Talent Sourcing Researcher

Salary: Competitive Plus Benefits

Location: London Store Support Centre and Home, London, EC1M 6HA

Contract type: Permanent

Business area: People

Closing date: 06 July 2026

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work–life balance. That’s waiting for you at Sainsbury’s. We’re the first to say we do HR differently here. For a start, we work as business partners and specialists. Whether that’s making sure nearly 150,000 colleagues are paid on time, or shaping a strategy that helps us attract the right people, put them in the right place, and unlock their potential. This is a fast‑moving business, and our policies and rewards evolve with it. That’s why we’re as flexible as we can be about where and when you work. We’re also flexible about your future. There’s always room to move up or across, if that’s what you want. We really value different perspectives, so there’s no one opinion, no single path, and yours matters.

What you’ll do

As a Talent Sourcing Researcher at Sainsbury’s, you will play a crucial role in mapping and managing talent pools to address specific skill shortages and talent gaps. Your primary focus will be on sourcing passive candidates through various channels, ensuring that the quality and diversity of talent align with the organisation's long‑term talent pipelines and inclusion goals. Additionally, you will provide data analytics and insights to inform recruitment strategies, collaborating closely with the Recruitment team to deliver a set quantity of qualified leads against talent plans, emphasising building relationships with external candidates and contributing to the overall success of the recruitment process.

Who you are

As a Talent Sourcing Researcher at Sainsbury's, you are a recruitment professional with an understanding of external talent markets and proven experience sourcing and engaging passive candidates. Your passion for candidate sourcing, networking, and service delivery is evident in your ability to build strong relationships with external talent and maintain talent pipelines aligned with long‑term business goals. With your knowledge of resourcing technologies and commitment to staying abreast of industry innovations, you bring a strategic approach to talent pooling and market mapping, contributing to the overall success of recruitment strategies and talent acquisition objectives. Your collaborative nature, strong judgement, and dedication to diversity and inclusion ensure that you make a positive impact on the recruitment process and support the wider team in hiring top talent for the organisation.

Essential Criteria

• Clear recruitment experience and an understanding of the theory or proven knowledge of recruitment best practices in the external marketplace, including Talent Pooling and Market Mapping.
• A passion for candidate sourcing, networking, and service delivery.
• Knowledge and experience in the use of resourcing technologies and social networking to build candidate/talent pools, across several areas.
• Ambition to increase knowledge and commercial awareness whilst keeping up to date with new innovations in attraction methodologies.
• Excellent judgement and the ability to collaborate effectively with different teams.
• Confidence when interacting with candidates, whilst demonstrating a passion for diversity and inclusion in all approaches.
• Championing recruitment processes and sharing knowledge with others.
• Ability to thrive in a fast‑moving, creative, flexible environment.

Benefits

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so you’ll be welcomed whatever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new — whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business — and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working.

Here are some of our benefits:

• Colleague discount: save 10% on shopping online and in‑store at Sainsbury’s, Argos, TU and Habitat, with the discount increasing to 15% at points during the year.
• Company pension scheme and life cover.
• Potential performance‑related bonus of up to 5% of salary.
• Annual holiday allowance with the option to purchase an additional week.
• Season ticket loans, cycle‑to‑work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance.
• Access to a wide range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers.
• Employee assistance programme.
• Maternity or adoption leave up to 26 weeks’ pay, and paternity leave up to 4 weeks’ pay.