Recruitment & Candidate Experience Advisor

The Bedford College Group; Bedford; On-site; GBP 31,000 - 41,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

27 days annual leave

People’s Pension

Retail and Leisure Discounts

Professional development opportunities

Job summary

The Bedford College Group is seeking a Recruitment & Candidate Experience Advisor to join our Recruitment department at Bedford College, Cauldwell Street Campus. You will manage end-to-end recruitment for an allocated portfolio of vacancies and work closely with hiring managers to deliver a positive candidate experience.

With a salary between £30,915 and £41,085, 27 days leave, a pension, and ongoing professional development, this permanent role offers a supportive environment and opportunities

Qualifications

• Hold a CIPD Level 3 qualification (or equivalent) and proven recruitment delivery experience.
• Experience in building talent pipelines and coordinating end-to-end hiring processes.
• Ability to analyse recruitment data and support planning and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end recruitment for an allocated portfolio of vacancies.
• Partner with hiring managers to deliver recruitment planning and safer recruitment.
• Maintain accurate recruitment records in ATS and monitor performance metrics.
• Ensure a professional, inclusive candidate experience and smoother onboarding.
• Collaborate with HR and safeguarding teams to support recruitment priorities.

Skills

Recruitment expertise

Talent attraction

Stakeholder management

Candidate experience

Customer service

Education

CIPD Level 3 qualification

Tools

ATS systems

Data analysis

Job description

Role: Recruitment & Candidate Experience Advisor

Location: Bedford College – Cauldwell Street Campus

Salary/Benefits: Salary is between £30,915 and £41,085 per annum DOE and Qualifications, 27 days annual leave plus Bank holidays,People’s Pension, Retail and Leisure Discounts, excellent professional and personal development opportunities, accessing college courses.

Hours/Weeks: 37 hours per week – 52 weeks per year

Contract Type: Permanent – Full Time

This is a UK based contract, and you are required to have the Right to Work in the UK. Unfortunately, we’re unable to offer sponsorship and any offer of employment will be subject to evidence of your Right to Work in the UK.

About the role

We are currently seeking a Recruitment & Candidate Experience Advisor to join our Recruitment department at The Bedford College Group.

As a Recruitment & Candidate Experience Advisor, you play an important role in the success of our students through:

• Recruitment Delivery & Talent Attraction – Manage end-to-end recruitment for an allocated portfolio of vacancies, developing attraction strategies, sourcing candidates through multiple channels, maintaining talent pipelines, and ensuring timely progression from vacancy approval to offer.

• Hiring Manager Partnership & Candidate Experience – Act as the primary recruitment contact for hiring managers, providing expert advice on recruitment planning, attraction, selection, and safer recruitment, while delivering a professional, inclusive, and positive candidate experience.

• Recruitment Systems, Data & Performance – Maintain accurate recruitment records within ATS and recruitment systems, monitor key performance measures, analyse recruitment data, and support process improvements, reporting, and workforce planning.

• Compliance, Safeguarding & Continuous Improvement – Ensure adherence to safer recruitment requirements, maintain accurate and secure recruitment documentation, support compliant onboarding processes, identify risks, and contribute to the development of recruitment procedures, standards, and service improvements.

• Collaboration & Organisational Contribution – Work closely with hiring managers, HR, Recruitment Coordinators, safeguarding colleagues, and external partners to support recruitment priorities, strengthen the Employer Value Proposition, improve service delivery, and contribute to team success and continuous improvement.

About you

• Recruitment Expertise & Talent Attraction – Hold a CIPD Level 3 qualification (or equivalent experience) and demonstrate success in managing multiple vacancies, sourcing and screening candidates, building talent pipelines, and delivering targeted recruitment campaigns.

• Social Media Recruitment & Employer Branding – Develop and optimise organic and paid recruitment campaigns across social media platforms, using audience targeting, EVP messaging, content optimisation, A/B testing, and platform-specific strategies to maximise candidate engagement and application conversion.

• Data Analysis & Recruitment Performance – Analyse recruitment marketing metrics including impressions, engagement rates, CTR, CPC, conversion rates, cost per application, source attribution, and ROI to improve campaign effectiveness, candidate quality, and recruitment outcomes.

• Stakeholder Management & Customer Service – Build strong relationships with hiring managers, provide practical recruitment advice, deliver an excellent candidate experience, and work collaboratively with colleagues to support recruitment objectives and continuous improvement.

• Professionalism, Compliance & Flexibility – Take a proactive and solutions-focused approach, make informed decisions, uphold safeguarding, equality, data protection, and information security requirements, commit to ongoing professional development, and be willing to travel between campuses and attend recruitment events as required.

For a more detailed breakdown of the job role and the requirements, please see the Job Description attached to this vacancy.

Interviews to be held: TBC

About The Bedford College Group

The Bedford College Group was formed in 2017 following the merger of Bedford College and Tresham College and is now the largest provider of education in the South East Midlands, with over 15,000 students passing through our doors each year.

Today, the Group is made up of a family of colleges across Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire:Bedford College, Central Bedfordshire College andTreshamCollegein the towns of Bedford, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard, Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough;ShuttleworthCollege,a specialist land-based college; The Bedford Sixth Form, (the only dedicated sixth form in Bedford); The Corby Sixth Form, (opened in September 2023); and the National College for MotorsportalongsideSilverstonerace circuit.To widen accessibility to education and training, the Group also has community-based Learning Centres in Bedford, Corby and Kettering which offer IT training.

Safeguarding our Students

The Bedford College Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to thorough vetting process which includes, an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order 1975, provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide. The Bedford College Group's policy on Employment of Ex-Offenders is attached to this vacancy.

Candidates who are barred from working with children are reminded it is a criminal offence to apply for this post.