Talent Acquisition Specialist

Oakleaf Partnership; England; Hybrid; GBP 35,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

Oakleaf Partnership is seeking a Talent Acquisition Specialist to join a growing regional law firm as its first in-house Recruiter. This 12-month fixed-term contract is based in Bromley, Kent with hybrid working and the possibility of a four-day week.

You will own recruitment across the business, from Paralegal to Partner, and cover business support and early careers. Reporting to the Head of HR, you will build an internal function and streamline processes to attract top talent.

Qualifications

• Experience in-house or agency recruitment within professional services.
• End-to-end recruitment across multiple roles and levels.
• Strong stakeholder management with senior leaders.
• Direct sourcing and talent pipelines to attract high-quality candidates.
• Commercial, proactive mindset to build internal function.
• Highly organised with ability to manage multiple priorities.

Responsibilities

• Build and establish the firm's in-house recruitment function with efficient processes.
• Manage full lifecycle recruitment from Paralegal to Partner and support roles.
• Partner with hiring managers to understand needs and deliver attraction strategies.
• Utilise direct sourcing and networking to build candidate pipelines.
• Oversee early careers recruitment, including vacation schemes and training contracts.
• Develop reporting and KPIs to improve recruitment performance.

Skills

In-house recruitment

End-to-end recruitment

Stakeholder management

Direct sourcing

Process improvement

Job description

Talent Acquisition Specialist

12-Month Fixed-Term Contract | Bromley, Kent | Hybrid Working | Will consider a 4 day working pattern

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Talent Acquisition Specialist to join a growing regional law firm as its first dedicated in-house Recruiter. Having historically relied on external recruitment agencies, the firm is now looking to bring recruitment in-house, creating a more efficient and sustainable approach to attracting talent.

Reporting to the Head of HR, you will take ownership of recruitment across the business, covering fee-earning appointments from Paralegal through to Partner level, alongside business support, middle and back-office functions and early careers.

This is a unique opportunity to establish the firm's internal recruitment function, introduce effective processes and work closely with senior stakeholders to shape the firm's approach to talent attraction and support its future growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and establish the firm's in-house recruitment function, developing processes and strategies to reduce agency reliance and drive cost efficiencies.
• Manage the full recruitment lifecycle across fee-earning and business support functions, from Paralegal and Solicitor level through to Partner appointments.
• Partner with hiring managers and senior stakeholders to understand recruitment needs and deliver effective attraction and selection strategies.
• Utilise direct sourcing, networking and talent pipelines to attract high-quality candidates and support future business growth.
• Oversee early careers recruitment, including vacation schemes and training contracts, managing applications, assessments and selection.
• Develop recruitment reporting and KPIs, continually reviewing and improving the effectiveness of the recruitment function.
• Deliver a positive candidate and hiring manager experience throughout the recruitment process.

You will ideally have:

• Previous in-house or agency recruitment experience, ideally within legal or professional services.
• Proven ability to manage end-to-end recruitment across a broad range of roles and seniority levels.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to partner with senior leaders and hiring managers.
• Experience using direct sourcing and talent pipelining to attract high-quality candidates.
• A commercial and proactive approach, with the ability to improve processes, reduce agency spend and build an in-house recruitment function from the ground up.
• Highly organised, adaptable and comfortable managing multiple priorities.