UK SBS
Recruitment Partner

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Recruitment Partner
UK Research & Innovation
Salary: £30,895 per annum.
Band: UKRI Band C.
Contract Type: Fixed Term (12 months parental leave cover).
Hours: Full-time/ Part Time (Minimum 28.5 hours per week). We understand the importance of work-life balance and are happy to discuss the possibility of flexible working with applicants.
Location: Polaris House, Swindon or Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell (Hybrid working available, likely to require at least 40% of time in the office).
Closing Date: 6th September 2026.
About the role
This role will provide advice and assistance on recruitment solutions to enable our hiring managers to carry out all recruitment activity, while also ensuring a high-quality candidate experience.
Working within the UKRI HR team, the main role of the Recruitment Partner is to provide recruitment support, completing the transactional elements of the recruitment process and support to Hiring Managers and Senior Recruitment Partners to ultimately ensure UKRI are best placed to attract suitable candidates and ensuring a high-quality candidate experience.
Your responsibilities:
- Provide advice and guidance on recruitment solutions to hiring managers, including advertising, interviews, all forms of assessment and on-boarding.
- Provide support and guidance to enable hiring managers to carry out all recruitment activity. This includes ensuring the vital approvals are in place, coaching hiring managers to input vacancies correctly onto the relevant System, providing/uploading the relevant paperwork and forms for completion and being responsible for progress of recruitment campaigns.
- Deliver the full range of activities relating to candidate management, including where appropriate, working with our onboarding service provider, UK SBS, to ensure a flawless, timely and professional experience for candidates.
- Provide information and support to candidates from the point of application to on boarding, acting as an ambassador for UKRI to present a positive and engaging impression.
- Assist with/writing recruitment adverts.
- Arrange interviews when required.
- Oversee the new starter process to ensure successful candidates can take up employment quickly and seamlessly.
- Administer the relevant talent pool. This includes reviewing CVs, adding candidates, keeping the database up to date through keeping in contact with candidates and collaborating closely with relevant staff about candidates.
- Working closely with HR colleagues to ensure they are kept up to date with progress on recruitment activity.
- Providing updates on key accountabilities to allow for analysis for continuous improvement.
- Adapt to new ways of working identified in overarching resourcing strategy to improve the UKRI offering, working alongside our Talent Team.
- Support corporate recruitment campaigns when required (e.g. senior hires, graduates, generic programmes and students).
- Assist and support with the administration and communication of the resourcing pool and secondments when required.
- Support, organise and attend occasional careers events as necessary to help raise the employer profile.
Reasons to use Rodeo
I’m in my final year doing Economics and I don’t know whether to apply for grad schemes now or do a masters first. What do you think?
Honest answer — it depends on where you want to end up. A lot of top grad schemes (Big 4, civil service, banking) don’t need a masters. Let’s look at the ones you’d be competitive for now, and we can decide if a masters actually adds anything.
Also worth knowing: most autumn 2026 applications are open now. Timing matters more than you think.
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Why you're a good match
StrongYour economics background and your summer at a regional bank line up with what PwC looks for on the consulting scheme. Applications close in four weeks.
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Why you're a good match
You’ve got the grades and the economics background, and your bank internship is exactly the experience this scheme looks for. Apply soon — deadlines close within the month.
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Contacts and Communication
• Work closely with all members of the UKRI HR Team.
• Collaborating regularly with the UK SBS onboarding colleagues where appropriate.
• Provide recruitment advice and support to the hiring community.
• Liaise with colleagues in other functional areas on process related matters.
• Liaise with external partners, such as advertising suppliers, as required.
About You/ Personal Specification
The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).
Essential
- Experience working in recruitment, or similar environment (S&I).
- Strong administrative experience (S).
- Outstanding organisational skills with the ability to coordinate and prioritise work in a fast-paced environment (S&I).
- Knowledge of recruitment best practice and process stages such as writing/placing engaging recruitment adverts, reviewing CVs and organising interviews (I).
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills (S&I).
- Able to adapt to change and demonstrate a continuous improvement approach (I).
- Ability to establish effective working relationships with a variety of stakeholders (I).
Benefits
We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!
A list of benefits below:
• An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme.
• 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent).
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities.
• Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice.
• Flexible working options.
Plus many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance!
For further information on our benefits please see:
Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) [https://www.discover.ukri.org/benefits-of-working-at-ukri/index.html]
UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.
Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact Recruitment@ukri.org.
As this job does not fulfil the UK Government minimum criterion for obtaining sponsored migrant worker status we will be unable to apply for sponsorship for anyone not eligible to work in the UK. At interview, all shortlisted candidates are required to bring with them identification documents and original documents that prove they hold or can obtain the right to work in the UK. You can check your eligibility here https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa/y.
Join us and let’s transform tomorrow together!
UKRI - UK Research and Innovation
UKRI is an organisation that brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, Research England and Innovate UK. Together, we build an independent organisation with a strong voice and vision ensuring the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation.
Supporting some of the world’s most exciting and challenging research projects, we develop and operate some of the most remarkable scientific facilities in the world. We are pushing the frontiers of human knowledge through fundamental research and delivering benefits for UK society and the economy through world-class research, skills and business-led innovation.


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More information can be found at www.ukri.org.
Choosing to come to work at UKRI means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme, excellent holiday entitlement, access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme. For more details, visit benefits of working for UKRI [https://www.ukri.org/about-us/work-for-us/working-at-ukri/benefits-of-working-for-ukri/].
How we support EDI in the workforce
At UKRI, we believe that everyone has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, and to be provided with equal opportunities to thrive and succeed in an environment that enables them to do so. We also value diversity of thought and experience within inclusive groups, organisations and the wider community. For further information, please visit ‘How we support EDI in the workforce’. [https://www.ukri.org/about-us/work-for-us/edi-in-the-workforce/#contents-list]
Disability Confident Employer
As users of the disability confident scheme, any candidate who opts into the scheme and best meets the essential criteria, will be shortlisted for interview. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.
How to apply
Online applications only preferred for this role. Please submit a CV and covering letter which clearly outlines how you fulfil the criteria specified along with your motivation for UKRI and the role. Ensure that the job reference number is included in the filename description of each document uploaded. Note that failure to address the above criteria or submit an application without a covering letter may result in the application not being considered.
UKRI seeks to ensure it creates and maintains a system of openness, fairness and inclusion – a collaborative, trusted environment, which is attractive to and accessible to everyone who is interested in developing their career with us.
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be rejected and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.
As part of the pre-employment checks there is a requirement to undergo Baseline Personnel Security Screening. BPSS is a pre-condition of employment and failure to achieve it may mean that the employment offer is rescinded. UKRI reserves the right to run, or re-run, security clearance as required during the course of employment.
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