Inclusive Recruitment, Development & Social Mobility Manager

Are you looking for a career where you can make a real difference in people's day? We are seeking an Inclusive Recruitment, Development & Social Mobility Manager to join our team based from our Head Office in London Bridge & Careers & Skills Hub office in Ashford, Kent. In this role you will lead the transformation of how we attract, assess and develop talent so that our recruitment processes and internal progression schemes actively remove barriers and widen access to opportunity. You will ensure our talent acquisition strategies support under-represented groups, including those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and align with Southeastern's Social Mobility ambitions. This role is not about writing reports; it is about challenging the way things have always been done, building the case for change, developing strategic partnerships, influencing delivery plans and making great things happen.

What you'll do:

• Work with the Head of Inclusion & Wellbeing to embed inclusive recruitment and progression practices across the business.
• Design and lead recruitment strategies that prioritise diversity and social mobility, aligned to our Social Mobility Action Plan.
• Build and strengthen partnerships with educational institutions and community organisations, including universities, schools, Armed Forces networks and The Kings Trust, creating sustainable routes into rail careers.
• Challenge all these partnerships and ensure they deliver benefits to colleagues and the organisation (Manage the Early Careers Manager).
• Review job descriptions, assessment methods and selection processes to remove biased language, unnecessary requirements and practices that disadvantage marginalised groups.
• Review our approach to the selection processes and coach and upskill hiring managers on inclusive interviewing and unconscious bias.
• Proactively manage reasonable adjustments and champion structured, meaningful candidate feedback.
• Collect and analyse data relating to socio-economic background, gender, disability and ethnicity to track progress and campaign effectiveness.
• Produce regular insight reports for senior leadership, highlighting progress and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Work across DFTO and Network Rail to share best practice and align inclusive recruitment standards.
• Lead process reviews and contribute to industry-wide changes that affect recruitment standards.

The experience you'll need:

• Significant experience in recruitment, Diversity & Inclusion or early careers.
• Proven track record of delivering change and improving recruitment processes.
• Deep understanding of barriers to access and progression for under-represented and lower socio-economic groups.
• Skilled in turning demographic and recruitment data into clear, strategic recommendations.
• Confident influencing senior stakeholders and working across complex organisations.

Desirable:

• Experience managing multi-year inclusion programmes and outreach initiatives.
• Experience of creating development programmes.
• Strong stakeholder management skills from C-suite leaders to community partners.
• CIPD or specialist D&I qualification.

As proud members of the Armed Forces Covenant and Disability Confident Scheme, we will offer you an interview if you apply under these schemes and meet the minimum criteria for the role.

Other things to know:

• This vacancy may close early if we receive a large number of applications. So, make sure you get yours in early.
• All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory references, a right to work verification, a basic criminal record check, and a pre-employment medical assessment. Work visa sponsorship isn't available for this role.
• If you applied but weren't successful in getting a similar role at Southeastern, please wait six months before applying again.

What you'll get in return:

• Along with your salary, the rewards you'll get include: a final salary pension, 25 days annual leave allowance (plus bank holidays), free rail travel across our networks.

A bit about Southeastern:

We're one of Britain's busiest train operators, serving London, Kent and parts of East Sussex. We run over 1,700 trains a day, carrying more than 500,000 passengers and serving 180 stations. However, working on our railway is more than getting passengers from A to B. It's about all the little moments that make a difference to their journey. It's also about making our railway a great place to work. With a team that represents the communities we serve. This is a journey we're fully committed to and we're proud to have been named a Great Place to Work at the 2023 National Rail Awards and endorsed as a WORK180 Employer for Women.

Our ways of working are what we expect of everyone at Southeastern. They are powerful. Tiny moments, every day, from every one of us, add up to massive, positive change. Improving how it feels to work here and how it feels to travel with us. At the heart of everything we do, our Safeguarding Team works to keep our customers, colleagues, and the public safe by improving safeguarding measures and knowledge making sure everyone gets home safe, every day.