WHSmith - Talent Acquisition Business Partner - International

Hybrid Working: 3 days in our Aldgate Tower office and 2 days remote working

Contract: Permanent

To partner with key stakeholders and People/L and D Business Partners to provide a best in class end to end talent acquisition experience so that we hire the right people for the international business as it is today and for future growth. You will be accountable for sourcing, attracting and onboarding exceptional and diverse talent for all levels with the flexibility to hire across both management and non-management roles as well as our Support Centre in London. You will research and use a variety of approaches, relevant to each country, including direct sourcing, defined distribution channels and social media that are aligned with the company brand, ensuring an effective internal/external pipeline to meet current and future business needs. You will be curious to understand and research recruitment nuances in all the countries we operate in. keeping up to date with recruitment and labour market trends and legislation. You will also work on confidential tenders, carrying out in depth research as and when required. You will adopt a pro-active approach to fill all roles, initiating recruitment campaigns for key peak periods throughout the year. You will also support all new store openings and plan and manage any additional resource, to ensure we open with a great new team.

You will be a strong brand ambassador, strengthening and protecting the employer brand and supporting on TA projects where required. You will provide external talent data and insight to shape our future hiring strategy.

Team

From employee relations and L&TD, to payroll & reward and recruitment. You’ll find our people team right at the heart of WHSmith. These specialists, plus our dedicated generalist HR team support the entire Group in looking after our employees globally. Because life moves so fast in our business, our people team has to move quickly too. Our people have to be on the ball and ready to make big decisions, fast. At WHSmith, HR is all about finding innovative, commercial solutions and putting them into action. 

Key accountabilities:

• Develop creative and cost-effective plans for sourcing and attracting candidates in a competitive talent market managing end to end interview processes, offer management and onboarding
• Use external talent data and insight to drive hiring conversations with key stakeholders
• Build talent pipelines to engage with passive candidates for in demand skillsets
• Work with key contacts including the job centres (or equivalent),local community group sand colleges to build our profile in the local communities
• Business Partner and advise hiring managers/local HR departments on best practise recruitment strategies that support the goals and direction of the business including current need and future projects
• Collaborate with colleagues in HR Business Partnering, L&D, HR shared service, ensuring all administrative TA tasks are processed effectively and accurately
• Keep up to date with industry innovations in sourcing talent and recruitment
• Problem solve and work through operational problems which may be impeding recruitment delivery
• Identify and source temp agencies to be part of our PSL so that when needed we have relationships in place to support with tough to fill locations.
• Produce and analysis daily/weekly reporting for key business stakeholders to track the progress of all campaigns against the targets set
• Work to achieve all KPI’s set, the time to hire and cost per hire and internal v external mix, prioritising roles that need an external solution
• Embrace opportunities to participate in TA projects and wider HR team projects
• Work with the People Business Partners to co-ordinate induction and on-boarding for all new starters, if required
• Co-ordinating and running assessment days and interviews for campaigns where required
• Supporting the onboarding and referencing process for airports where required
• Work directly with our creative agency to design and execute campaigns and drive activity, managing the end to end process to ensure we deliver against the targets agreed
• Carry out training and upskilling for all hiring managers to ensure that they deliver an amazing candidate experience
• Have a strong understanding and interest in local cultures to help build awareness and excitement of the WHSmith brand
• Carry out competitor research and benchmarking to ensure that we remain competitive in each marketplace
• You will be responsible for ensuring that we have the correct Right to Work processes for each of our markets.

Skills & experience

• Previous experience of running large scale, volume recruitment campaigns in either a retail, hospitality or FMCG business
• Excellent stakeholder management with a high touch, collaborative, and communicative approach and the confidence to challenge thinking
• Knowledge and experience of working in retail companies/international markets
• Able to think logically and creatively to find the best way to solve problems and get things done
• Proactive and able to prioritise to deliver in a fast-paced, high work load environment
• Experience across the entire talent acquisition process
• Ability to multi-task and manage conflicting priorities and different stakeholders
• High energy, highly motivated and self-directed
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively with the rest of the TA team, with a flexible approach to support on any areas which require focus
• Excellent attention to detail, organisation, follow up and time management skills
• Knowledge and experience in developing best practice recruitment tools and utilising linked in and social media to source talent and drive the employer brand
• Comfortable with International travel - infrequent