgot to plan" urgent, but the urgency that arises in a swiftly growing business. Tomorrow's priority becomes yours.

Were looking for an IT Recruiter in Auckland with judgement, empathy, pace, humour, and absolutely zero ego.

This is a NZ focused end-to-end internal recruitment role (although you'll help out with roles elsewhere too), sitting close to hiring managers and senior stakeholders, and working in a small team that treats recruitment like a relay, not an individual sprint. You carry the baton when it's yours. You pick it up again when someone else is stretched.

You will not be left to wrestle impossible briefs alone. You will have a team around you, clear support, and people who will back good recruitment judgement.

What the day looks like

Some briefs are clear from day one. Some managers know exactly what they want. Some know the outcome they need but need help defining the person. Salary, technical needs, what success actually looks like. You'll draft the ad, shape the message, post it and start the search.

Applications come in. Some won't fit. Some are close. Then there's one.

This CV doesn't shout "yes," but it whispers something interesting. Growth. Curiosity. Communication. The kind of signals a checklist misses and a strong recruiter doesn't.

This is what you are good at. It's not magic, not vibes, not "we both like the same coffee place so destiny has clearly joined the hiring panel." Judgement.

You validate properly: motivation, salary, technical relevance, values fit, client-facing capability, and whether they can succeed in the real role. Not the glossy job-ad version of the role but by engaging in a real conversation to confirm that signal you heard.

Then comes the satisfying bit: sitting down with a manager and helping them see what you see.

What you'll be doing

• Running role kickoff conversations and sharpening hiring briefs
• Writing and posting ads
• Actively sourcing and engaging candidates directly
• Screening for technical fit, communication, values, motivation and did we mention values?
• Coordinating interviews and keeping hiring moving
• Managing candidate expectations, communication and offers properly
• Contributing to improving our hiring workflows and processes

There’s also an expectation that unclear, unrealistic, or unnecessarily complicated hiring processes get challenged early.

Requirements

What matters to us

We care less about whether someone has recruited every technology role under the sun. What matters more is good judgement, organisation under pressure, clear communication, follow-through, and care for both candidate experience and hiring outcomes.

Ownership matters here. So does common sense. And the ability to be a great member of the team.

A few practical things

• Auckland based
• Hybrid work environment
• Full-time permanent role
• Internal recruitment role, not agency
• Hiring across NZ and other First Focus locations when required

What you'll bring

• Strong end-to-end recruitment experience in a busy, mixed-role environment
• Technical literacy across MSP, IT services, and client-facing technology, enough to ask better questions and spot good candidates beyond the keywords
• Sound sourcing judgement, including knowing when to search wider, dig deeper, or politely let the business know unicorns do not exist (at least not today)
• Excellent candidate assessment skills, especially when potential isn't obvious on paper
• Confidence building trust with hiring managers, clarifying what they really need, and giving practical market advice
• Empathy and warmth, balanced with clear standards and good follow-through
• A collaborative, low-ego style with the instinct to keep things moving

Highly regarded

• Technology recruitment experience
• Commercial judgement around salary, market conditions, and candidate expectations
• Experience in internal or distributed recruitment environments

Benefits

Why First Focus?

We're a growing IT services business supporting clients across Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. Big enough to offer structure and opportunity, still human enough that your work matters and people know your name.

You'll join a team that cares about doing the work properly, with good systems, helpful teammates, and far less recruitment theatre than the industry generally insists on.

What you'll get

• Competitive package including up to $100k + Kiwisaver for the perfect blend of values, skills and experience
• Hybrid work
• Free access to Uprise (1:1 coaching with qualified psychologists or counsellors).
• Flexible working for work-life balance
• Flexible leave options
• “Never Stop Growing”: 10 paid study days per year, exam fees paid (conditions apply).
• FastTrack mentoring program.
• Mentoring, support, and genuine promotion from within
• MAD (Making a Difference) Council for equality, charity, and environment.
• Regular social events and great team culture.

Our values

This role needs someone who lives our values, including Live Curiously The best recruiters ask better questions, challenge assumptions, and look beyond the obvious. That matters when you're unpacking a half-formed brief, reading between the lines of a CV, or helping a hiring manager see the person others might miss.

You can read more about the First Focus values at https://www.firstfocus.com.au/about-us/

The person we're looking for is

• Someone who can start with a priority role in the night-before huddle and turn it into progress the next day.
• Someone who finds the candidate others wouldn't have called, who helps that person want to work here, helps the business see their value, and keeps the process moving when it would be easier to let things drift.
• Someone who knows recruitment is a relay, not an individual sprint.
• Someone who knows the job isn't about being impressive. It's about being useful.

And sometimes, if you do it well, you get to call a candidate with genuinely brilliant news, then speak to a excited hiring manager who just hired someone they might otherwise have missed.

That's the part we're hiring for.

First Focus welcomes applications from Neurodiverse candidates. We recommend & appreciate disclosure along with the application so that a copy of our Neurodiversity Statement can be provided outlining the flexible options we can offer to best showcase your skills.