From transaction
to transformation.
I've spent 25 years leading talent acquisition for some of the world's largest employers. Now I help scaling businesses turn hiring into a genuine driver of growth, and I've written the playbook on how to do it.
Talent Acquisition for Scaling Businesses
Most scaling businesses feel the same disconnect: recruitment working hard, and the business strategy moving somewhere else entirely. This book closes that gap. Drawing on research and real cases from 100 companies worldwide, it gives talent leaders a practical playbook for building a TA function that the business actually plans around.
- Embed TA into business strategy and influence leadership without formal authority
- Use data and AI to drive smarter, more human hiring
- Build scalable, resilient TA functions aligned to where the business is going
- Position recruitment as a strategic growth driver
Ideas worth arguing with
I write regularly on LinkedIn about talent, AI, and the changing shape of work. Grounded in what leaders can actually do, with a point of view you're welcome to disagree with.
Would you let your GP perform heart surgery?
On specialists, generalists, and why deep expertise matters more than ever when the stakes are high.
Read on LinkedIn → Talent strategyWhy the best talent strategy might be to hire less
A challenge to the default of hiring your way out of every problem, and what building capability from within actually takes.
Read on LinkedIn → AssessmentAssessment is not one size fits all… right?
Why assessment should be designed around the role, the candidate, and the decision you actually need to make.
Read on LinkedIn →A career spent where talent meets strategy
I'm Richard Bradley, founder of Future Talent Solutions and author of Talent Acquisition for Scaling Businesses. Over 25 years I've led recruitment operations, RPO businesses, and talent transformation programmes across the UK, Europe, and globally, most recently as Vice President and Global Business Leader for RPO at KellyOCG, designing talent acquisition strategies for Fortune 500 clients.
The organisations I care most about now are the ones in the middle: businesses of 500 to 5,000 people facing enterprise-level complexity without enterprise-level resources. They deserve talent strategies built for their reality, and that's the work I find most rewarding.
Away from work, I coach rugby in St Albans, I'm dad to triplet boys, and I maintain a long-suffering loyalty to Everton Football Club. All three have taught me more about resilience than any boardroom ever has.
From those I've worked with
Richard is a rare breed among Talent Acquisition leaders in that he blends true strategic thinking and creative problem solving with delivering high quality daily recruiting outcomes at scale. Immensely likeable, direct and honest, and very approachable.
To every interaction or project, Richard brings a problem solving and creative mindset, always focusing on a great talent and customer experience. Richard is a fantastic leader, with compassion, enthusiasm and personality.
He has an enthusiasm and a perspective on recruitment and talent acquisition that makes me think and challenge my own views. He has a curiosity and is brave enough to try new tools, technologies and techniques with the desire to move things forward.
Where I can help
Advisory, consultancy, and speaking on the future of talent. Delivery at scale runs through my work with Omni, one of the UK's leading resourcing and talent acquisition specialists.
TA strategy & operating model
Honest reviews of how your talent acquisition function works today, and practical roadmaps for where it needs to go. Built for boards and budgets in the real world.
Workforce transformation & skills-based hiring
Helping organisations shift from hiring against job titles to building capability, with AI and data doing the heavy lifting and humans making the calls.
Speaking, advisory & workshops
Keynotes, leadership sessions, and workshops on the future of hiring, drawing on the research and frameworks behind the book.
Ready to go beyond the conversation?
For RPO, talent strategy, and executive search delivered at scale, I work with the team at Omni, specialists in transforming how organisations approach talent.
If your hiring feels busy but your business isn't feeling the benefit, let's talk.
Speaking enquiries, advisory work, or just a good conversation about where talent is heading. I read everything that comes in.