Talent Acquisition Partner

About the Role

Oxford University Press is seeking a Talent Acquisition Partner for a 4-month contractual role. You will act as a trusted advisor to hiring managers and business leaders, shaping workforce decisions through market insight, recruitment expertise, and a deep understanding of the organization's talent needs. This role involves influencing stakeholders, building talent strategies, and delivering exceptional candidate experiences. As part of the Group HR function, you will attract and secure high-quality talent to support OUP's mission of advancing knowledge and learning. You will build strong partnerships across the business, proactively develop talent pipelines, and create innovative attraction strategies for both immediate and long-term hiring requirements. This role offers broad exposure to:

• Sourcing strategy
• Stakeholder partnering
• Recruitment operations
• Employer branding
• Diversity and inclusion
• Recruitment process improvement
• Market intelligence

Key Responsibilities

• Manage the full recruitment lifecycle, partnering with hiring managers, HR colleagues, suppliers, and candidates.
• Partner with hiring managers and HR business partners to source and attract talent.
• Develop recruitment plans using data, market intelligence, sourcing insights, and cost considerations.
• Build long-term relationships with business stakeholders to understand workforce requirements.
• Create and implement attraction strategies and talent pipelines.
• Proactively seek market intelligence and candidate insights to build talent pools.
• Engage with potential candidates through direct sourcing, networking, recruitment events, social media platforms, and talent communities.
• Work towards direct hiring objectives and reduce dependency on external agencies.
• Coach hiring managers through the end-to-end recruitment process.
• Advise managers on effective assessment and selection methods.
• Champion diversity and inclusion throughout the recruitment process and support diverse shortlists.
• Promote awareness of unconscious bias and inclusive hiring practices.
• Keep up to date with recruitment legislation and communicate relevant updates.
• Deliver coaching sessions, briefings, and guidance on recruitment policies, legal requirements, and best practices.
• Manage recruitment operations to ensure candidates are assessed, selected, offered, vetted, and onboarded in accordance with OUP policies and procedures.
• Manage preferred supplier relationships and ensure agency compliance.
• Collaborate with HR Operations and wider HR teams to ensure efficient and effective recruitment processes and systems.
• Drive continuous improvement within recruitment processes through training, feedback, process enhancement, and knowledge sharing.
• Deliver recruitment system and process training to hiring managers and stakeholders.
• Ensure Information Security and Data Privacy requirements are maintained.
• Implement appropriate controls to mitigate data privacy risks.
• Work cross-functionally with colleagues across HR services, operations, projects, and change initiatives.
• Support additional projects and duties contributing to OUP's mission and operational goals.

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Previous agency and/or in-house recruitment experience.
• Experience managing high-volume end-to-end recruitment processes.
• Proven ability to directly source candidates through a variety of channels.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Experience using multiple sourcing, screening, and assessment tools.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise effectively and manage a varied workload.
• Experience working collaboratively within team environments.
• Good working knowledge of Microsoft Office applications.
• Ability to analyse market information and use data to inform recruitment decisions.
• Excellent communication, relationship-building, and consulting skills.
• Commitment to delivering an outstanding candidate experience.
• Strong understanding of diversity and inclusion principles within hiring practices.

Qualifications (Desirable)

• Industry-recognised recruitment qualification.
• MBA or PGDM in Human Resources.
• Advanced social media recruiting skills.
• Experience leading selection interviews.
• Experience designing and delivering recruitment training programmes.
• Knowledge of recruitment legislation and compliance requirements.