Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist at Standard Chartered Bank

Responsible for developing appropriate talent acquisition strategies and managing the end-to-end talent acquisition process to deliver agreed targets for roles within assigned business areas, ensuring that the right candidates are recruited, at the right time, at the right price. Partnering with the business, the role holder will provide both consultative and transactional talent acquisition support to deliver a comprehensive and value added service, covering the all employed worker (internal and external) local and cross border hires and transfers, ensuring all talent acquisition activity is aligned to and effectively communicates the employer brand. Accountable for grade 6 and above hires within country / business areas under remit

Key Roles and Responsibilities

Needs Definition

Translate business objectives into talent acquisition plans and strategies, closely aligning them to the broader talent acquisition and talent development agenda
Conduct structured business needs discussions with hiring managers before candidate search commences, identifying the key role and candidate requirements, and agreeing the sourcing and selection strategy, SLA and respective roles and accountabilities, updating the JR accordingly
Agree sourcing and administration needs with Talent Acquisition Coordinators
Provide a full consultative service to line managers with regards to the recruitment industry and market trends

Sourcing

Design and deliver innovative sourcing strategies and solutions to meet business growth needs and generate diverse pools of applicants whilst closely controlling cost bases
Proactively search for, identify, network with and directly contact active and passive job seekers, both internally and externally, for hard-to-hire, evergreen and specific vacancies, sourcing the very best candidates using a variety of channels that are aligned to and effectively communicate the employer brand including:
Conducting pure research and name generation activities
Online advertising (careers website, external job board postings) and automated electronic candidate searches
Database mining, using social networking sites etc. Contacting potential candidates who have posted their information on the internet, consistently generating leads from applicants over the phone or face to face
Alumni
Searching in-house databases (talent lists, CV database), creating hot lists, keeping high quality declined candidates warm and on 'potential prospect' lists
Networking at professional and trade events, and careers fairs, and partnering with Government Labour Agencies
Engaging and managing external PSL recruitment agencies, where required
Develop multi-hire sourcing approaches and work in partnership with colleagues across the network to tap in to overseas sourcing channels and co-ordinate global campaigns
Participate in intern, graduate and MA recruitment events and activities (e.g. careers fairs), as required. Refer any direct hire applicants who would have strong potential for a programme role

Selection

Develop effective pre-screening questions in PeopleSoft to maximize process efficiency, short listing CVs against the JR requirements, actively reviewing and challenging the diversity of talent pools
Efficient end to end applicant management for each JR i.e. timely review and short listing of applications, promptly updating applicants and responding to any queries, liaising with Talent Acquisition Coordinator regarding interview and assessment arrangements, briefing and preparing candidates for interview (directly or via agencies)
Conduct preliminary assessments, as required, assessing candidates' talents, fit and readiness, setting realistic role expectations
Advise hiring managers on the appropriate assessment tools for different roles, developing relevant interview questions and analysing selection reports (as applicable) to assess the implications of candidates' strength profiles
Advise hiring managers on which candidates to progress to the next stage, ensuring the right decisions are made, challenging the business' recommendations as required
Complete identification, legal right to work and address verification during interview process
Manage any rejections who may be potentials for other roles, ensuring that rejections are handled appropriately and candidate contact is maintained (via Talent Acquisition Coordinators, as appropriate)
Co-ordinate timely provision of feedback between the hiring manager, suppliers (where relevant) and candidates. Responsible for updating interview notes in PeopleSoft and ensuring timely and appropriate completion of the same by co-interviewers

Hiring

Ensure all required approvals are obtained before offers are made
For international moves: work with relevant stakeholders to determine the applicable international move policy type; initiate cost estimate generation and obtain hiring manager approval; prepare the business case for the international move and ensure completion of all move approval requirements (including supporting the business in setting appropriate move objectives and end of assignment plans). Attend new hire assignee briefing calls
Support the IM Operations team in managing exceptions requests for international moves, as required
Negotiate offers between hiring managers, suppliers (where relevant) and candidates, assisting in the negotiation of release dates and backfill requirements where applicable. Work in partnership with Reward, IM and hiring managers to establish competitive, effective total reward packages in line with budgets and global policies
Liaise with Talent Acquisition Coordinator to ensure accurate and timely contract issuance following verbal offer. Liaise with IM Operations to ensure timely assignment letter development / issuance
Manage work permit applications and extensions for new hires and in-country transfers, where required
Improve candidate conversion rates (first offer made to acceptance ratio) through effectively diagnosing and selling the most relevant points for each individual

Pre-employment

Ensure pre-employment checks are completed in line with global minimum standards, managing any discrepancies or delays with the vendor, candidate or hiring manager (as appropriate)
Responsible for ensuring all Talent Acquisition related Right Start pre-employment global standards are met or exceeded for candidates under remit (i.e. issuing of contracts and induction packs, timely Bank ID creation and issuing notifications to hiring managers, HR RMs etc, confirming start dates and their Right Start responsibilities)
Develop innovative pre-joining strategy, maintaining regular contact with candidates and keeping them warm post offer acceptance

End of assignment

Work with line managers and other relevant stakeholders (e.g. Home Talent Acquisition team) to plan and make appropriate on-assignment and end of assignment decisions, and implement accordingly

Employer brand and Employer Value Proposition

Ensure the employer brand is fully leveraged, and embedded in talent acquisition touch points (including candidate and vendor interactions), ensuring full understanding and alignment by Hiring Managers and HRRMs to deliver consistency of message and optimal candidate experience
Deliver full compliance to employer brand governance process

Relationship Management

Pathological and infectious collaboration with colleagues, candidates, customers and suppliers, building sustainable relationships, setting and managing expectations clearly, identifying and resolving the root cause of any issues and escalating as required
Deliver a high degree of sponsorship, engagement and buy-in/understanding between the business and Talent Acquisition, increasing awareness of Talent Acquisition's total service offering and hiring managers' responsibilities, ensuring that credibility is earned quickly and the role holder is sought out for advice and engaged at the outset of all recruitment, optimizing frontline delivery
Work collaboratively and share knowledge with Talent Acquisition professionals in other countries

Reporting & System Management

Use PeopleSoft to drive the end-to-end talent acquisition process, recording all relevant details associated to job requisitions and candidates in a timely manner, ensuring applicants are categorized effectively in the CV database for easy and fast retrieval, and regularly conducting system 'housekeeping'
Analyse dashboards, reports and MI to proactively monitor and interpret internal and external conditions, using these findings to deliver operational excellence and continuous improvement e.g. more effective and efficient channel management, candidate conversion
Regular updates with HR RMs regarding JRs raised, work in progress etc

Qualifications and Skills

Essential

Commercial experience (in-house or search firm) of retained search and selection, or contingency and multi channel recruitment, with a successful track record in management level job filling within a complex recruitment model / environment
Able to deal with high recruitment volumes as well as more specialist vacancies, managing multiple vacancies at any time across a variety of disciplines
Proven track record as an effective leader of a small sized team, coaching, managing and engaging the team to deliver high performance
Understanding and experience of developing sourcing strategies and managing multiple recruitment channels to deliver recruitment targets within budget. Experience managing / working with PSLs and non-PSLs and good knowledge of the market place, competitors and best practice
Strong consulting skills and experience in translating business objectives into Talent Acquisition solutions / requirements through diagnostics and needs analysis (e.g. probing to identify underlying needs, effective questioning to provoke broader thinking about resource requirements, capability gaps etc)
Sound communication and influencing skills, enabling the role holder to network effectively, establish credibility quickly, build sustainable relationships, relate to candidates and hiring managers, effectively push back on hiring managers / agencies and effectively sell Standard Chartered Bank to individuals
Gravitas to deal with senior hiring managers and junior to middle management level candidates
Ability to deal assertively with conflict, and remain positive when under pressure
Innovative, pragmatic, commercial, and customer-focused approach
Capacity to think creatively and laterally
Excellent reasoning skills and the ability to screen and interview applicants while making sound judgments on suitability for the role / organization
Track record of working in a very organized way, multi-tasking, prioritising, managing data, and setting and achieving deadlines (both short and long term)
Experience of analysing recruitment management information and using this to identify and initiate improvements
Knowledge of / exposure to relevant employment legislation (e.g. data protection)

Desirable

Knowledge of HR databases (e.g. PeopleSoft)
In-depth experience of in house recruitment at a strategic level
Experience in an international professional services / banking environment
Proven experience in working in a complex matrix, with a broad base of cultures, dealing with demanding and fast-paced client groups
Demonstrable knowledge of banking / divisions