Leadership Talent Acquisition Advisor

Leadership Talent Acquisition Advisor
£35,000 to £40,500 plus great benefits (Work Level 6A) 
Manchester city centre - in this role you’ll work in a hybrid way splitting your time between home and coming to the office two days per week (find out more about our hybrid working policy at https://jobs.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy).  

We’re looking for a Leadership Talent Acquisition Advisor to join the Talent Acquisition team within our wider Co-op Business Services (CBS) organisation. CBS is made up of a number of diverse teams dedicated to delivering high-quality, reliable and cost-effective business services across our Co-op. You’ll play a key role in helping CBS to support and realise our group vision of ‘co-operating to build more value for member-owners every day’.

Why this role matters

In this role, you’ll lead end to end recruitment for our senior positions at Work Level 3 and 4, working closely with senior leaders to manage sensitive, high impact hiring and deliver an exceptional candidate experience from first conversation to offer. You’ll build trusted relationships with senior leaders and external search partners, using insight, market intelligence and a solutions focused approach to shape decisions and strengthen our leadership pipelines. We’ll look to you to balance shifting priorities with confidence, influence outcomes through constructive challenge, and play a key role in developing a consistent, inclusive approach to leadership assessment—all while growing your expertise and expanding your impact in a truly strategic Talent Acquisition environment.

What you’ll do

•    Manage the end‑to‑end hiring process for all WL3 and WL4 leadership roles
•    Build strong, credible relationships with senior leaders, influencing decisions with confidence and tact
•    Handle highly confidential and sensitive recruitment activity with complete discretion
•    Lead sourcing strategies, including the engagement and management of search firms and market‑mapping partners
•    Prepare and present insight reports and talent intelligence to support hiring decisions
•    Provide hands‑on candidate engagement through pre‑calls, qualification conversations and detailed vetting
•    Coach hiring managers on the Ways of Leading and Ways of Being frameworks to enable strong, strategic hires aligned with Co-op’s inclusive hiring practices
•    Identify opportunities to streamline and continuously improve the leadership hiring experience
•    Build strong and collaborative relationships with Senior Talent Development Partners and the wider TA and People teams

What you’ll bring

•    Proven experience delivering end to end senior or leadership recruitment (in house or agency)
•    Strong stakeholder‑management skills, with the ability to influence and challenge constructively at senior levels
•    Excellent judgement and discretion when working with confidential, sensitive information
•    Confidence using Oracle Recruit and other IT systems, with strong focus on   process accuracy
•    Experience managing multiple third‑party partners simultaneously
•    Strong data skills, with the ability to turn insight into clear recommendations and year‑end reporting
•    Great organisation and prioritisation skills, with the flexibility to manage shifting and competing demands
•    Curiosity, adaptability and the ability to quickly learn the breadth of Co‑op’s business

Why Co-op?

At Co-op, we’re owned by our members. And because we’re owned by you, we can do right by you. So when you join us, you’re not just taking a job, you’re joining a movement. We’re an organisation that puts people and communities first, and we’re powered by purpose. We want this to be a place where you can thrive, so you’ll also receive:

•    An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
•    28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays 
•    A pension with up to 10% employer contributions 
•    Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ) 
•    30% discount on Co-op products and 10% off other brands 
•    Stream – early access to a percentage of your pay as you earn it 
•    Virtual healthcare including GP appointments, mental health support, nutrition and fitness advice 
•    24/7 colleague support service 
•    Training and support for your development and career progression
•    Cycle-to-work scheme

A place you’ll belong

We’re building diverse and inclusive teams that reflect the communities we serve.
We welcome applications from everyone and are committed to creating a workplace where colleagues can feel like they belong, supported by our inclusive policies and the ways we work.

We’re proud to be part of the Disability Confident scheme and offer interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for a job. If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process, we’ll support you.

Learn more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process and our inclusion commitments at jobs.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion.

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