Talent Acquisition Team Leader - South - Watford

Partou UK Limited; Watford; Hybrid; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Childcare discount

Pension scheme

Birthday day off

Health & wellbeing support

Job summary

Partou UK Limited is seeking a Talent Acquisition Team Leader to guide and develop a recruitment function across the South of England, with remote work and regular regional travel. You will partner with operational leaders to address vacancies, shape talent pipelines and deliver high-quality hires for nursery and Early Years roles.

The role blends hands-on recruitment with leadership, requiring coaching, stakeholder management and a focus on safe, compliant hiring across multiple locations.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading recruitment teams or managers.
• Experience using data dashboards or MI to drive delivery.
• Ability to manage multiple vacancies and stakeholders in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong communication with candidates, colleagues and senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach and develop a team of recruiters covering nursery and Early Years vacancies across the South of England.
• Set priorities, allocate workloads and maintain momentum across locations.
• Conduct regular team check-ins and one-to-ones with practical coaching and feedback.
• Monitor activity, service levels and hiring outcomes; use data to identify risks.
• Partner with Nursery Managers, Area Managers and operational leaders on workforce plans.
• Support complex or hard-to-fill vacancies through direct sourcing and talent pooling.
• Ensure a consistent, inclusive recruitment and selection process for candidates.

Skills

Recruitment leadership

Stakeholder management

Data-driven recruitment

End-to-end recruitment

Communication skills

Organisation & detail

Job description

Talent Acquisition Team Leader

Remote – South of England with regional travel

Permanent | Full Time

At Partou, every successful hire helps shape the experiences of children, families and nursery teams. We are looking for a Talent Acquisition Team Leader to lead and support our recruitment team while partnering with operational leaders across the South of England.

This is a hands-on leadership role. You will create clarity and momentum for the team, coach recruiters to deliver consistently and step in where priorities need additional support. At the same time, you will build trusted relationships with Nursery Managers, Area Managers and senior operational stakeholders, helping the business respond to recruitment challenges and strengthen its talent pipelines.

Whether you are currently a Recruitment Team Leader, Talent Acquisition Lead, Senior Recruiter, Recruitment Manager or experienced Recruitment Partner ready for your next step, this is an opportunity to lead with purpose in one of the UK's leading childcare organisations.

What you'll be doing

• Leading, supporting and developing a team of recruiters responsible for nursery and Early Years vacancies across the South of England.
• Setting clear priorities, allocating workloads and maintaining momentum across multiple vacancies and locations.
• Holding regular team check-ins and one-to-ones, providing practical coaching, feedback and support.
• Monitoring recruitment activity, service levels and hiring outcomes, using data to identify risks and focus the team's effort.
• Partnering with Nursery Managers, Area Managers and operational leaders to understand vacancies, workforce plans and local recruitment challenges.
• Acting as a credible recruitment partner to the business, offering solutions, constructive challenge and clear recommendations.
• Supporting complex, hard-to-fill or business-critical vacancies through direct sourcing, talent pooling and targeted attraction activity.
• Helping hiring managers follow a consistent, inclusive and effective recruitment and selection process.
• Ensuring candidates receive timely communication and a warm, straightforward experience from first contact through to offer and onboarding.
• Championing safer recruitment, data quality and compliance across the team's activity.
• Working collaboratively with the wider Talent Acquisition, Recruitment Marketing, Learning and Development and operational teams to improve recruitment outcomes.
• Identifying opportunities to improve processes, systems and ways of working so recruitment becomes simpler, faster and more effective.

Who we're looking for

You will be a supportive and accountable leader who enjoys helping people perform at their best. You will be comfortable moving between team leadership, operational problem-solving and hands-on recruitment, while building strong relationships across the business.

We would love to hear from you if you have:

• Strong recruitment experience gained in an in-house or agency environment, including end-to-end recruitment and proactive sourcing.
• Experience leading, coaching or coordinating recruiters, or clear evidence that you are ready to take on formal team leadership.
• The ability to set expectations, manage competing priorities and create accountability in a busy recruitment environment.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and the confidence to influence and constructively challenge managers at different levels.
• Experience using recruitment data, dashboards or management information to identify risks and improve delivery.
• A practical, solutions-focused approach to hard-to-fill vacancies and changing operational demands.
• Clear, warm and credible communication with candidates, colleagues and senior stakeholders.
• Strong organisation and attention to detail, with the ability to balance quality, pace, compliance and candidate experience.
• A genuine commitment to supporting nursery teams and improving outcomes for the children and families they serve.

Travel requirement: This is a remote role supporting the South of England, with regular travel to nurseries, regional meetings and team sessions. A full UK driving licence and access to a vehicle are essential

Join our Talent Acquisition team

You will join a collaborative and ambitious Talent Acquisition function that understands the value great recruitment brings to the organisation. You will have the opportunity to shape how the team works, support recruiters to grow and help operational leaders solve the recruitment challenges that matter most.

Your leadership will be visible in the confidence of the team, the quality of our partnerships and the experience candidates receive. Most importantly, the people your team helps us hire will play a direct role in helping little minds grow big.

Partou & You

• Remote working with regular regional travel across the South of England.
• Professional training and development through the Partou Academy.
• 60% childcare discount.
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave.
• Pension scheme.
• Your birthday off, so you can celebrate you.
• Health and wellbeing support for you and your family through Medicash.
• Access to EPIC, our colleague information, rewards and recognition platform.
• Career development opportunities within one of the UK's leading childcare organisations.

Why Partou?

Become a Partou team member and join a supportive, caring community where you can enjoy a fulfilling and rewarding career. With access to world‑class childcare research, resources, and expertise, we help you develop skills, and empower you to create a positive impact on the development of the next generation, as they lead us into a better future.

Learn more about working at Partou: www.partou.co.uk/careers

Safer Recruitment: All applicants will undergo EnhancedDBS checks and thorough vetting. This role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1975.

Partou is proud be a part of the National Partnership in Early Learning and Childcare (NPELC) - a group of 10 of the largest childcare providers across England. Together, we operate over 1,300 childcare settings, employ more than 38,000 people, and take care of over 160,000 children.