About Humand
Recruitment done more like a community than a call centre.
We're a small, specialist team based in Oxfordshire. We hire technical talent for scaling deep-tech businesses, run the meet-ups they attend, and share what we learn as we go.
Our values
How we work
Human first
People aren't line items. Every conversation starts with what someone actually wants next, not the seat we need to fill.
Deep specialism
We work across the UK's innovation economy — software and AI, quantum, life sciences, advanced engineering and the disciplines beneath them.
Community-led
We run the meet-ups, dinners and roundtables our market attends. The best introductions rarely come from a job board.
Long-term thinking
We'd rather lose a fee this quarter than send the wrong person into a role that will unravel in six months.
Honest and direct
Straight feedback, clear timelines, no ghosting. If a role isn't right for you, we'll say so early.
Useful to the ecosystem
We publish salary benchmarks, hiring guides and market write-ups so people can make better decisions whether they work with us or not.
Team
The people you'll meet

Joseph Edney
Managing Director
Founder and MD of Humand Talent Solutions. Joseph leads strategy, key client relationships and the long-term vision for the business - building a search partner Oxfordshire's deep-tech community actually trusts.

Jamie Kennedy
Client Solutions Director
Jamie heads client solutions, shaping how Humand partners with scale-ups and primes across AI, quantum, optics and advanced engineering. He owns commercial strategy and senior stakeholder relationships.

Katy King
Candidate Operations Manager
Katy is the Candidate Operations Manager at Humand Talent. She has been with Humand since 2022 and has worked across a few different areas of recruitment, from sourcing and speaking with candidates through to client partnerships, leading a team and now candidate operations. A big part of what she does is making sure candidates have a good experience and feel properly supported throughout their job search. She really enjoys getting to know people, understanding what they’re looking for and helping them find a role and company that genuinely feels right for them. She is also passionate about the Oxfordshire tech community and love being involved in our local events, including Women in Tech Oxfordshire and PeopleOps Oxford.

Adrian Taylor
Senior Talent Scout
Adrian leads deep sourcing across hardware and physics-heavy disciplines — optics, lasers, metrology and instrumentation — mapping the specialists who don't answer generic InMails.

Jess Haydon
Senior Talent Partner
Jess partners with clients end-to-end across Software, AI and Data, managing the full recruitment process from initial brief through to offer, placement and beyond. Known for shortlists that are short, relevant and closable.

Nav Dey
Client Support Partner
As our Client Support Partner, Nav works closely with businesses to understand their growth plans, challenges and what they need from their people. Her focus is on making the hiring process as straightforward as possible, taking away the headaches and giving clients the support, advice and confidence they need to grow their teams. Nav is always on hand to meet and chat through future growth plans, discuss how we support our partners and answer any questions along the way. Whether it is alleviating concerns, offering reassurance, talking through different options or simply catching up over a coffee, she is there to make sure clients feel supported and confident in their hiring decisions.

Eleanor Wright
Talent Scout
Eleanor is a Scout here at Humand Talent. She joined Humand in 2023 and has worked across a range of sectors, from Data and Telecoms to GEO and Energy. More recently, she’s found her niche within Data, particularly through leading Humand’s Data Meetup and becoming more involved in the wider tech community. For Eleanor, recruitment is about much more than finding someone their next role. She’s there to make a candidate’s journey 10x easier – from interview prep and organising the process to negotiating offers and supporting them every step of the way, even after they’ve secured the role. What she loves most is being part of something that can make a real difference in someone’s life. Whether it’s their dream job, a big career move, or an opportunity they’ve been waiting a long time for, knowing she’s helped them get there is incredibly rewarding. Eleanor loves learning, meeting brilliant people in the tech community and, above all, making sure every candidate she works with feels like they have someone firmly in their corner.

Poppy McNamara
Talent Scout
Poppy is a Talent Scout, working across a range of technical and commercial markets including engineering, manufacturing, project management, devops, sales and web development. She is constantly learning about new technologies, industries and the people working within them, while building a broad understanding of the talent markets she recruits into. Poppy takes a relationship building approach to recruitment and aims to make the process as straightforward and personal as possible. She works closely with candidates to understand what they're looking for in their next move, help them assess whether a role and company are the right fit, and support them throughout the process. If a role isn't quite right, Poppy would rather understand what you're looking for and help find something that is. Whether you're actively looking for your next opportunity or just want to understand what's out there, she is always happy to have a conversation!

Miranda Mxatule
Talent Scout
Miranda works across the technology market, sourcing and speaking with talented professionals across Software Engineering, Cloud, DevOps, AI, Product and IT. She enjoys getting to grips with complex technical requirements and finding the people who have the skills and experience to match them. For Miranda, recruitment is about more than finding someone for a vacancy. She cares deeply about her candidates and takes pride in building genuine relationships, understanding what they want from their next move and making sure they feel supported throughout the process.





