Recruitment and Onboarding Officer

Coventry City Council; Coventry; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

28 days annual leave

LGPS pension

Lifestyle discounts

Employee Assistance Programme

Training courses

Job summary

Coventry City Council is recruiting a Recruitment & Onboarding Officer to provide expert guidance across the recruitment journey. You’ll coach managers, shape attraction approaches with labour market insight, and oversee recruitment and onboarding for multiple service areas.

You’ll ensure compliance with Right to Work, DBS checks, and safer recruitment while developing the team and delivering a high-quality service.

Qualifications

• Experience in recruitment and onboarding across a large workforce.
• Ability to coach managers to make fair, inclusive recruitment decisions.
• Use recruitment data and labour market insight to shape attraction approaches.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert guidance on Right to Work, sponsorship, DBS and safer recruitment.
• Coordinate recruitment and onboarding across service areas with a focus on efficiency and candidate experience.
• Manage and develop a team, delivering a high-quality service and workforce insight for planning.

Skills

Recruitment & onboarding

Stakeholder management

People management

Data-driven decisions

Education

CIPD Level 5

Job description

It’s an exciting time to join People Services at Coventry City Council. Our new People Strategy sets out how we’ll support 5,300 colleagues to deliver great services for the people of Coventry, with a clear focus on wellbeing, inclusion, leadership and development. We’re strengthening how we work with managers and teams so they have the support they need to get things right first time.To help us deliver this ambition, we’re recruiting to a range of roles across People Services. Whether you’re starting your career or bringing established skills and experience, you’ll have the opportunity to make a difference, develop your skills and build your career with us.We offer flexible working, development opportunities and an inclusive environment where everyone is encouraged to contribute and thrive. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and want our team to reflect the city we serve.

Our Values

Our ValuesIn line with our One Coventry Values, we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce. A vital part of this is ensuring we are a truly inclusive organisation that encourages diversity in all respects, including diversity of thinking. We particularly welcome applicants from minority ethnic, LGBT+, disabled and neurodiverse communities to make a real difference to our residents so that equity and respect remains at the heart of everything we do.

Our Values are:

• Open and fair: We are fair, open, and transparent.
• Nurture and develop: We help and encourage everyone to be their best and do their best.
• Engage and empower: We talk and listen to others, working together as one.
• Create and innovate: We embrace new ways of working to continuously improve.
• Own and be accountable: We work together to deliver the best services for our residents.
• Value and respect: We put diversity and inclusion at the heart of all we do.

What is the job role?

Help us attract great people and create an inclusive recruitment experience. We’re looking for an experienced Recruitment & Onboarding Officer to provide expert advice and support across the recruitment and onboarding journey. You’ll build strong relationships with managers, coaching and guiding them to make confident, fair and inclusive recruitment decisions. Using recruitment data, labour market insight and your expertise, you’ll help shape effective attraction approaches, overcome recruitment challenges and reach talent from across our diverse communities. You’ll oversee and coordinate recruitment and onboarding across your service areas, combining expert advice with hands‑on recruitment administration to ensure activity is efficient, accurate and delivers a positive experience for managers, candidates and new starters. Compliance will be a key part of your role. You’ll provide expert guidance on Right to Work, sponsorship, DBS and safer recruitment, ensuring our processes and records meet legislative, policy and audit requirements. You’ll also manage and develop a team, providing coaching, support and direction to build capability and deliver a responsive, high‑quality service. You’ll champion inclusive recruitment, contribute workforce insight to support wider workforce planning, and work with community partners to help us attract people from underrepresented groups and build a workforce that reflects the diversity of Coventry. All candidates must have the Right to Work in the UK. We are currently not offering sponsorship for this role.

Who are we looking for?

We’re looking for someone with strong recruitment and onboarding experience who can build trusted relationships, coach others, manage a team and balance expert advice with high‑quality delivery. You’ll hold a CIPD Level 5 qualification or be currently working towards one, with the ability to complete it within two years of enrolment. If you’re passionate about inclusive recruitment and want to help us continually improve how we attract, recruit and welcome people into our organisation, we’d love to hear from you.

What do we offer?

At Coventry City Council, we're proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your wellbeing, development and work‑life balance:

• Competitive salary with incremental progression and salary matching.
• Generous annual leave starting at 28 days (plus Bank Holidays).
• A generous local government pension scheme to help plan for your future.
• Lifestyle discounts across a wide range of activities and retailers.
• Hybrid working to support a healthy work‑life balance.
• Inclusive Employee Networks: EmbRace, Pride, Disability, Young People and Women.
• Employee Assistance Programme offering confidential support.
• Certified training courses to help you grow and thrive.

Discover more about People ServicesWe’re recruiting across People Services. Visit our careers microsite to meet our teams, discover the impact we make and explore our other current opportunities in People Services

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long‑term health condition

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'. We recognise that you might use AI tools to help with your application. While these tools can be useful, please make sure that all information you provide about your experience, skills, and qualifications is accurate. What matters most to us is hearing about your experience and the achievements that truly reflect you!

Interview Process

The interview process will consist of two stages. The first stage will take place on 15 January 2027. Candidates who are successful at this stage will be invited to attend the second stage on 26 January 2027.

About Coventry

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change. We are cutting‑edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse. At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 5100 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things. To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities. If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies