Instant Impact
Talent Acquisition Director
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Hybrid, UK-based, with regular travel to client sites and our London office
The Role
We're looking for a Talent Acquisition Director to lead a large-scale embedded partnership within the industrial and engineering space. You'll own delivery, client relationships, and commercial growth whilst managing a team of TA Leads and TA Partners.
You'll help clients build direct hiring capability, reduce their reliance on agencies, and create employer brands that work in the communities they hire from.
It's a hands-on leadership role. One day you'll be presenting to the C-suite. The next you'll be on the factory floor running an assessment centre or working with a demanding production manager. You'll be the person who gives our clients confidence that we can deliver at scale.
Key Responsibilities
Operational Excellence
- Mobilisation & Delivery: Get embedded teams live quickly and build sustainable direct hiring models that reduce reliance on agencies and MSPs.
- Partnership Performance: Own SLAs, KPIs, and governance so targets are met or exceeded, and act as the client's point of escalation.
- High-Volume Hiring: Lead your team to success who will run blue-collar hiring for production, manufacturing, and warehouse roles through assessment centres, open days, and deep talent pipelines alongside proactive outreach for technical engineering and strategic hires.
- Tech & AI: Work with our Centres of Excellence, tech, and sourcing teams so the partnership gets full value from our AI-powered stack.
Strategy & Transformation
- TA Strategy: Own the talent strategy, aligned to the client's growth plans.
- Employer Brand: Build and strengthen local employer brands, including for new or growing sites.
- Community Attraction: Design open days, school partnerships, apprenticeships, and early careers programmes that work in manufacturing communities.
- Insight & Account Growth: Run Quarterly Performance Reviews, present data-driven insight to senior stakeholders, and spot opportunities to grow the account.
Leadership
- Team Leadership: Lead, coach, and develop a multi-site team, spending regular time on site with each one.
- Performance: Run performance reviews and development plans to build a high-performance culture across regions.
- Instant Impact Community: Join our Partnership Director group, share best practice, and coach across the wider business.
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Skills, Knowledge & Expertise
What You'll Bring
- Senior TA leadership in high-volume manufacturing recruitment, ideally in automotive, aerospace, defence, heavy engineering, or another advanced manufacturing environment
- Experience hiring both blue-collar and white-collar populations, from production operatives to technical engineers
- Proven leadership of teams across multiple sites and regions
- Experience running executive search-style outreach for technical and specialist roles
- Credibility in the boardroom combined with genuine comfort on the factory floor
- Strong commercial awareness and a track record of growing accounts
- A data-driven approach to governance, SLAs, KPIs, and performance reviews
- Willingness to travel regularly to sites across the UK, including some flights
Desirable Experience
- Greenfield or new-site recruitment, including building an employer brand in a new market
- Experience moving hiring away from temp agencies or MSPs
- Early careers, apprenticeship, or community attraction experience
- Real curiosity about AI and how it can make recruitment more efficient
- Shorter notice periods are a plus.
Job Benefits
- Work from Anywhere Policy: Enjoy the flexibility to work from any location for up to 4 weeks each year.
- Private Health Insurance: Your health and well-being are a priority. Benefit from comprehensive private health insurance through Aviva for peace of mind.
- Home Office Allowance: Create your perfect home workspace with a £200 allowance to enhance your comfort and productivity.
- Personal Development Fund: Invest in your growth with a £500 annual allowance for professional development. Explore courses, conferences, and more.
- Generous Time Off: Take time to recharge with 25 days of holiday, plus all Bank Holidays. Additionally, enjoy an Employee Enrichment Day and a Recharge Day each year.
- Clear Progression Path: Achieve your career goals with a clear progression structure designed to support your professional growth.
- Flexible Working Model: Experience the best of both worlds with the option to work from home or on-site with your client. Your work, your way.
- Team Incentives: Build strong bonds with your colleagues through team incentives, including weekend getaways, social events, and team lunches.
- Dedicated Development Time: Dedicate 10% of your working week to developing yourself, enhancing client relationships, and contributing to Instant Impact's success. Your growth drives our progress.
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At Instant Impact, everyone is welcome. We are committed to maintaining and growing our diverse and dynamic team and the inclusive culture we have built. We encourage everyone to bring their authentic selves to work regardless of; age, sexuality, religion, disability, pronouns, neurodiversity, gender, ethnic group, or beliefs. Instant Impact is actively seeking to hire a diverse workforce so we can continue to celebrate inclusion and diversity in its full. Should you need any reasonable adjustments made to this application process, or need this job advert in different formatting, please do not hesitate to contact us. We use AI to help us assess applications fairly and objectively.
About
About Instant Impact
Instant Impact helps organisations turn talent into a competitive advantage. We do this through two core solutions:
- Impact Talent: our embedded recruitment solution that blends expert in‑house teams with a modular, AI‑powered tech stack to build high‑performing TA functions and deliver consistent hiring outcomes.
- Impact X: our Executive Search solution, designed to connect organisations with exceptional senior leaders who drive transformation and growth.
How We Work:
At Instant Impact, our approach is shaped by three core principles that guide everything we do:
- Growth Mindset: We believe in continuous improvement, for ourselves, our teams, and our clients. Every challenge is a chance to learn, innovate, and raise the bar.
- Accountability: We own our commitments. From hitting SLAs to developing our people, we do what we say we'll do and we measure what matters.
- Pace & Collaboration: Speed wins, but not at the expense of quality. We work closely together across teams, with clients, and with candidates to move faster and smarter.
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