Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Resourcing Advisor
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Birmingham, Bristol, Exeter, Leeds, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, Reading, Warrington, York
Job Summary
This is an exciting opportunity to join a professional Human Resources (HR) team, striving to provide a continually improving service to our customers. Defra Group HR function provides an expert service to Defra, the Environment Agency, the Rural Payments Agency, Natural England, and Animal and Plant Health Agency.
Our aim is to create a more efficient, effective and unified HR function across the Defra group and to make it easier and simpler for our customers to do business with us. Defra’s landscape is fast moving and there is a need for a high performing HR function that can keep pace and support those changes. Defra’s work has a profound impact on people’s lives, and this role is key to supporting Defra’s long-term vision which focuses on ambitious outcomes, efficient working, and thriving people. You will play an important part in helping Defra attract and secure people with the capabilities and specialist knowledge and experience to help deliver our ambitious agenda.
This post sits within Defra Group HR Resourcing Operations. We are a busy team with a varied workload, supporting and educating business colleagues in all things Resourcing. We also support each other, and take the wellbeing of our team seriously. In addition to providing a responsive and expert service, we encourage a team culture of openness, proactivity and approachability
Job Description
The Resourcing Advisor plays a pivotal role in delivering a high-quality, candidate-focused recruitment services across the organisation. This position supports the end-to-end delivery of recruitment campaigns, advises stakeholders on best practice, and ensures all activity aligns with Civil Service recruitment principles and organisational objectives.
Working closely with Resourcing Managers, Resourcing Business Partners, and Vacancy Holder's, the Resourcing Advisor ensures smooth, timely, and effective recruitment and onboarding processes while continuously seeking opportunities to improve the candidate experience and providing an excellent customer service.
We are looking for resilient, focused, proactive and adaptable individuals who are organised and efficient in their approach to tackling problems.
We are looking for someone who works well in a team and can balance a varied workload and deal with demands from multiple stakeholders effectively. You will need to be able to deal with a degree of ambiguity but have the confidence to challenge processes and responses where appropriate.
This role offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to meaningful work that supports the development of a diverse, capable, and engaged workforce across Defra Group.
As Part Of Your Role You Will:
- contribute to the planning and delivery of high-quality recruitment campaigns and other resourcing activity.
- provide high quality expert advice to the business and to support on specified aspects of resourcing.
- coordinate information to/from business areas relating to recruitment activity and the end-to-end recruitment process.
- be responsible for onboarding recruitment activity.
- champion best practice customer service and experience through continuous improvement activity using the tools and systems available.
- contribute to the development and implementation of a range of resourcing initiatives and specific projects within agreed timescales and appropriate standards to support the delivery of Defra Group business objectives.
- contribute in supporting the use of contingent labour – ensuring appropriate sourcing, compliance, and value for money.
- contribute to job evaluation processes, helping ensure roles are accurately defined and assessed in line with organisational frameworks.
- support the development and promotion of Defra’s employer value proposition.
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The Resourcing Delivery team manages high volumes of recruitment and works with both candidates and stakeholders across and outside the Defra Group to deliver an efficient, customer focused, professional resourcing service.
We are looking for candidates who are passionate about looking after customers, in addition to resourcing the best talent into Defra Group.
Person Specification
Essential Skills And Experience
To be successful as a Resourcing Advisor within Defra, we are looking for you to be able to evidence the following:
- Strong organisational and time management skills, with the ability to coordinate and manage multiple recruitment campaigns and competing priorities simultaneously while maintaining high standards of delivery.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to advise, challenge, and influence stakeholders at all levels. Able to build effective working relationships and communicate clearly and professionally to achieve positive outcomes.
- A strong customer and candidate focus, demonstrating empathy, professionalism, and a commitment to fairness, inclusion, and quality throughout the recruitment process.
- Sound judgement and effective problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify issues, assess options, and implement practical solutions. Demonstrates a proactive approach to continuous improvement and resolving challenges efficiently.
- High attention to detail, ensuring accuracy in written communications, recruitment documentation, data management, and record-keeping.
- Strong teamworking and collaboration skills, with the ability to share knowledge, support colleagues, and contribute positively to collective objectives while maintaining effective stakeholder relationships.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams, with the ability to use these tools effectively to support recruitment and administrative activities.
- Familiarity with Civil Service recruitment processes, including the Civil Service Recruitment Principles and Success Profiles framework, with a commitment to delivering recruitment activity fairly, consistently, and in line with policy requirements.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Managing a Quality Service
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together
Salary
Alongside your salary of £29,715, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £8,608 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
Application Process
Application
As part of the application process you will be asked to provide a CV and Personal Statement.
- The CV should cover your previous employment history.
- The Personal Statement should be no more than 750 words and demonstrate how you meet the essential skills and experience criteria outlined in the person specification section of this job advert.
Selection Process Details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.
Sift
The indicative programme is below but please note that these dates may be subject to change. You will be informed at the earliest opportunity if any changes are required.
- Deadline for submission of applications - 2nd August
- Sift week commencing - 3rd August
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Interview
Interviews to be held during week commencing - 17th of August
If successful at the application stage, you will be invited to an interview via MS Teams where you will be assessed on the behaviours and strengths listed, and your experience.
There will be an In-Tray exercise during the interview to test Experience. Details will be provided at the start of the interview and candidates will get an allotted amount of time to review the scenario(s), feedback to the panel and answer any follow up questions.
Please note that interviews via video use Microsoft Teams and you will need to use your device to access the video link.
The following Behaviours & Strengths will be assessed at interview/ Test
- Managing a Quality Service
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together
You will receive a link to join the interview at the appointed time through the email account you provide us with on your application.
Location
As part of the pre-employment process, successful candidates will agree a contractual workplace from the locations listed in this advert. This agreed location will become their substantive and permanent place of work.
Where the location is listed as ‘National’, the successful appointee must discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location before pre-employment processes begin, in line with Defra’s location policy and site capacity.
Time spent at a workplace for this post must meet the Civil Service expectation that at least 60% of working time is spent in an organisational workplace, with the remaining time worked flexibly from home. Workplace time may include other organisational sites, field-based operational locations, and supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement aligned with common Civil Service expectations.
Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will follow departmental travel and subsistence policies. Employees are responsible for travel costs to their contractual workplace.
The successful candidate must carry out all duties from within the UK and cannot work from an overseas location at any time.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality Requirements
This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further Information
For further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil
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