UCL
Recruitment Manager
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About us
University College London (UCL) is one of the world's leading universities, consistently ranked among the top institutions globally. With more than 50,000 students and 16,000 staff from over 150 countries, we are a diverse, ambitious and values-driven organisation committed to delivering world-class education, research and innovation. Our recruitment function plays a critical role in attracting the talented people who enable UCL to achieve its strategic ambitions. We are transforming recruitment from a traditional transactional service into a proactive, data-informed talent acquisition function that delivers outstanding outcomes for hiring managers, candidates and the institution. The central recruitment team oversees the recruitment of over 7,000 resources annually across contingent labour and employee roles. Our VP Office recruitment team forms part of the recruitment team and is responsible for delivering 1,000 professional services hires annually. As UCL continues to evolve and simplify services, we are focused on ensuring our recruitment service delivers excellence, efficiency and demonstrable value.
About the role
We are looking for an experienced Recruitment Manager to lead our Professional Services recruitment team and drive the next phase of our service transformation. This is a leadership role with accountability for the operational performance, productivity and capability of the recruitment team. You will lead a team of recruiters delivering high-volume recruitment activity across a diverse portfolio of functions, ensuring the service meets agreed KPIs, service standards and organisational priorities. Success in this role will be measured not only by recruitment delivery, but by your ability to improve team performance, develop recruiter capability, enhance stakeholder experience and drive operational improvements through data, insight and effective leadership. You will create a culture of accountability and continuous improvement, ensuring recruiters are equipped to proactively source talent, manage stakeholder relationships effectively and deliver excellent hiring outcomes.
Working closely with senior leaders across UCL, you will use recruitment insight and market intelligence to influence hiring approaches, support workforce planning and ensure recruitment activity delivers value for money and organisational impact. This is an exciting opportunity for a recruitment leader who enjoys building high-performing teams, improving operational performance and leading through change.
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Please note: this role has significant responsibility for team leadership, performance management, capability development and operational delivery. Applicants should be able to demonstrate previous experience of leading and improving recruitment team performance - not be a standalone recruiter.
About you
You will be an experienced recruitment leader with a strong track record of managing high-volume recruitment operations and delivering measurable improvements in team performance and service delivery. You will have substantial experience of leading, coaching and developing recruitment professionals, creating high-performance cultures and managing performance effectively. You will be comfortable holding people accountable, supporting performance and supporting individuals to develop their skills and capability. You will bring strong recruitment market knowledge and a good understanding of sourcing strategies, routes to market and talent attraction methodologies. You will use data and insight confidently to identify opportunities, solve problems and drive continuous improvement.
We are particularly interested in candidates who can demonstrate:
- Experience leading and improving performance in recruitment teams in a complex environment.
- A track record of improving productivity, capability and operational performance.
- Strong analytical skills and the ability to use data to inform decision making.
- Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
- Experience driving service improvement and implementing operational change.
- Strong commercial awareness and a focus on value for money.
- Resilience, credibility and the ability to lead through complexity and ambiguity.
Most importantly, you will be a leader who enjoys developing people, improving services and delivering results through others.
What we offer
This is an opportunity to shape the future of talent acquisition at one of the world's leading universities. As Recruitment Manager, you will play a key leadership role in transforming how UCL attracts and hires talent, leading a team responsible for around 1,000 Professional Services appointments each year. You'll have the opportunity to influence senior stakeholders, improve organisational performance and help deliver a recruitment service that is proactive, data-led and focused on delivering excellent outcomes.
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In return, we offer:
- A varied and high-impact leadership role with genuine scope to influence organisational change.
- The opportunity to lead service improvement and develop new approaches to recruitment, sourcing and workforce planning.
- Access to sector-leading learning and development opportunities to support your continued professional growth.
- A collaborative working environment where innovation, continuous improvement and evidence-based decision making are encouraged.
- A competitive salary and generous pension scheme.
- 41 days' annual leave (inclusive of bank holidays and closure days), with additional leave linked to long service.
- Flexible and hybrid working arrangements, where operationally appropriate with the opportunity to work from home up to two days per week.
- A comprehensive range of staff benefits including family-friendly policies, employee well-being support, occupational health services, discounted gym membership, cycle to work scheme and travel season ticket loans.
Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
At UCL, we believe that diversity of thought, experience and background strengthens our community and enables us to achieve excellence in education, research and professional services. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive, feel respected and achieve their full potential. We actively encourage applications from candidates from all backgrounds, particularly those who are currently underrepresented in our workforce. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and are committed to fair, transparent and inclusive recruitment practices. Selection decisions are based on merit, skills and experience, and we are committed to making reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process for candidates who require them.
As Recruitment Manager, you will play an important role in championing inclusive recruitment practices across UCL, supporting hiring managers to make fair, evidence-based decisions and ensuring our recruitment processes attract the broadest possible range of talented candidates.
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