Talent Partner - Life Sciences in Oxford

Join us at the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), where we’re on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real‑world impact. We bring together visionary scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators and innovators to tackle humanity’s greatest challenges in four transformative areas:

• Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology
• Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
• Climate Change & Managing CO₂
• Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

This is ambitious work – demanding curiosity, courage and a relentless drive to make a difference. At EIT, you’ll join a community built on excellence, innovation, tenacity, trust and collaboration, where bold ideas become real‑world breakthroughs. Together we push boundaries, embrace complexity and create solutions that scale from lab to society.

Your Role: We are expanding our Central Talent Team and are looking for an experienced Talent Partner to support EIT Oxford’s continued growth. This hands‑on, delivery‑focused role works closely with hiring managers and HR Business Partners to deliver high‑quality recruitment across the organisation.

Your Responsibilities:

• Partner with hiring managers and HR Business Partners to understand workforce needs and define recruitment strategies
• Manage full‑cycle recruitment: sourcing, screening, interviewing, offers and onboarding support
• Write and refine job descriptions and adverts aligned to role requirements and employer brand
• Proactively source candidates through direct search, networks, referrals and job boards
• Talent pipelining
• Act as the main point of contact for candidates throughout the recruitment process
• Manage recruitment agencies, including briefing, performance management and cost control
• Build strong talent pipelines for current and future hiring needs
• Apply best‑practice hiring principles, ensuring fair, equitable and compliant processes
• Contribute to continuous improvement of recruitment processes and candidate experience
• Collaborate with wider HR and Talent Team for current, ongoing and future projects

Essential Skills & Experience:

• Demonstrable experience in in‑house recruitment or a 360 recruitment role
• Experience recruiting within life sciences, plant sciences, biotech or related scientific environments
• Proven experience working in a startup or scale‑up environment
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence and advise hiring managers
• Excellent communication skills and a candidate‑focused approach
• Ability to manage multiple roles and priorities in a fast‑paced setting
• ATS and CRM experience, and strong user of MS Office
• Strong knowledge of the Oxford local talent market
• Familiarity with UK employment law and regional employment trends
• Excellent communication and negotiation skills
• Outstanding time management and multitasking skills, handling numerous and high volume recruitment alongside demanding projects
• Strong analytical skills to track and improve on recruitment KPIs
• Strong understanding of diversity and inclusion best practices and how to incorporate them into recruitment processes

Desirable Skills & Experience:

• Understanding of LinkedIn Recruiter, creating projects and actively pipelining/sourcing candidates
• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Psychology or a related field
• Relevant industry certifications (e.g. CIPD or equivalent)

Benefits:

• Salary: Depending on Experience + travel allowance + bonus
• Enhanced holiday + options to buy additional days
• Pension
• Life Assurance
• Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance
• Hospital Cash Plan
• Therapy Services
• Perk Box
• Electric Car Scheme
• Childcare benefit

Working Together - What It Involves:

• You must have the right to work permanently in the UK with a willingness to travel as necessary. In certain cases, we can consider sponsorship, and this will be assessed on a case‑by‑case basis.
• You will live in, or within easy commuting distance of, Oxford (or be willing to relocate).
• This is a hybrid role, minimum 3 days per week in Oxford.