Strategic Talent Acquisition Leader in Dunstable

Savers is one of the UK's fastest growing discount retailers, with 520+ stores bringing great value and brilliant service to high streets nationwide. We're energetic, down to earth and all about people, helping our teams grow, develop and build real careers. In 2026, Savers was certified as a Great place to Work for a third consecutive year.

As our Talent Acquisition Manager, you'll lead and inspire the Talent Acquisition team, reporting into the Senior Talent & Personal Development Manager. You'll play a key role in the People team, shaping how we attract brilliant people into Savers and making sure our recruitment approach is engaging, effective and true to our brand. In this role, you'll create and deliver an attraction strategy that helps us hit key recruitment KPIs, including time to fill and cost per hire, while keeping candidate experience front and centre at every stage.

A typical day in this role includes:

• Leading the Talent Acquisition strategy while staying hands‑on in the day to day, directly sourcing Head Office roles and supporting the team to deliver brilliant Store recruitment.
• Coaching and developing the Talent Acquisition team so they can thrive, while making sure every candidate enjoys a brilliant experience from application right through to onboarding.
• Making sure the right recruitment processes are in place and key KPIs, including time to fill, percentage fill and cost per hire, are delivered.
• Be the voice of customers and orchestrate the organisation to live the brand purpose and inspire a customer‑first culture to build customer love in every touchpoint.
• Taking ownership of hybrid recruitment, making sure our stores have the training, tools and support they need to deliver a great candidate experience and meet service levels.
• Supporting line managers with creative, cost‑effective sourcing methods, including advertising, headhunting, direct search, social media, networking and job boards.
• Providing regular reports and presentations to share progress, insights and opportunities with the wider business.
• Upskilling line managers through training and support on recruitment and selection best practice.
• Sharing market insight and external trends to help shape smart, informed hiring decisions.
• Partnering with HR Business Partners to make sure succession plans are used effectively when needed.
• Organising and leading assessment centres and careers fairs to attract great talent and build strong candidate pipelines.
• Keeping our employer brand guidelines front and centre, and making sure they stay up to date.
• Taking ownership of our careers site and helping Savers Jobs shine across our social media platforms, keeping content fresh, engaging and effective in partnership with our People Communications team.
• Creating and maintaining recruitment materials that reflect our employer brand and are always ready for our stores to use.
• Keeping candidate processes up to date so Savers continues to deliver a great experience at every stage.
• Building strong relationships with key stakeholders and delivering a high level of service across your areas of responsibility.
• Owning the budget for your area of Talent Acquisition and making sure it's used effectively.

This job is a good fit for you if you:

• You're proactive, solution‑focused and always looking for ways to make improvements that drive results.
• You know how to turn business priorities into clear plans that deliver real results.
• You're confident influencing others, communicating clearly and building strong relationships across the business.
• You're comfortable using data to spot trends, shape plans and uncover new opportunities.
• You're passionate about developing people and motivated by helping others learn and grow.
• You enjoy helping others spot talent, develop their teams and find the right solutions.

What you will need:

• You'll have experience leading successful teams and helping them perform at their best.
• You'll have proven experience building strong relationships and communicating confidently with key stakeholders.
• Be a role model collaboration to the team to exceed goals.
• You'll keep learning front of mind and be passionate about developing both yourself and your team.
• You'll bring a curious mindset, plenty of creativity and proactivity, strong organisational skills, and the resilience to navigate challenges with confidence.
• You will have a positive attitude towards feedback, use this to generate initiatives to meet/exceed expectations, and share feedback in a meaningful way.
• Actively developing your ability to use AI effectively looking to remove repetitive tasks to higher‑value activities as AI takes on routine work.

Happy Teams, Happy Customers, Happy Days!