Talent Acquisition Manager

A Talent Acquisition Manager will support Talent Acquisition’s (TA) mission to connect the British Council with great talent, matching skills to opportunities to enable the organisation to deliver its mission. We will do this by leveraging the British Council brand to attract and select talent that aligns with our values, and by delivering an equitable and inclusive candidate and employee experience.

Taking responsibility for delivering an exceptional end-to-end recruitment service (with a focus on specialist/managerial positions), the role will support the transition of Recruitment from its current transactional service to a strategic Talent Acquisition service, delivering global recruitment performance improvement. In addition, the role will support the drive to increase the appeal of the British Council as an employer of choice to individuals from underrepresented backgrounds.

• Deliver quality hires for the British Council ensuring all roles have an agreed talent acquisition (TA) plan which is delivered to a high standard (delivery focus is on specialist /strategic roles).
• Recruit vacancies by deploying the end-to-end talent acquisition process; including, but not limited to, leading job briefing calls, sourcing, shortlisting, developing, and maintaining talent pools, advising on recruitment timelines and strategies, scheduling interviews and offer management.
• Use data and intelligence effectively to advise on market, and accurately track and monitor performance of your TA pipeline, identifying trends and patterns, to achieve agreed performance metrics e.g., time to offer, candidate conversion etc.
• Generate and interpret data to inform decision-making and make recommendations that inform future recruitment campaigns.
• Maintain high standards of data quality to ensure accurate reporting, compliance, and audit.
• Develop collaborative working relationships with hiring managers, People function colleagues and relevant teams through pro-active partnership, to create a positive customer experience through all aspects of the TA process.
• Provide mentoring and coaching to colleagues across the recruitment process to maintain performance standards and deliver a positive hiring experience.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement through sharing ideas and feedback, keeping up to date with external talent acquisition best practice and aligning to personal professional development.
• Support diversity objectives, ensuring all attraction, sourcing and selection activity promotes equal opportunity, delivers a diverse talent pool, and improves the attraction of the British Council to under-represented groups.

• Proven experience of talent acquisition processes and a range of selection techniques.
• Understanding of candidate sourcing techniques, including digital/social media and direct sourcing.
• Understanding and experience of implementing attraction and selection activities that promote diversity in hiring.
• Experience building, influencing, and maintaining relationships with stakeholders through clear and confident communication, including overcoming challenges and barriers.
• Experience of delivering hiring to TA performance metrics and mechanisms, using data to inform decision-making and drive continuous improvement including performance of attraction campaigns.
• Driven and solutions-orientated to provide an advisory level of service to stakeholders.
• Experience of planning and organising, confidence in managing your own time effectively in a fast-paced environment and responding to unforeseen priorities.
• Knowing the Market - knowledgeable of regional employment marketplace and the British Council's customers and competitors.
• Experience of working in a global, matrix organisation.
• Knowledge of using SAP Success Factors Recruitment module or a similar Applicant Tracking System (ATS).

• Data Literacy - Data driven – grasps and uses data to make decisions and inform practice.
• Business Acumen - Customer understanding- Understands customer needs & applies user-centric principles.
• Digital Agility - Digital aptitude - Motivated to learn and experiment with digital ways of work.
• Execution Excellence – Action orientation – Implements actionable and adaptive plans to achieve results.
• Interpersonal skills - Achieves shared goals using effective interpersonal skills.

Closing Date: Applications will close at 23:59 IST/18:29 UK Time on Tuesday, 10 February 2026.

You must have the legal right to work in UK at the time of application.

Department: Talent Acquisition and Screening

Contract Type: Fixed Term Contract (2 years)

Contract Hours: Full time - 36 hours per week, Monday to Friday

Pay Band: 7

Country/Location: London | UK (Hybrid role - Please note, you will be required to work from the office for 1-2 days per week.)

Starting Salary: £30,839 (Plus an additional £3,300 per annum London Market Allowance if you are based in London area only)

Benefits for the UK include, but are not limited to: 32 days annual leave, in addition to public holidays, career average defined benefit pension scheme, an unrivalled opportunity for you to get to use all the experience you’ve built up working in and/or leading global organisations to support us in building trust across the world.

Requirements: Please note that candidates must have the pre-existing, legal right to work in UK. Mobility / relocation / visa sponsoring support will not be provided. British Council supports working in new ways such as hybrid working, subject to full approval by line management and conditional upon our ability to provide the appropriate level of service. This may not be appropriate for all roles but can be explored at interview.