Recruitment & Talent Team Leader

About us

At Salford City Council, we're driven by pride, passion, people, and personal responsibility. We're building a fair, inclusive, forward-thinking city where our workforce reflects our communities and everyone feels valued, supported, and empowered.

About the role

This is an exciting opportunity to lead and develop our Recruitment & Talent team, ensuring we deliver an outstanding recruitment service to managers, schools, candidates, and external customers. It is a fixed term post for 12 months.

As Recruitment & Talent Team Leader, you'll combine hands-on recruitment expertise with people leadership, guiding the team through a varied and fast-paced workload while championing service excellence, compliance, and continuous improvement. You'll work closely with the Recruitment & Talent Lead to shape recruitment practices, improve processes, and deliver innovative attraction and onboarding solutions that help us recruit and retain outstanding talent.

From supporting workforce planning and targeted recruitment campaigns to overseeing pre-employment checks and safeguarding processes, you'll play a key role in ensuring every candidate experiences a welcoming, inclusive, and professional journey into Salford.

You will thrive here if you enjoy:

• Leading, coaching and developing others to achieve their best
• Working in a fast-paced environment where priorities can change quickly
• Building strong relationships and becoming a trusted advisor to managers and stakeholders
• Using data, insight and experience to improve processes and drive performance
• Finding innovative ways to attract diverse talent and strengthen candidate pipelines
• Delivering a high-quality service while balancing compliance, customer experience and operational demands

What you will be doing

• Leading and coordinating the day-to-day activity of the Recruitment & Talent team
• Supporting and developing team members to deliver an efficient, customer-focused and compliant service
• Providing expert advice to managers on recruitment, safeguarding, DBS, right to work and pre-employment checks
• Supporting recruitment campaigns, talent attraction initiatives and workforce planning activities
• Monitoring service performance and helping the team meet agreed service standards and deadlines
• Reviewing and improving recruitment and onboarding processes to enhance the candidate and manager experience
• Supporting internal and external audits and ensuring risks are identified and managed appropriately
• Working collaboratively with colleagues across HR & OD and Greater Manchester to share best practice and drive innovation
• Promoting inclusive recruitment practices that support our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion ambitions

What we are looking for

• Experience leading or supervising a recruitment, talent acquisition or HR team
• Strong operational recruitment knowledge, including end-to-end recruitment processes
• Excellent understanding of safeguarding, DBS, right to work and pre-employment checking requirements
• Experience providing advice and guidance to managers and stakeholders
• Ability to motivate, coach and develop others while fostering a positive team culture
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines
• Experience identifying opportunities for service improvement and implementing change
• Knowledge of employment legislation and recruitment best practice
• Confidence using HR systems, recruitment platforms, Microsoft Office and digital tools
• Excellent communication, problem-solving and relationship-building skills
• A commitment to delivering outstanding customer and candidate experiences
• Relevant HR or leadership qualification, or willingness to work towards one

What we can offer you

• Access to over 200 online learning modules

• Professional development opportunities, including apprenticeships and qualifications

• Digital skills development through our Digital Skills Academy

• A supportive, values driven team where Pride, Passion, People and Personal Responsibility guide everything we do

• A workplace committed to inclusion, flexibility, and continuous improvement
  
  

If you are ready to make a real impact, support managers and candidates, and help shape a workforce that reflects the spirit of Salford, we would love to welcome you.

If you have any questions or would like an informal discussion about the role, please email Janine.Heyes@salford.gov.uk

What we need from you if you are invited to interview:

• Passport/ID - You will be required to provide original documentation confirming your right to work in the UK. Successful candidates will also be required to provide proof of address.