Talent Acquisition Business Partner in Slough

On behalf of UK Fusion Energy (UKFE), we are looking for a Talent Acquisition Business Partner (Inside IR35) for a 12 month contract based in West Burton 3 days per week in the office. Fusion energy has the potential to provide safe, low-carbon, sustainable baseload power that can help address global energy challenges while supporting the transition to net zero.

UK Fusion Energy (UKFE) is leading the delivery of the UK's flagship fusion programme, STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production), an ambitious initiative to develop a prototype fusion power plant by 2040. Working alongside the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and major industrial partners, UKFE is helping to establish a world-leading fusion industry and supply chain that will shape the future of clean energy.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing organisation at the forefront of scientific and engineering innovation, helping to attract the talent needed to deliver one of the UK's most ambitious infrastructure programmes.

Reporting to the Talent Acquisition Manager, the Talent Acquisition Business Partner will play a critical role in attracting, engaging and retaining exceptional talent across UKFE. You will partner with hiring managers and senior stakeholders to deliver end-to-end recruitment solutions while helping to shape workforce planning, employer branding, onboarding and talent attraction strategies.

As part of a growing People function, you will have the opportunity to influence recruitment processes, develop talent pipelines, enhance candidate experience and support the continued growth of the STEP programme.

As a Talent Acquisition Business Partner, your main responsibilities will be:

• Manage the full recruitment lifecycle, from vacancy briefing and sourcing through to offer management and onboarding.
• Develop and implement innovative talent attraction strategies to secure specialist and hard-to-find talent.
• Build and maintain talent pipelines to support current and future workforce requirements.
• Partner with hiring managers and stakeholders to provide recruitment expertise, workforce planning support and market insights.
• Support job design, job evaluation and role structuring activities to ensure consistency and alignment across the organisation.
• Champion diversity, equity and inclusion throughout all recruitment and selection processes.
• Shape and promote UKFE's Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to strengthen employer branding and candidate attraction.
• Support the development and continuous improvement of recruitment, onboarding and retention processes.
• Analyse recruitment data and provide meaningful reporting to support decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Ensure recruitment activities comply with relevant legislation, data protection requirements and organisational policies.
• Collaborate with internal teams and external partners to support strategic workforce planning and future capability requirements.
• Deliver an exceptional candidate experience that reflects UKFE's values and culture.

Essential:

• CIPD Level 5 qualification (or equivalent) with significant experience in talent acquisition, recruitment and onboarding within a growing or complex organisation.
• Proven track record of sourcing specialist and hard-to-fill roles through a range of direct sourcing and talent attraction methods.
• Strong knowledge of recruitment best practice, employment legislation and diversity, equity and inclusion principles.
• Experience managing the full recruitment lifecycle and building effective talent pipelines.
• Strong stakeholder management and relationship-building skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.
• Experience using recruitment data and analytics to provide insights, reporting and recommendations, alongside excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.

Desirable:

• Experience working within government, public sector, energy, engineering, scientific or highly regulated environments.
• Experience developing and promoting Employee Value Propositions (EVP) and employer branding initiatives.
• Experience designing and improving onboarding, integration and employee retention programmes.
• Experience supporting workforce planning, organisational growth and large-scale recruitment campaigns.

Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not Overseas.

In applying for this role, you acknowledge the following: this role falls in scope of the Off Payroll Working in the Public Sector legislation. Any rates of payment quoted will reflect the gross rate per day for the assignment and will be subject to appropriate taxes and statutory costs. As such the payment to the intermediary and your income resulting from this contract will be different.