Talent Acquisition Partner
- Hiring from
- United Kingdom
- Work type
- Hybrid
- Posted
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A little bit about us
East West Rail is an infrastructure programme connecting communities between Oxford and Cambridge, a region currently underserved by transport. We have a once in a generation opportunity to change that, improving prosperity for people and places along the way.
East West Railway Company (EWR Co) was created by the Department for Transport (DfT) to oversee delivery of East West Rail, from construction through to services running, making sure the railway comes together in the right way. The programme is projected to deliver a £6.7 billion annual boost to the regional economy by 2050.
Role Summary
This role will play an integral role in the People team, acting as a trusted talent partner to leaders across the business and owning the end-to-end recruitment process across a variety of functions. Reporting to the Recruitment & Resourcing Manager, the role will be central to activating our talent acquisition strategy. Bringing the East West Rail employer brand to life, proactively sourcing and headhunting talent, and using market insight to influence how, where and when we hire.
This includes sourcing and attracting top talent, building strong relationships with candidates and hiring managers, and ensuring a seamless and positive recruitment experience from application to onboarding. The role also will be responsible for building and maintaining talent pipelines, supporting succession planning initiatives, and coordinating early career opportunities.
This is a hands-on partnering role, working closely with the wider People team to ensure talent acquisition is joined up with workforce planning, development and retention.
Function
Our People team look after everything that makes the employee experience feel great. We handle the whole journey - from finding brilliant new people and getting them onboard, to keeping everyone informed, connected and developing. We’re also the safe pair of hands behind the scenes, keeping our people data in good shape and making sure we’re doing things the right way when it comes to employment standards. We create a positive, inclusive environment that makes East West Rail a great place to work.
East West Rail is an infrastructure programme connecting communities between Oxford and Cambridge, a region currently underserved by transport. We have a once in a generation opportunity to change that, improving prosperity for people and places along the way.
East West Railway Company (EWR Co) was created by the Department for Transport (DfT) to oversee delivery of East West Rail, from construction through to services running, making sure the railway comes together in the right way. The programme is projected to deliver a £6.7 billion annual boost to the regional economy by 2050.
Role Summary
This role will play an integral role in the People team, acting as a trusted talent partner to leaders across the business and owning the end-to-end recruitment process across a variety of functions. Reporting to the Recruitment & Resourcing Manager, the role will be central to activating our talent acquisition strategy. Bringing the East West Rail employer brand to life, proactively sourcing and headhunting talent, and using market insight to influence how, where and when we hire.
This includes sourcing and attracting top talent, building strong relationships with candidates and hiring managers, and ensuring a seamless and positive recruitment experience from application to onboarding. The role also will be responsible for building and maintaining talent pipelines, supporting succession planning initiatives, and coordinating early career opportunities.
This is a hands-on partnering role, working closely with the wider People team to ensure talent acquisition is joined up with workforce planning, development and retention.
Function
Our People team look after everything that makes the employee experience feel great. We handle the whole journey - from finding brilliant new people and getting them onboard, to keeping everyone informed, connected and developing. We’re also the safe pair of hands behind the scenes, keeping our people data in good shape and making sure we’re doing things the right way when it comes to employment standards. We create a positive, inclusive environment that makes East West Rail a great place to work.
Key Responsibilities
- Own the full recruitment lifecycle for a variety of technical and non-technical roles across allocated business areas, from workforce planning conversations and resourcing to onboarding.
- Act as a trusted talent partner to senior leaders and hiring managers, working with them to understand their strategic priorities, team structures and hiring needs (current and future) to develop a proactive and robust recruitment strategy and candidate pipeline, providing advice and constructive challenge where needed.
- Activate the East West Rail employer brand in the market – bringing our employee value proposition (EVP) to life through targeted attraction campaigns, social and digital channels, employee and hiring manager advocacy, industry events and partnerships, positioning EWR Co as an employer of choice across transport, infrastructure and engineering.
- Lead a sourcing-first approach: proactively source, headhunt and attract high-quality passive and active candidates through multiple channels, including direct sourcing, headhunting, market mapping, talent communities and networking.
- Provide market intelligence and talent insight to stakeholders – including talent availability, salary benchmarking, competitor activity and market mapping – to shape hiring decisions, role design and workforce planning.
- Act as the primary point of contact for external secondments, coordinating logistics, onboarding, and engagement with internal teams.
- Champion and support EDI in recruitment by using inclusive sourcing strategies, minimising bias, and promoting diverse shortlists.
- Actively engage with hiring managers to raise awareness of inclusive hiring practices and contribute to broader EDI initiatives within the organisation, ensuring recruitment strategies align with our commitment to building a diverse and representative workforce.
- Ensure a seamless and positive candidate experience at every stage of the recruitment journey.
- In collaboration with hiring managers, build & execute recruitment plans & targeted attraction campaigns in line with the current and future capability needs of the organisation.
- Proactively lead the hiring process, from market insights and job briefings, through to candidate selection.
- Managing the costs for each hire, ensuring that we maximise value and minimise unnecessary expense.
- Develop and maintain proactive talent pipelines and talent communities for critical, hard-to-fill roles and future hiring needs, using market mapping to build ready-now and future talent pools.
- Coordinate and manage initiatives supporting early career development, including rotational programs, apprenticeships, and graduate opportunities.
- Build hiring manager capability by promoting and coaching best practices in candidate selection, interviewing and assessment, and continually seek innovative ways (including new technology and tools) to improve our recruitment process.
- Use recruitment data and metrics (e.g. time to hire, source of hire, cost per hire, quality of hire and shortlist diversity) to track performance, share insight with stakeholders and drive continuous improvement.
- Work collaboratively across the wider People Team to ensure talent acquisition activity is joined up with workforce planning, internal mobility, succession, onboarding and retention.
- Responsible for managing and supporting direct reports including: coaching and developing team members to drive individual growth and operational excellence. Leading continuous improvement, through regular performance management and ensuring compliance with organisation policies and updating relevant systems.
- Take responsibility of your own and others’ health and safety by adopting and working to the EWR Co Health and Safety principles.
- Demonstrates a cost-conscious mindset, keeping tax payers’ money at the forefront of decisions.
- Shows a commitment to innovation by proactively seeking creative solutions to challenges and opportunities.
- Act as a role model for EWR Co’s vision and behaviours, working in ways that are aligned with EWR Co’s Ways of Working, as well as encouraging and supporting others to do so too.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
- Proven experience delivering end-to-end recruitment (in-house preferred), ideally within the public sector or a complex, safety-critical environment such as transport, infrastructure, or engineering.
- Strong stakeholder management skills, with the credibility and confidence to build trusted relationships with influence and constructively challenge senior leaders.
- Experience building and managing candidate pipelines across multiple role types and seniority levels.
- Passion to provide an exceptional people experience in each interaction.
- Strong ability to source, assess, and engage talent across a range of technical and non-technical roles, using direct sourcing, headhunting, job boards, and sector-relevant networks.
- Demonstrable track record of proactive direct sourcing and headhunting – including LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean search and market mapping – to deliver hires for specialist and hard-to-fill roles.
- Experience delivering employer brand and attraction campaigns, including use of social media and digital channels.
- Experience managing or contributing to succession planning or workforce planning processes.
- Solid understanding of inclusive recruitment practices and a passion for improving EDI in hiring.
- Confident user of applicant tracking systems (ATS), with strong attention to data accuracy.
- A data-led approach – comfortable using recruitment metrics and market insight to inform decisions and present insight to stakeholders.
- Familiarity with government frameworks, public sector hiring protocols, or civil service recruitment principles is highly desirable
Education and qualifications:
- CIPD Level 5 qualification (or working towards), or equivalent experience (desirable but definitely not essential).
Benefits
- Competitive salary that reflects your skills and experience
- Up to 12% employer pension contribution to support your future
- 36 days annual leave (including bank holidays) plus the option to buy up to 2 extra days
- 2 volunteering days, a chance for you to give back to the community
- Enhanced family-friendly policies to support you and your loved ones
- Life assurance (4x your annual salary) for peace of mind
- Employee Assistance Programme for confidential support when you need it
- Access to Perkbox for a wide range of discounts and wellbeing benefits
- Recognition programme, including on-the-spot and annual awards
- Advanced learning and development opportunities to help you grow.
Diversity and Inclusion:
At East West Railway Company, we’re committed to building an inclusive railway for all. We believe that to do that, we must nurture a diverse team that represents the UK communities that we impact. Our approach is simple - to create an environment where everyone is welcome and able to be themselves. We celebrate diversity and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, encouraging applications from all backgrounds and experiences.
At East West Railway Company, we’re committed to building an inclusive railway for all. We believe that to do that, we must nurture a diverse team that represents the UK communities that we impact. Our approach is simple - to create an environment where everyone is welcome and able to be themselves. We celebrate diversity and are proud to be an equal opportunity employer, encouraging applications from all backgrounds and experiences.