People-First HR & Talent Acquisition Lead in London

The TLC Care ethos is people come first. At TLC Care, we specialise in the ownership and management of care homes, and we have an impressive track record of delivering high quality services. Our values — Truth, Love and Compassion — run through everything we do. You will be the person who finds our people. Every outstanding home runs on outstanding people. Before a resident is cared for, before a team is built, before a culture can take root — someone has to find the right person, make them feel genuinely wanted, and give them a reason to choose TLC Care above anyone else. That person is you.

As our HR Officer with a talent acquisition focus, you will be the first impression TLC Care makes on future team members — and the person who makes sure every stage of their journey, from first contact to settled and thriving, is something they talk about.

About TLC Care: We are on a purposeful journey to achieve CQC Outstanding across every home in our group, and we hold Investors in People Platinum because we invest meaningfully and consistently in our team. We are not a business that treats HR as an administrative function. People are our product, our purpose and our competitive advantage. This role sits at the heart of that belief.

The Role: This is a dual‑focus role. You will lead on talent acquisition across the group — designing and running campaigns, managing the end‑to‑end candidate experience, and building the pipelines we need to be an employer of choice. Alongside this, you will deliver generalist HR support across the full employee lifecycle, working in close partnership with the Head of People and HR Manager. You will be operational, visible and impactful — spending real time in homes, on calls, in conversations — not hidden behind a screen. You will bring energy, warmth and rigour to every interaction, whether that is coaching a Home Manager through an interview or helping a team member navigate a workplace concern.

What You Will Be Doing:

• Designing and delivering compelling recruitment campaigns across multiple channels — digital, social, community and direct — that genuinely reflect who TLC Care is and what we stand for.
• Managing the full recruitment process for home‑based and support office roles, ensuring every candidate has an exceptional experience from first contact to offer.
• Building and maintaining a robust headhunting and talent pipeline strategy so we are never starting from zero.
• Leading mystery‑shooter recruitment campaigns, open days and external career events to promote the TLC brand and attract future talent.
• Managing our relationships with educational establishments, colleges and universities to build a continuous pipeline of nurses, care workers and hospitality professionals.
• Owning our recruitment system — tracking vacancies, applications, time to hire and conversion data, and using this insight to drive continuous improvement.
• Leading the digitalisation of recruitment, onboarding and compliance processes, and maximising the use of Thomas International and our SMS platform.
• Designing and delivering interview skills training for all recruiting managers across the group.
• Managing UK Borders applications and international recruitment as appropriate.
• Providing first‑line HR guidance and support to Home Managers and team leaders across the full employee lifecycle — recruitment, onboarding, performance, absence, development and off‑boarding.
• Supporting the design and delivery of onboarding and induction programmes that are engaging, meaningful and consistently delivered across all homes.
• Maintaining and improving HR compliance — file audits, right‑to‑work checks, DBS processes and record‑keeping — to ensure we always meet our regulatory obligations.
• Supporting employee relations cases under the guidance of the Head of People, including note‑taking, preparing paperwork and coaching managers through process.
• Contributing to team member engagement, wellness and recognition initiatives across the group.
• Supporting talent management and succession planning activity, including running exit interviews and feeding insight into retention strategies.
• Contributing to the delivery of training compliance targets, maintaining >97% across all homes.
• Playing an active role in accreditation projects — IIP, Hospitality Assured, ISO9001 and ISO14001 — ensuring people evidence is robust and current.
• Preparing HR reporting, analytics and board updates in partnership with the HR Manager and Head of People.

What We Are Looking For: Someone who is genuinely energised by finding people, building relationships and making organisations better through better hiring. You bring warmth, professionalism and curiosity to every interaction — and you know that great recruitment is not just about filling vacancies, it is about building a team. Previous experience in a generalist HR or talent acquisition role, ideally within a multi‑site or fast‑paced service environment. A track record of running end‑to‑end recruitment campaigns that attract quality candidates and deliver an exceptional candidate experience. Working knowledge of employment law and HR best practice across the employee lifecycle. Strong interpersonal skills — approachable, professional and able to build trust quickly with people at every level of the organisation. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to adapt your style to different audiences. Digital readiness and demonstrable use of AI are non‑negotiable. We expect you to already be using AI tools in your day‑to‑day work — to write smarter, research faster, analyse better and free up time for the human work that matters most. If you are not yet working this way, this is not the role for you. Confident using digital tools, HR systems and recruitment platforms, with a genuine appetite for using data to improve what you do. Highly organised with strong attention to detail and the ability to hold multiple priorities without dropping quality. A collaborative, proactive mindset — you bring solutions, not just problems, and you step up when things need doing. CIPD qualified or working towards qualification, or equivalent demonstrable experience. Experience in a care, health or social care environment is desirable but not essential — what matters most is your values and your drive. A satisfactory DBS check and the ability to travel between homes as the role requires.

What We Offer: A values‑led organisation that genuinely lives Truth, Love and Compassion — not just as words on a wall, but as the way we lead, coach and support each other every day. A people function that is taken seriously at board level, with real investment in HR practice, technology and innovation. Investors in People Platinum — we practise what we preach when it comes to developing our team. A coaching culture throughout the organisation, with genuine support for your own career development and progression. The opportunity to be part of an Outstanding journey — contributing to something that makes a visible, daily difference to the lives of residents, families and team members. A collaborative, high‑performing Support Office team and strong relationships across all nine homes.

Your Legacy in This Role: When this role is held well, in two years’ time: every home has a full team, a strong pipeline and a retention plan that actually works. TLC Care is known as an employer of choice in every community we operate in — and candidates come to us. Home Managers are confident, capable recruiters who know how to hire well and induct properly, because you trained and coached them. The HR function is evidenced, compliant and data‑driven — and the insight you produce shapes the decisions of the leadership team. The team members you helped to recruit are thriving, progressing and telling others to join. This is what success looks like. This is what you have the opportunity to build. Our values are Truth, Love and Compassion. If these resonate with you, we would love to hear from you.