Onboarding Lead

The Resourcing team plays a key role in bringing talent into the council, from initial advertising right through to offer and onboarding. At the heart of this process is our Onboarding Team, ensuring that every new starter has a smooth, welcoming and engaging journey into the council. Each year, we manage over 1,000 appointments, and this role works closely with Resourcing Partners, HR Transactions, Payroll and hiring teams to make sure candidates are ready for day one.

About the role

Sitting within the Resourcing team, this role is all about managing the key steps that happen after a candidate accepts a job offer, making sure they feel supported, informed and excited to begin their career at Southwark Council. It’s a fast-paced role where strong organisation skills, attention to detail and great customer service will make a real difference. You’ll manage a small, dedicated team responsible for all aspects of pre-employment, from right to work checks to issuing final contracts. You’ll work closely with the Resourcing team, HR colleagues and hiring managers across all departments, helping to ensure every new starter's first experience of Southwark is a positive one. You’ll also have the opportunity to drive improvements in how we deliver onboarding, from simplifying processes to making better use of data and technology.

In this role, you will:

• Lead and support the onboarding team to deliver a responsive, accurate and compliant pre-employment service
• Oversee right to work checks, DBS processing, references, occupational health and contract preparation
• Work closely with internal teams to troubleshoot delays and ensure a smooth handover from offer to start date
• Identify and implement service improvements that enhance candidate experience and streamline our onboarding processes

What we’re looking for

We’re looking for someone who’s organised, dependable, and genuinely cares about delivering a great recruitment experience. You’ll understand how important it is to get the details right when it comes to checks like DBS and right to work, but also how valuable it is to make people feel supported throughout the process. This role would suit someone who enjoys leading a small team, building strong relationships, and working collaboratively to make continuous improvements. If you’re someone who can spot what’s not working and take the lead in finding a better way, we’d love to hear from you.

You’ll need to evidence in your application:

• Experience managing or supporting onboarding or pre-employment checks
• A good understanding of compliance processes – especially right to work, DBS and occupational health
• Experience leading or supporting a team in a busy environment
• A positive, problem-solving approach and confidence working with different teams

Additional Information

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together programme. We particularly welcome applications from members of the Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Salary Range (Full time equivalent) £37,437 - £43,542