Early Talent Strategy Manager

NatWest Group; Manchester; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

NatWest Group is seeking an Early Talent Strategy Manager to lead enterprise-wide talent pathways for graduates, interns and apprentices. You’ll set strategy, standards and guardrails to build future-ready pipelines aligned with workforce needs.

You’ll drive external partnerships, optimise the Apprenticeship Levy and support HR partners with investment decisions, ensuring programmes deliver measurable business outcomes and strong talent development.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in shaping enterprise-wide early talent strategies, including graduate programmes and apprenticeships.
• Strong understanding of labour market trends and future workforce needs.
• Knowledge of apprenticeship policy, funding models, and levy utilisation.
• Experience with universities, government groups, industry bodies, and education partners.
• Strong analytical and commercial mindset; link early careers investment to outcomes.
• Experience leading multi-functional end-to-end graduate and intern strategies.

Responsibilities

• Manage the enterprise-wide strategy, standards, and guardrails for all early talent pathways.
• Ensure pathways integrate with wider talent ecosystem and strategic workforce plans.
• Drive consistency, quality, and commercial discipline across all early talent programmes.
• Provide strategic challenge and guidance on early talent investment decisions to HR partners.
• Focus on early talent experience, alignment with priorities, and measuring outcomes.

Skills

Enterprise talent strategy

Graduate programs

Apprenticeships

Labour market insights

Analytical mindset

Job description

Join us as an Early Talent Strategy Manager

• We’ll look to you to manage the enterprise early talent strategy, building future-ready talent pipelines aligned to our strategic workforce needs across our graduate, intern, and apprenticeships programmes


• Influence and lead the enterprise-wide apprenticeship strategy and external ecosystem, maximising levy utilisation, and managing key external partnerships


• This is an opportunity to make a lasting impact by leading the graduate and intern strategy across attraction, university engagement, recruitment, and development


• This is a full-time, hybrid position so you'll work from home some of the time, coming into the office at least two days per week to collaborate closely with your colleagues

What you'll do

As an Early Talent Strategy Manager, you’ll manage the enterprise-wide strategy, standards, and guardrails for all early talent pathways, including interns, apprentices, and graduates. You’ll ensure these pathways integrate seamlessly with wider talent ecosystem and strategic workforce plans, strengthening the overall talent pipelines and building future skills. By setting clear definitions, minimum criteria, and programme design principles, you’ll also drive consistency, quality, and commercial discipline across all early talent programmes.

Alongside this, you’ll provide strategic challenge and guidance to human resources business partners and leaders on early talent investment decisions, supporting choices on which programmes to create, expand, reduce, or close.

In addition, you’ll focus on:

• Ensuring the early talent experience strengthens development outcomes, boosts conversion and retention, and builds a high-performing alumni community


• Aligning early talent investment and programme focus with strategic workforce priorities, future skills needs, and critical talent pipelines


• Maintaining deep market insight and managing relationships with industry bodies, government groups, and education and training partners, representing the bank in key forums


• Developing enterprise-level insights and benchmarking to inform strategy and measure programme effectiveness across conversion, retention, performance, diversity, and cost-to-hire outcomes


• Optimising our Apprenticeship Levy investment, aligning it with our commercial ambitions and driving high-quality programmes that build future skills while delivering measurable value to the business

The skills you’ll need

We’re looking for someone with deep expertise in shaping enterprise-wide early talent strategies, including graduate programmes and apprenticeships. A strong understanding of labour market trends and future workforce needs is also essential, enabling you to anticipate how critical roles will evolve.

In addition, you’ll need:

• Knowledge of apprenticeship policy, funding models, and levy utilisation, with the ability to optimise pipeline effectiveness


• Experience working with universities, government groups, industry bodies, and education partners to establish strong external relationships and generate valuable market insight


• A strong analytical and commercial mindset, with the ability to link early careers investment to measurable business outcomes


• Experience leading multi-functional end-to-end graduate and intern strategies, including designing attraction, recruitment, and development approaches to build future leadership pipelines