Talent Lead in Cambridge

We are seeking a Talent Lead to shape and drive our talent acquisition and talent development agenda at the Royal Society of Chemistry. This is a strategic leadership role that will be instrumental in building our future workforce, embedding a culture of continuous learning, and ensuring we have the right capabilities to meet our long-term organisational vision.

This role will lead our Talent Acquisition and Talent Development teams to deliver proactive, customer-driven services that align with our organisational priorities. You will partner with leadership to anticipate future talent needs, build robust internal and external talent pipelines, and create innovative solutions that prepare the RSC for current and future challenges. This is a 12-month fixed-term contract.

If you are passionate about shaping the future workforce and creating a culture of continuous learning and leadership excellence, we would love to hear from you.

• Talent Acquisition
  • Develop and execute a strategic, future-focused approach to talent acquisition that positions us as an employer of choice.
  • Transform recruitment processes and candidate experiences to deliver best-in-class outcomes.
  • Leverage technology and data to drive efficient, insight-led hiring decisions.
  • Design innovative sourcing strategies that build strong internal and external talent pipelines.
• Talent Development
  • Shape our talent development agenda as a trusted advisor to leadership.
  • Design development programmes that create robust internal pipelines and prepare future leaders.
  • Partner strategically with external providers to maximise value and impact.
  • Implement learning and talent systems that enable data-driven people development.
• Workforce Capability & Leadership
  • Lead initiatives to enhance workforce capabilities and address current and future skills gaps.
  • Design and deliver leadership programmes that foster management excellence.
• Strategic Impact
  • Monitor, measure, and continuously refine talent initiatives to drive organisational success.
  • Manage budgets strategically to deliver maximum return on investment.

You’ll know you’re succeeding when we have high-quality talent services that meet our evolving needs, a workforce aligned to our strategic ambitions, and capable leaders driving high-performing teams. Most importantly, you’ll demonstrate proven ROI through the development and performance of our people.

At the RSC we embrace flexibility and offer hybrid working. This role is contractually based at our Cambridge or London office, with the option to work from home within the UK and attendance at the office as needed. In this role it is expected that you will attend the Cambridge office 1 day per week as a minimum, with additional office attendance as required to fulfil the responsibilities of the role. If you need flexible working arrangements, please outline this in your application.

What we are looking for:

• Demonstrable experience in strategic talent development and acquisition, with at least 5 years in a management role.
• Deep knowledge of leadership development, capability building, and future workforce trends.
• Experience leading high-performing teams across multiple talent disciplines.
• Strong strategic vision and ability to align people capability initiatives with long-term business objectives.
• Proven ability to lead and execute large-scale strategic talent initiatives that drive organisational transformation.
• Experienced in technology-enabled talent and development solutions.
• Strong analytical and planning skills, with the ability to interpret data and metrics to drive continuous improvement.
• An ongoing commitment to CPD with up-to-date knowledge on current thinking in this space.

Additional qualifications and experience:

• Specific qualifications in talent development.
• Coaching qualification.
• Qualification in talent acquisition (such as Cert RP) or demonstrable experience.
• Experience working in a similar organisation such as membership/professional body.
• Knowledge of Workday and ways to optimise usage for data trends and narrative.
• Accreditation to relevant professional bodies (such as REC).
• Successful leadership of programmes/projects to realise business case benefits.

If you are interested in this role, please apply before the end of the closing date. When applying, you will need to provide an up-to-date CV and a cover letter (no more than 500 words) telling us about your relevant knowledge, skills and competencies and why you are applying for this role.

We are a thriving international community of over 60,000 members in 125 countries, an internationally renowned publisher of high quality chemical science knowledge and the professional body for chemists in the UK. We reinvest all of our income to achieve our charitable objectives in support of the chemical sciences.

As a not-for-profit organisation employing around 700 staff in 6 countries, we reinvest all of our income to achieve our charitable objectives in support of the chemical sciences.

We promote a healthy work/life balance and flexible working options. Our benefits package includes:

• 26 days’ paid holiday per annum plus bank holidays.
• Pension plan with up to 12% employer contributions.
• Life assurance at 3 times basic annual salary.
• Enhanced parental leave.
• Paid volunteering days.

Visit our Work For Us website to learn more about us, our benefits, equal opportunities statement and inclusive culture pledge.

We recognise the benefits of a diverse workforce and welcome applicants from a range of backgrounds to apply. We particularly encourage applications from disabled and ethnic minority candidates.

As part of the Disability Confident Scheme, we endeavour to offer an interview to candidates meeting the essential criteria of the role who have a substantial physical/mental impairment which impacts their ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.

We are committed to making our recruitment processes accessible to all. If you would like to apply using a different format, please contact the Recruitment Team at jobs@rsc.org or +44 (0) 1223 432229 and we will do our best to put any reasonable adjustments in place.

If you have any questions, please contact us at jobs@rsc.org.