Early Talent Executive (12 Month FTC)

RPC; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

RPC seeks an Early Talent Executive to deliver programmes across London and Bristol. You will own attraction, screening, assessments and onboarding, coordinating with colleagues and external partners to provide a smooth candidate journey.

You will work closely with the Early Talent Manager, manage multiple workstreams, and support diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives within Early Talent.

Qualifications

• Previous experience within Early Talent, graduate recruitment or a closely related HR role.
• Understanding of recruitment processes and candidate lifecycle for Early Talent programmes.
• Demonstrates initiative and a proactive approach to process improvement.

Responsibilities

• Support attraction, recruitment and assessment activities for RPC's Early Talent programmes.
• Coordinate assessment centres, interviews and candidate communications across London and Bristol.
• Act as assessor/interviewer as part of selection processes and ensure candidate experience remains high quality.
• Support the Summer Scheme, trainee and apprentice programmes and onboarding activities.
• Maintain accurate records and reporting using Early Talent recruitment/HR systems.

Skills

Early Talent

Graduate Recruitment

Stakeholder Engagement

Organisational Skills

Communication

Travel Flexibility

Job description

Description

The Early Talent team sits within People & Talent Development and is responsible for the attraction, recruitment, onboarding, development and ongoing experience of Trainee Solicitors, Solicitor Apprentices and summer interns across RPC's London and Bristol offices.

Role overview

The Early Talent team sits within People & Talent Development and is responsible for the attraction, recruitment, onboarding, development and ongoing experience of Trainee Solicitors, Solicitor Apprentices and summer interns across RPC's London and Bristol offices.

The team manages the full early talent lifecycle, from attraction and recruitment through to pre-joining, induction, trainee and apprentice development, seat rotations and qualification. We work closely with colleagues across the firm, including partners, supervisors, People Advisory, Learning & Development, Responsible Business, Marketing and Resource Management, as well as a range of external providers and partner organisations.

The team is collaborative, busy and highly visible across the firm, with activity running throughout the year and a number of peak periods including autumn attraction activity, assessment centres, Summer Scheme delivery, trainee and apprentice onboarding and qualification.

This role will work closely with the Early Talent Manager and Early Talent Assistant, taking operational ownership of a number of key Early Talent processes and providing day-to-day guidance and support to the Assistant where appropriate.

The role

The Early Talent Executive plays a key operational role in delivering RPC's Early Talent programmes across London and Bristol.

You will play a key role in the operational delivery of a broad range of Early Talent activity, taking ownership of defined processes and workstreams including attraction and recruitment, assessment processes, Summer Scheme delivery, trainee and apprentice lifecycle activity, seat rotations, pre-joining and onboarding, qualification processes and Early Talent events.

The role requires someone who is highly organised, confident working with a wide range of stakeholders and able to manage multiple workstreams and competing deadlines. You will act as a day-to-day point of contact for candidates, future joiners, trainees, apprentices, supervisors and other internal stakeholders, resolving queries using your knowledge and judgement and escalating more complex or sensitive matters to the Early Talent Manager where appropriate.

Responsibilities Are Likely To Include

Attraction, recruitment and assessment

• Supporting the planning and delivery of RPC's Early Talent attraction strategy, including careers fairs, insight events, open days, external partnerships, presentations and other recruitment activity.
• Managing day‑to‑day relationships and activity with external Early Talent partners, suppliers and providers.
• Supporting application screening, shortlisting and candidate progression across trainee, solicitor apprentice and Summer Scheme recruitment campaigns.
• Coordinating and delivering assessment centres and interviews, including assessor and candidate communications, schedules, materials, recruitment systems and candidate experience.
• Acting as an assessor/interviewer as part of RPC's Early Talent selection processes.
• Supporting the continuous review and improvement of recruitment and assessment processes.

Summer Scheme

• Playing a key role in the planning and delivery of the London Summer Scheme, working with colleagues across the firm to coordinate supervisors, buddies, presentations, work allocation, social activity and candidate communications.
• Acting as a key point of contact for participants throughout the Scheme and helping to ensure a high‑quality candidate experience.
• Supporting final interview and offer processes.

Trainee and Solicitor Apprentice programmes

• Supporting the operational delivery of trainee and solicitor apprentice programmes across London and Bristol.
• Acting as a day‑to‑day point of contact for trainees and apprentices, responding to routine queries and identifying matters requiring further support or escalation.
• Supporting the operational delivery of the seat rotation process, including gathering trainee preferences and resourcing information, coordinating stakeholders, maintaining records and supporting communications.
• Supporting international secondment processes, including communications, information sessions and practical arrangements.
• Supporting trainee and apprentice progress review processes, forums and other regular programme touchpoints.
• Coordinating and contributing to trainee and apprentice induction, supervisor briefings and other training or information sessions.
• Supporting the NQ and qualification process, including trainee communications, interviews, documentation and coordination with relevant stakeholders.

Pre‑joining and onboarding

• Supporting the delivery of pre‑joining activity for future trainees and apprentices, including events, communications and ongoing engagement.
• Responding to future‑joiner queries and supporting SQE and apprenticeship‑related activity where required.
• Coordinating onboarding and screening processes and working with relevant internal teams to ensure joiners are ready to start.
• Supporting the annual trainee and solicitor apprentice induction programmes.

Systems, processes and administration

• Using Early Talent recruitment and HR systems effectively to manage candidates and programme activity.
• Maintaining accurate records, trackers and reporting across Early Talent programmes.
• Working closely with the Early Talent Assistant and providing guidance on relevant processes and activities.
• Identifying opportunities to improve or streamline processes and make effective use of technology.

DEIB, marketing and wider projects

• Working with the Early Talent Manager, Responsible Business and other colleagues to support the firm's diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging priorities within Early Talent.
• Supporting programmes and partnerships including 10,000 Black Interns and other Early Talent initiatives.
• Supporting Early Talent marketing and communications, including candidate‑facing content and digital channels.
• Keeping up to date with developments and market trends within Early Talent and graduate recruitment.
• Contributing to wider People and Early Talent projects and continuous improvement activity.

The role is based in Bristol and supports activity across both Bristol and London. Regular travel to London will be required, particularly for assessment centres, events, Summer Scheme activity and key trainee/apprentice meetings. There may also occasionally be a requirement to work outside normal office hours during particularly busy periods.

Knowledge, Skills And Experience

• Previous experience within Early Talent, graduate recruitment or a closely related recruitment/HR role. Experience within a professional services environment would be advantageous but is not essential.
• A good understanding of recruitment processes and the candidate lifecycle, with the ability to quickly develop knowledge of Early Talent programmes and processes.
• Demonstrates a growth mindset and is committed to developing their knowledge and expertise.
• Strong organisational and prioritisation skills, with experience of managing multiple workstreams and deadlines.
• Able to take ownership of operational processes and deliver work independently, while recognising when matters require escalation.
• Uses judgement and experience to resolve queries, identify risks and find practical solutions.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with confidence communicating with candidates, trainees, apprentices and stakeholders at different levels of seniority.
• Strong relationship‑building and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively across teams and offices.
• Comfortable presenting, attending recruitment events and representing RPC to candidates and external audiences.
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to maintaining accurate records and high‑quality outputs.
• Confident using technology and recruitment/HR systems, with good Microsoft Office skills and an interest in identifying ways technology can improve efficiency.
• Able to remain calm and adaptable when priorities shift or during high‑volume periods.
• Demonstrates initiative and a proactive approach to improving processes and the candidate, trainee and apprentice experience.
• Able to provide guidance and support to more junior colleagues and delegate work appropriately.
• Committed to contributing to a supportive, inclusive and collaborative team and firm culture.
• High levels of confidentiality, discretion and integrity when handling sensitive information.
• Willing to travel regularly between Bristol and London as required by the role.

Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging

We are problem solvers. Whether in front of clients or behind the scenes. To solve problems creatively for clients, we need diverse collaborative thinking; drawing on different experiences, backgrounds and perspectives. That means that everyone who either applies to, or works for, the firm is treated equitably. We believe in removing barriers to equal access not least because our people define us and define what we do. If you need support and adjustments to do your best work, whether that's during the recruitment process or throughout your time at RPC, we're here to help.

Flexible working that supports your commitments outside of work is an important part of our culture and, where possible, we will support this across all roles. Please get in touch with our recruitment team if you have any questions about our hybrid working approach or flexible working policy.

Recruitment policy

RPC manages all vacancies via our recruitment team. When external support is needed, roles are released to select agencies subject to RPC standard terms and conditions.

Speculative or unsolicited CVs or profiles sent to any RPC employee or partner will not be accepted as an introduction, and no fee will be payable. For full details of our Agency Policy, please go to our website.

#RPCHP