Talent Acquisition Manager

Practicus; Slough; On-site; GBP 63,000 - 77,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Travel allowance

Job summary

Practicus is seeking an experienced Talent Acquisition Manager to establish and lead a direct recruitment function across the UK, with a focus on construction and related sectors. This role involves hands-on recruitment and shaping the hiring framework to scale with the company’s growth.

Reporting to senior HR leadership, you will design processes, pipelines, and governance to improve time-to-fill, quality of hire and retention while managing cost-per-hire and agency relationships.

Qualifications

• Significant in-house recruitment experience is essential.
• Strong recruitment experience within construction, engineering, rail, utilities, M&E contracting, civil engineering or related environment.
• Proven experience delivering direct recruitment and reducing reliance on agencies.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end recruitment lifecycle from job definition to onboarding.
• Build and implement a direct recruitment strategy to reduce agency spend.
• Develop recruitment processes, pipelines and hiring capability to support growth.
• Partner with senior stakeholders to improve interviewing and decision-making.

Skills

In-house recruitment

Construction sector experience

Direct recruitment

Stakeholder management

Sourcing candidates

Talent mapping

Education

CIPD Level 5/7

Tools

LinkedIn Recruiter

ATS platforms

Job description

? Talent Acquisition Manager

?London | ? Up to £70,000 + Travel Allowance | ? Full-Time 5 days a week in office

*Please note you will have to have sector experience within construction, engineering, rail, utilities, M&E contracting, civil engineering or a closely related environment to apply for this role*

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced Talent Acquisition Manager to join a rapidly growing, ambitious organisation operating across the UK and Europe. ?

This is not a traditional TA role. You will be joining at a pivotal point in the organisation's growth, with the opportunity to build a Talent Acquisition function from the ground up, introduce structure and consistency, and fundamentally improve how the business attracts, selects and retains its people. ?

The organisation has grown significantly and continues to expand, with further major projects and workforce requirements ahead. Recruitment has historically been heavily agency-led and reactive, creating an opportunity for someone to take ownership, establish best practice and build a much more effective direct hiring model. ?

If you're someone who looks at a blank canvas and thinks "I can fix this", this could be an excellent opportunity?

? The Opportunity

Reporting initially into the Finance Director, and ultimately into a newly appointed Head of HR, you will take ownership of the organisation's end-to-end recruitment activity across the UK.

The role combines hands-on recruitment with process improvement and TA transformation. You'll be expected to roll up your sleeves and recruit while simultaneously building the infrastructure, processes, talent pipelines and hiring capability needed to support future growth.

? Key Responsibilities:

Build the Talent Acquisition Function

• Develop and implement a comprehensive recruitment strategy aligned to business growth and workforce requirements.
• Build the recruitment function and processes from the ground up.
• Establish consistent hiring processes, approval routes and selection criteria across the business.
• Develop proactive talent pipelines for critical and hard-to-fill positions.
• Introduce structured interview guides, scoring matrices and consistent assessment processes.
• Establish and develop a strong internal hiring manager community.

? Drive Direct Recruitment

• Own the end-to-end recruitment lifecycle, from job definition and sourcing through to selection, offer and onboarding.
• Significantly increase direct recruitment through networks, LinkedIn, employee referrals and proactive talent mapping.
• Build a strong personal network of candidates across relevant industry sectors.
• Develop talent pools for recurring and specialist requirements.
• Manage and optimise relationships with recruitment agencies through the existing PSL, ensuring value and appropriate use of external suppliers.
• Reduce cost-per-hire and overall agency expenditure through a stronger direct sourcing model.

Improve Hiring Quality & Retention

• Ensure candidates have the appropriate qualifications, certifications and compliance requirements for their roles.
• Introduce greater rigour around candidate assessment and due diligence.
• Partner with hiring managers to improve interviewing and decision-making.
• Use recruitment data to understand the causes of unsuccessful hires and improve quality of hire.
• Help reduce early-stage attrition and failed probation rates by focusing on long-term cultural and role fit.

? Transform Recruitment Systems & Processes

• Review, implement and optimise the organisation's Applicant Tracking System.
• Improve the use of recruitment technology and data across the hiring lifecycle.
• Establish meaningful recruitment reporting and dashboards.
• Track and report on key metrics including time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, source of hire and quality of hire.
• Provide recruitment insights and recommendations to senior leadership and the Board.

? Stakeholder Management

• Become a trusted recruitment partner to senior leaders and operational teams.
• Coach hiring managers on recruitment best practice, interviewing and candidate evaluation.
• Influence stakeholders to follow agreed recruitment processes.
• Confidently challenge ineffective hiring practices and bring structure to a fast-moving environment.
• Advise senior stakeholders on market conditions, candidate availability and recruitment strategy.

? UK & European Recruitment

• Support recruitment across multiple European jurisdictions. ????
• Adapt recruitment processes to local market and regulatory requirements.
• Oversee contractor and self-employed recruitment activity, including relevant IR35 considerations.

? The Candidate

We're looking for an experienced in-house Talent Acquisition / Recruitment professional who is comfortable operating in an environment where there is plenty to build and improve.

This is particularly suited to someone who enjoys creating rather than inheriting. You'll need to be equally comfortable discussing TA strategy with senior stakeholders and getting involved in sourcing candidates yourself.

Essential experience

• Significant in-house recruitment experience – agency-only backgrounds will not be suitable.
• Strong recruitment experience within construction, engineering, rail, utilities, M&E contracting, civil engineering or a closely related environment.
• Proven experience delivering direct recruitment and reducing reliance on recruitment agencies.
• Experience building or significantly improving recruitment processes.
• Strong understanding and practical experience of ATS platforms and recruitment technology.
• Experience recruiting across high-volume and specialist white-collar positions.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to influence senior leaders and challenging hiring managers.
• A well-established industry network and ability to proactively source candidates.
• Demonstrable experience improving quality of hire and/or employee retention.
• CIPD Level 5/7 or an equivalent HR/recruitment qualification would be advantageous
• 5 days a week in office with 2 days a month working from home

Please note: The organisation is unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position.

? Interested?

If you're an experienced in-house recruiter from a construction, engineering, infrastructure or related environment and you're looking for an opportunity where you can build, influence and make a measurable difference, we'd be keen to hear from you. ?