Head of Talent Acquisition

A busy London local authority is looking for an experienced Head of Talent Acquisition to provide leadership across its recruitment function and improve how the organisation attracts, recruits and onboards people.

This is a broad head-of-service-level role rather than a hands-on recruitment position. You will take responsibility for the overall direction and performance of the function, lead the existing team and work closely with senior leaders on immediate recruitment priorities and longer-term workforce pressures.

The organisation is looking to strengthen its approach to specialist and hard-to-fill recruitment, improve the experience for candidates and hiring managers and make better use of recruitment data. There will also be a focus on employer brand, talent pipelines, inclusive recruitment, onboarding and reducing unnecessary reliance on agencies.

You will review current processes and ways of working, identify where the service can be more responsive and provide clear leadership on priorities, standards and performance. The role will also involve oversight of recruitment suppliers, contingent workforce arrangements, systems and management information.

We are looking for someone who has:

• Led an in-house talent acquisition or recruitment function within a large and complex organisation.
• Developed and delivered a clear recruitment and talent acquisition strategy.
• Worked directly with directors and senior leaders on hard-to-fill and specialist recruitment.
• Improved recruitment processes, candidate experience and hiring-manager capability.
• Used recruitment data and performance measures to identify issues and improve delivery.
• Managed external recruitment suppliers, agencies, executive search providers or contingent workforce arrangements.
• Led and developed a team, setting clear expectations and improving service standards.
• Built employer-brand activity, talent pipelines and more inclusive approaches to recruitment.
• Delivered recruitment transformation or significant service improvement.

Previous local government or wider public-sector experience would be useful, although applications are welcomed from candidates who have led complex talent acquisition functions within other large, regulated organisations.

This role would suit an established Head of Talent Acquisition, Head of Recruitment or senior recruitment transformation lead who can quickly understand the organisation, provide credible leadership and improve both the strategic and operational performance of the service.