Talent Manager

About us 

We are a leading consultancy with a purpose to make an enduring impact on health and healthcare. We work with leaders and frontline teams to improve health, transform healthcare, drive adoption of innovation and create value through investment. 

Our consultancy serves the entire healthcare sector, from payors and providers of care, to life science companies, health tech and sector suppliers and health investors. We provide end-to-end services, from strategy through implementation, accelerated by data, digital and AI. 

We shape opinion through evidence-based thought leadership on key issues affecting health. With unmatched ability to access and use health data, our consultants are a driving force for delivering positive and meaningful change. 

About the role

If you are passionate about finding exceptional talent and shaping the future of a growing, purpose-driven consultancy, this could be the role for you.

As Talent Manager at CF, you will sit at the heart of our People Team and play a pivotal role in how we grow; not just filling roles, but building the capabilities and pipelines that will define our next chapter. Reporting directly to the Chief People Officer, this is a both a strategic and hands-on delivery focused position with real commercial visibility. You will be closely connected to the business, using data and insight to understand where we are heading and translating that into smart, proactive talent strategies across our expanding operations in Europe and the GCC.

This is a role for someone who thrives on variety and impact. You will lead the full recruitment lifecycle from headhunting to offer, develop and deliver hiring manager training, oversee our internal referral programme, and line manage a Resourcing Coordinator.

We are a small, high-performing People Team which means your contribution will be visible, your ideas will be heard, and the difference you make will be felt across the organisation. We are looking for someone who connects naturally with our values- Be Connected, Uphold Standards, Inspire Change and Shape the Future- and who brings the same energy and curiosity to talent that we bring to our work in health.

Responsibilities and duties

Your role would incorporate the following responsibilities: 

Leadership and communication 

• Deliver training and provide resources for interviewers and hiring managers covering topics such as effective interviewing, unconscious bias, and effective recruitment decision-making 

• Proactively inform the business on the state of hiring, industry changes and trends, delivering data driven insights to leaders to shape the recruitment strategy as well as other People related strategies 

• Guardian and owner of our recruitment practices and processes ensuring a consistent approach to hiring by grade using tried and tested approaches 

• Champion high hiring standards and proactively identify ways to raise the bar 

• Engage CF leadership across the company to participate in recruitment  

• Line manage the Resourcing Coordinator, ensuringEnsure the right people are engaged for the right pieces of work at the right time 

• Communicate and coordinate talent events and initiatives, including providing on the day presence at events  

• Own and evolve CF's employer brand, developing a consistent and compelling narrative that reflects our culture, values and mission across all channels from LinkedIn and our careers site through to how we show up at events and in candidate communications.  

• Leverage AI safely, effectively and prudently to enhance recruitment effectiveness and efficiency  

• Maintain a strong external network and knowledge of market trends and developments to inform CF’s recruitment approaches and processes  

• Work as a collaborative part of our wider People team, making connections to other areas and filling in for others outside of core role occasionally as required  

Recruitment partnering  

• Collaborate with the Chief People Officer,  and Head of FP&A and Practice leaders to anticipate and respond to workforce planning needs 

• Work closely with and build strong relationships with the senior leadership to ensure a candidate centric experience, balancing efficiency with attracting diverse talent. 

• Partner with hiring managers and stakeholders to deliver a seamless end-to-end recruitment process, including requirement gathering, job specification updates, interview process and approach including assessment frameworks, candidate sourcing, interview coordination, and candidate communication 

• Refine and refresh CF’s recruitment approach, processes and associated materials and scoring frameworks including alignment to the new skills and attributes framework, role specific requirements, and appropriate consistency across roles, gathering input from and collaborating with hiring managers across the business to do this 

• Drive the ongoing development and implementation of CF's competency framework across the recruitment lifecycle, ensuring hiring managers are equipped to assess candidates effectively and consistently against defined competencies 

• Coach and support hiring managers through all stages of the recruitment process, ensuring a fair, inclusive, and legally compliant approach 

Candidate and employee experience 

• Develop and implement an engaging, transparent, and memorable interview process that reflects CF’s collaborative and connected culture. 

• Develop clear, compelling job descriptions and career narratives to excite and interest candidates 

• Collaborate with marketing and leadership to build and execute initiatives that showcase CF's culture, mission, and impact to the broader developer community. 

• Manage our referral programme ensuring all referrals and their referrers are contacted personally and offered transparent updates on process progress 

• Be a true ambassador of Carnall Farrar as the first point of contact for many  

Talent acquisition

• Proactively source talent for Management Consulting, Technical Consulting and Corporate teams through headhunting, market mapping, and leveraging targeted sourcing strategies to engage passive candidate pools and a diverse pool of candidates. This includes larger annual intakes such as for our analyst programme as well as recruitment for our contractor Associate pool.  

• Enhance advertising and sourcing strategies; develop and maintain careers content on the company website, intranet, and LinkedIn 

• Formulate and implement recruitment strategies aimed at attracting and securing top-tier talent for a variety of roles 

• Manage relationships with recruitment agencies and platforms for the hiring of permanent staff and contractors 

• Balance quality of talent sourced with sourcing costs and be responsible for the recruitment budget 

Project management  

• Lead the development and optimisation of the Applicant Tracking System and other recruitment tools used for assessment of candidates during the recruitment process 

• Develop and update talent OKRs ensuring high levels of accountability and transparency of areas of focus in recruitment 

• Report regularly on the recruitment pipeline and recruitment performance against key metrics and targets 

• Actively explore how AI can be used to improve our recruitment processes safely and effectively  

• Develop and update talent OKRs ensuring high levels of accountability and transparency of areas of focus in recruitment 

Qualifications and Experience

We're not necessarily looking for someone CIPD qualified or with a certain level of education, but we are looking to hire a collaborative and innovative professional who enjoys rolling up their sleeves and jumping into the thick of the action, someone who is tech savvy, results oriented and loves delivering work to the highest standards. You will likely have a combination of the following skills and attributes:

• 5+ years prior experience in a Talent role with hands on experience of recruitment and talent development within consulting and including technical talent (Data Science / Data Innovation) 
•  You will have experience recruiting at pace to meet changing business demands and priorities with a track record of delivery
• You will have the highest levels of attention to detail and will enjoy applying this in fast paced environments 
• You will be a self-starter who is action oriented and able to thrive in an entrepreneurial, fast paced environment
• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills to influence across all levels and build relationships across the external talent market
• Data will be your best friend. You will be someone who makes data driven decisions and recommendations to help us achieve our desired people and business outcomes 
• You will be comfortable using AI safely and effectively to improve your own effectiveness and efficiency 
• You will understand project management principles and be interested in developing in this area, in order to deliver projects to agreed deadlines 
• You have a strong ownership mindset and enjoy engaging across recruitment strategy, recruitment process and content design, to process improvement and delivery
• Experience within a consulting or professional services environment highly desirable

Flexible working 

We follow a hybrid working model that balances in person connections and remote work to drive exceptional client impact. We enjoy working in person together with clients and colleagues and work where clients need us to be.

In supporting flexibility and remote working, team members can work from home one day per week as standard. Additionally, we offer 44 remote working days per year which can be used to top up your working from home days and enable you to work from home up to two days per week-subject to client needs. Alternatively, you could use your allowance in blocks to manage school holidays or other commitments. Our core in person working hours are from 10am until 4pm allowing you that extra flexibility to manage your schedule in a way that works for you.

Our commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to building an inclusive and supportive culture where diversity thrives, and all our people can excel. We only recruit, promote and reward our people based on their skills and contribution, without regard to gender, race, disability, religion, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or other characteristics.

We are Disability Confident Accredited, and we want you to feel comfortable and able to perform at your best in the recruitment process, if you require any reasonable adjustments for any part of the recruitment process, please let us know.

• We offer a competitive and flexible reward package designed to support you at work and beyond it. You will benefit from a generous holiday allowance that grows with your career (minimum of 25 days), a strong employer pension contribution, and the freedom to tailor benefits to suit your lifestyle, from wellbeing and fitness to financial protection.
• We are committed to supporting life’s important moments, with enhanced family leave, income and life protection, and access to practical benefits that make everyday life easier, such as interest-free loans and travel support.
• Your wellbeing matters to us. You will have access to a comprehensive wellbeing and employee assistance programme, preventative health benefits, and initiatives that support an active, balanced way of working.
• Above all, we invest in our people; offering flexibility, security, and benefits that grow with you, so you can do your best work while building a sustainable and rewarding career.