Talent Acquisition Lead

Southampton, Hampshire
Highfield Professional Solutions Ltd

Talent Acquisition Lead – Fast Growth Recruitment Company

If you’re energised by the opportunity to shape a high-growth company from the inside, this role puts you right at the centre of the action. We’re scaling fast, raising the bar even faster, and we’re looking for someone who thrives in a high-performance environment where momentum is the norm. This is your chance to define how we hire, who we become, and what it feels like to join a business that refuses to settle for anything less than exceptional. You’ll lead the charge on attracting world-class talent, building a standout employer brand, and ensuring every new hire is set up to win from day one. If you want real ownership, real impact, and the opportunity to help build something remarkable, you’ve found it.

Purpose of the Role

• To own and drive strategic hiring plans that help us scale while staying true to who we are.
• To find and hire only “hell yes” candidates-no compromises and definitely no d#%kheads.
• To create and lead a recruitment process that feels seamless, exciting, and keeps us ahead of the game.
• To build and maintain a killer employer brand that makes people want to join and stay.
• To onboard new hires like a pro, making sure they hit the ground running and love their first six months with us.
• To be a champion of our high-performance culture, celebrating wins and calling out behaviours that don’t fit.

Responsibilities

Talent Acquisition & Hiring

• Own the hiring plan- create it, execute it, and keep us on track with budgets and timescales
• Keep the talent pipeline full of amazing people by always sourcing, qualifying, and networking.
• Build and nurture talent pools for now, next month, and six months down the line, including a “subs bench” of pre-screened and ready-to-go candidates for reactive hiring.
• Be the go-to expert on when and why we need to hire- know the triggers and plan ahead.
• Maintain a relationship with consultants who have trigger hires to motivate and incentivise them to hit the threshold
• Work closely with Liam and leadership to spot and secure strategic hires with a forward-thinking six-month view
• Stay connected with top recruiters and industry pros to keep us on everyone’s radar
• Keep hiring data front and center with a dashboard tracking metrics like hires, retention and leavers.

Employer Branding

• Partner with marketing to drive a standout employer brand that attracts high performers and tells our story clearly.
• Continually test and define our USP and turn it into compelling messaging, content and campaigns across all channels.
• Own all our employer touchpoints and ensure they attach and convert the right talent e.g. careers site, Instagram.
• Ensure every candidate touchpoint reflects who we are and attracts the right people from job ads to outreach messages to the interview experience
• Use data and insight to track brand performance and continually improve it, keeping us ahead of competitors.

Onboarding

• Create and oversee a first-class onboarding process that sets up new starters for success.
• Own the logistics-contracts, new starter documents, and everything else that makes day one stress-free.
• Collect feedback from new hires to continuously improve the onboarding experience.
• Be there for new starters during their first six months, helping them navigate their role and hit their targets.

Retention

• Spot red flags early with new starters and work with managers to address concerns before they become bigger issues.
• Coach team members on overcoming challenges, following up with actionable feedback and support.
• Help managers align roles with individual strengths to ensure team members are in the right seat
• Build strategies to keep people engaged and loyal for the long haul because we want them to stick around.

Influencing High Performance & Culture

• Partner with managers to identify what new hires need to succeed and make sure they’re on track to pass probation and hit goals.
• Have regular check-ins with new and existing team members to call out challenges or wins that might get overlooked.
• Push managers to celebrate success and keep momentum going.
• Be the culture keeper, challenge behaviors that don’t fit and actively encourage high standards across the team.

How the Role is Measured

• Hiring Delivery: Reporting on interviews, offers acceptance rates, time-to-hire and pipeline health tracked
• Onboarding Success: 100% of candidates passing probation and giving positive onboarding feedback scores
• Retention of Key People: Retention rate of high-performers and cultural fit hires we want to keep, excluding planned or positive leavers
• Process Efficiency & Compliance: High-quality notes, scorecards and interview preparation delivered consistently for managers and candidates to ensure a smooth, professional process
• Content: Number of high-quality posts published across our channels each month
• Lead Generation: Number of leads generated from LinkedIn, careers site, content and outreach campaigns

Apply today to be considered for an immediate interview.