Strategic Talent Acquisition Lead

WMJobs; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is seeking a Talent Acquisition Programme Manager to lead a 24-month fixed-term transformation programme. You will build employer brand foundations, develop early careers, and drive evidence-led recruitment initiatives to support the region’s ambitions.

You will partner with senior leaders, shape a portfolio of talent programmes, and own the technology roadmap for ATS and recruitment tools while ensuring inclusive, ethical practices across the talent

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading talent acquisition, employer brand or talent strategy initiatives within a complex organisation.
• Ability to develop and deliver long-term talent, employer brand and attraction strategies aligned to organisational objectives.
• Experience working with senior stakeholders to address workforce and talent challenges.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to advise and challenge senior leaders on future talent and workforce risks.
• Experience designing and delivering large-scale talent programmes.
• Experience using labour market intelligence and workforce insight to inform talent strategies.
• Experience developing and implementing Employer Value Propositions and Employer Brand strategies.
• Ability to evaluate programme effectiveness and develop evidence-based recommendations for improvement.
• Experience building graduate, apprenticeship or early careers programmes.

Responsibilities

• Shape and deliver WMCA’s strategic approach to talent, owning a prioritised portfolio and roadmap of talent programmes aligned to the People and Culture Strategy, Corporate Plan, future workforce capability and organisational priorities.
• Translate workforce planning insight into targeted talent attraction and pipeline solutions, establishing sustainable and diverse pipelines for critical and hard-to-fill skill areas and identifying innovative approaches to meeting future talent demand.
• Lead the development and evolution of WMCA’s Employer Value Proposition, Employer Brand and talent attraction strategy, ensuring WMCA maintains a compelling and competitive position in the talent market across careers sites, digital, social and wider attraction channels.
• Lead strategic early careers and future talent programmes, including apprenticeships, graduate pathways and internships, while developing partnerships with educational institutions, professional bodies, local and combined authorities, community partners and external talent networks.
• Act as senior owner of the Talent Technology Roadmap, including ATS strategy, system optimisation and digital enablement across the talent lifecycle, promoting the ethical, responsible and inclusive use of recruitment technologies and AI-enabled tools.
• Provide strategic leadership, coaching and professional development to talent and workforce specialists, acting as a senior subject matter expert and trusted adviser to leaders and working collaboratively across Workforce Planning, Talent Acquisition, Inclusion, OD, Reward, Communications, Marketing and other specialist teams.
• Lead the governance, performance and continuous improvement of strategic talent programmes, establishing metrics and reporting frameworks, evaluating applicant quality, diversity outcomes, pipeline conversion, employer brand impact and return on investment, while developing business cases, managing budgets and providing talent insight to Executive and Board-level audiences.

Tools

ATS systems

Job description

West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) is seeking a Talent Acquisition Programme Manager to lead a 24-month fixed-term transformation programme. You will build employer brand foundations, develop early careers, and drive evidence-led recruitment initiatives to support the region’s ambitions.

You will partner with senior leaders, shape a portfolio of talent programmes, and own the technology roadmap for ATS and recruitment tools while ensuring inclusive, ethical practices across the talent