Talent Acquisition Partner

Huber+Suhner; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 86,000; Full time

Job summary

HUBER+SUHNER Polatis seeks a Talent Acquisition Partner in the Cambridge area to lead strategic, data-driven talent acquisition across engineering, manufacturing, operations, and commercial functions. You will partner with hiring managers to attract and hire high-quality talent, while driving direct sourcing and workforce planning.

You will influence hiring strategies, shape employer branding and create effective recruitment processes, delivering measurable value and a superior candidate

Qualifications

• Significant, proven experience in in-house Talent Acquisition and/or Recruitment business.
• Proven experience recruiting technical, engineering and operational positions.
• Experience using ATS (ideally SmartRecruiter); LinkedIn Recruiter and analytics.
• Demonstrable experience partnering with hiring managers and senior stakeholders.
• Experience producing recruitment metrics and driving process improvements.
• Knowledge of employer branding and talent marketing.
• Exposure to workforce planning and succession planning activities.
• Recruitment experience within engineering, manufacturing, technology.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic talent acquisition to align with workforce plans and business growth.
• Manage end-to-end recruitment across functions and levels.
• Undertake direct sourcing and headhunting for senior/leadership roles.
• Develop compelling job descriptions and attraction strategies.
• Source candidates via direct search, referrals, LinkedIn Recruiter and targeted campaigns.
• Coordinate interviews, assessments and offers; ensure a high-quality candidate experience.
• Build external networks and contribute to succession planning through market insights.

Skills

Talent Acquisition

Recruitment

Stakeholder management

Sourcing

ATS

LinkedIn Recruiter

Candidate engagement

Interviewing

Data analysis

Project management

Communication

Education

CIPD Level 5

Tools

ATS (SmartRecruiter)

LinkedIn Recruiter

Analytics

Job description

The Talent Acquisition Partner is responsible for developing and delivering a strategic, data-driven talent acquisition function across HUBER+SUHNER Polatis.

The role partners closely with hiring managers and HR colleagues to attract, source and hire high-quality talent across engineering, manufacturing, operations, quality, commercial and corporate functions. The position combines hands‑on recruitment delivery with workforce planning, employer branding, talent pipelining and recruitment process improvement. A key focus of the role is to increase direct hiring capability, reduce reliance on recruitment agencies, improve time to hire and deliver measurable value through effective sourcing and recruitment practices.

The Talent Acquisition Partner acts as a trusted advisor to leaders, helping shape hiring strategies, improve candidate attraction and strengthen Polatis' position as an employer of choice.

Strategic Talent Acquisition

• Partner with business leaders to understand workforce plans and future capability requirements.
• Develop proactive talent acquisition strategies aligned to business growth and succession planning needs.
• Build talent pipelines for critical and hard-to-fill positions
• Identify emerging labour market trends and provide recommendations to support hiring decisions.
• Influence workforce planning discussions and provide external market intelligence.
• Develop direct-sourcing strategies that reduce reliance on external agencies.
• Monitor agency utilisation, placement fees and avoided costs.
• Ensure agencies are only engaged in line with the agreed preferred-supplier and approval arrangements.
• Provide regular reporting on direct hires, agency-supported hires and recruitment expenditure.

Recruitment Delivery

• Manage end-to-end recruitment activity across all functions and levels.
• Conduct role briefings with hiring managers and challenge requirements where appropriate.
• Develop compelling job descriptions and attraction strategies.
• Source candidates through direct search, LinkedIn Recruiter, referrals and targeted campaigns.
• Screen, assess and shortlist candidates.
• Coordinate interviews and assessment activities.
• Manage offer processes and candidate negotiations.
• Ensure a high-quality candidate experience throughout the recruitment journey.

Executive and Specialist Hiring

• Lead recruitment activity for senior and specialist appointments.
• Undertake direct sourcing and headhunting for engineering, technical and leadership roles.
• Support succession planning through external talent mapping and market research.
• Build external networks within relevant industries and professional communities.

Employer Branding and Candidate Attraction

• Strengthen the HUBER+SUHNER Polatis employer brand.
• Create attraction campaigns highlighting career opportunities and company culture.
• Develop relationships with universities, technical institutions and industry bodies.
• Attend careers events, networking forums and recruitment fairs.
• Promote diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity throughout the recruitment process.

Recruitment Process Excellence

• Continuously improve recruitment processes, tools and hiring manager capability.
• Develop interview guides, assessment methods and selection frameworks.
• Analyse recruitment metrics, which deliver commercial improvement of recruitment costs:
• Time to hire
• Cost per hire
• Source effectiveness
• Candidate experience
• Offer acceptance rates
• Produce regular recruitment reporting and insights for senior leadership.

Stakeholder Management

• Act as a trusted advisor to managers throughout the recruitment lifecycle.
• Coach hiring managers on interviewing skills, candidate assessment and market conditions.
• Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders across Polatis operations.
• Manage recruitment agency relationships and supplier performance where required.

Your tasks

The Talent Acquisition Partner is responsible for developing and delivering a strategic, data-driven talent acquisition function across HUBER+SUHNER Polatis.

The role partners closely with hiring managers and HR colleagues to attract, source and hire high-quality talent across engineering, manufacturing, operations, quality, commercial and corporate functions. The position combines hands‑on recruitment delivery with workforce planning, employer branding, talent pipelining and recruitment process improvement. A key focus of the role is to increase direct hiring capability, reduce reliance on recruitment agencies, improve time to hire and deliver measurable value through effective sourcing and recruitment practices.

The Talent Acquisition Partner acts as a trusted advisor to leaders, helping shape hiring strategies, improve candidate attraction and strengthen Polatis' position as an employer of choice.

Strategic Talent Acquisition

• Partner with business leaders to understand workforce plans and future capability requirements.
• Develop proactive talent acquisition strategies aligned to business growth and succession planning needs.
• Build talent pipelines for critical and hard-to-fill positions
• Identify emerging labour market trends and provide recommendations to support hiring decisions.
• Influence workforce planning discussions and provide external market intelligence.
• Develop direct-sourcing strategies that reduce reliance on external agencies.
• Monitor agency utilisation, placement fees and avoided costs.
• Ensure agencies are only engaged in line with the agreed preferred-supplier and approval arrangements.
• Provide regular reporting on direct hires, agency-supported hires and recruitment expenditure.

Recruitment Delivery

• Manage end-to-end recruitment activity across all functions and levels.
• Conduct role briefings with hiring managers and challenge requirements where appropriate.
• Develop compelling job descriptions and attraction strategies.
• Source candidates through direct search, LinkedIn Recruiter, referrals and targeted campaigns.
• Screen, assess and shortlist candidates.
• Coordinate interviews and assessment activities.
• Manage offer processes and candidate negotiations.
• Ensure a high-quality candidate experience throughout the recruitment journey.

Executive and Specialist Hiring

• Lead recruitment activity for senior and specialist appointments.
• Undertake direct sourcing and headhunting for engineering, technical and leadership roles.
• Support succession planning through external talent mapping and market research.
• Build external networks within relevant industries and professional communities.

Employer Branding and Candidate Attraction

• Strengthen the HUBER+SUHNER Polatis employer brand.
• Create attraction campaigns highlighting career opportunities and company culture.
• Develop relationships with universities, technical institutions and industry bodies.
• Attend careers events, networking forums and recruitment fairs.
• Promote diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity throughout the recruitment process.

Recruitment Process Excellence

• Continuously improve recruitment processes, tools and hiring manager capability.
• Develop interview guides, assessment methods and selection frameworks.
<
• Analyse recruitment metrics, which deliver commercial improvement of recruitment costs:
• Time to hire
• Cost per hire
• Source effectiveness
• Candidate experience
• Offer acceptance rates
• Produce regular recruitment reporting and insights for senior leadership.

Stakeholder Management

• Act as a trusted advisor to managers throughout the recruitment lifecycle.
• Coach hiring managers on interviewing skills, candidate assessment and market conditions.
• Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders across Polatis operations.
• Manage recruitment agency relationships and supplier performance where required.

Your profile

• Significant, proven experience in in-house Talent Acquisition and/or Recruitment business.
• Proven experience recruiting technical, engineering and operational positions.
• Track record of direct sourcing and headhunting difficult-to-fill roles.
• Experience using ATS (ideally SmartRecruiter); LinkedIn Recruiter and analytics.
• Demonstrable experience partnering with hiring managers and senior stakeholders.
• Experience producing recruitment metrics and driving process improvements.
• Knowledge of employer branding and talent marketing.
• Exposure to workforce planning and succession planning activities.
• Recruitment experience within engineering, manufacturing, technology.
• Experience working within a matrix or global organisation.

Your profile

Essential Experience

• Significant, proven experience in in-house Talent Acquisition and/or Recruitment business.
• Proven experience recruiting technical, engineering and operational positions.
• Track record of direct sourcing and headhunting difficult-to-fill roles.
• Experience using ATS (ideally SmartRecruiter); LinkedIn Recruiter and analytics.
• Demonstrable experience partnering with hiring managers and senior stakeholders.
• Experience producing recruitment metrics and driving process improvements.
• Knowledge of employer branding and talent marketing.
• Exposure to workforce planning and succession planning activities.
• Recruitment experience within engineering, manufacturing, technology.
• Experience working within a matrix or global organisation.

Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Strong sourcing and candidate engagement capability.
• Commercial awareness and business acumen.
• Excellent interviewing and assessment skills.
• Data analysis and reporting capability.
• Strong project management and organisational skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• CIPD (Level 5) is desired.

Personal Attributes

The successful candidate will demonstrate the HUBER+SUHNER Values and leadership principles through:

• Building trust and strong relationships.
• Taking ownership and delivering results.
• Challenging constructively and driving improvement.
• Demonstrating resilience and adaptability.
• Acting with integrity and professionalism.
• Collaboration effectively across functions, countries and cultures.
• Focusing on continuous learning and development.

Why HUBER+SUHNER Polatis?

Our aim is to be the employer of choice and as such you can be assured of a market leading remuneration package that matches your skills and experience.

Your employment and development is at the heart of our "Fundamentals".

We have an entrepreneurial and collaborative culture within the business.

You will hear back from us as soon as possible. For further information please contact:

Gill Patel
[e-mail]