Talent Acquisition Partner 

Details: 12 month Fixed Term Contract (Maternity leave cover). Please note - this is a part time position, totalling 22.5 hours per week. We are open to candidates who wish to work a 3 day week (7.5 hours per day) or spread their hours over 4-5 days.

Would you like to be at the heart of growing the UK Space sector and finding people from all walks of life to identify how space technology can address UK and global societal challenges? Are you passionate about changing people’s lives with rewarding careers? Do you want a recruitment position which will make a real difference? If so, you may be who we’re looking for! 

We are currently seeking an enthusiastic Talent Acquisition Partner to work with a variety of stakeholders across our business to grow our diverse teams. Working collaboratively, you will not only advertise our roles and guide hiring managers through the recruitment process, but you will champion ED&I within recruitment and showcase our career opportunities to the wider job market. 

 Reporting into our Director of People and Organisational Development, this is a highly networked role that requires an ability to work under pressure and to challenging deadlines. It requires great stakeholder management, a passion for recruiting, and an enthusiasm to learn about a variety of interesting, niche and sometimes completely unique roles. Experience of recruiting within the technology and/or Space sector is desirable, but not essential. 

We have a hybrid working environment with our principal offices in Harwell Oxfordshire, the role may require travel to other offices in the UK. 

Key Responsibilities: 

As a key part of the People Team, you will work independently to identify Talent needs across the business and lead on all recruitment activities such as: 

• Partnering with Hiring Managers in the end-to-end recruitment process, developing and contributing to their talent planning and advising on recruitment strategies.  

• Write engaging job adverts and guiding Hiring Managers with job descriptions, whilst not being afraid to challenge them to think outside the box when it comes to job requirements 

• Create suitable pre-screen questions for our Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and follow up with candidate calls when appropriate. Be an advocate of our ED&I forward ATS throughout the process 

• Taking the lead on all recruitment activities to ensure the process runs smoothly and to the time frame required. You will be the candidate’s main point of contact throughout the recruitment process and onboarding journey. This will include providing starting instructions and regular check ins during their notice period.  

• Proactively search for suitable candidates via various recruitment channels such as LinkedIn, careers events and encouraging colleagues to refer good people to us (reminding them of our employee referral scheme!) 

• Recruiting the majority of our candidates directly however being open to pivoting and managing relationships with recruitment agencies when required 

• Schedule and conduct virtual and in-person interviews (when necessary), advising hiring managers on interview questions and keeping a focus on company culture fit. You will also need to be on hand on the day to coordinate and conduct a tour of site if the interviews are in person. 

• Taking candidate feedback to understand their salary requirements and situation over the phone before an offer is presented. This stage may involve salary negotiations, and championing our benefits. 

• Creating a great candidate experience, keeping them informed and engaged throughout the recruitment process, including ensuring timely and fair feedback to unsuccessful applicants 

• Manage the ‘careers’ inbox and respond to enquiries, this may also include recruitment agency introductions or enquiries around work experience. 

• Learn about hiring needs, keeping up to date with employment trends and with projects taking place across the Catapult 

• Continually improving the way, we recruit by listening to feedback, understanding relevant metrics like time to hire and retention, and helping to create our employer brand 

Skills & Experience required: 

• You will have experience of working in a fast-paced recruitment environment, hiring a variety of skillsets and positions (ideally from junior – senior) 

• Experience of partnering with Hiring Managers to develop job descriptions, adverts, and recruitment strategies 

• Successful track record of applying resourcing techniques to identify potential applicants 

• Excellent attention to detail and organisation skills, you will be responsible for managing the recruitment cycle for each role. 

• Ability to hire directly but able to partner with recruitment agencies for occasional roles 

• Experience of working in customer facing roles with a passion for great customer service and candidate experience 

• Experience recruiting for technical roles with a willingness to learn about different skillset 

• Ability to work independently with little supervision as well as collaboratively with people who have differing skillsets 

• Good understanding of UK employment law and general HR practices 

Desirable Experience: 

• Experience using Applicant Tracking Systems or equivalent systems 

• Experience using LinkedIn products such as LinkedIn recruiter to create projects and message prospective candidates 

• Experience hiring in the Space sector or technology/R&D companies 

• Familiarity with Contracts for Services and legislation around it [IR35 (CEST / SDS etc.)] 

• Experience of or an understanding of UK VISAs and right to work, as well as security clearance. 

You know you have been successful when… 

• You have successfully partnered with Hiring Managers and supported the full recruitment lifecycle from job advert to offers. 

• You have built long lasting partnerships with hiring managers 

• You have contributed ideas to improve hiring strategy, onboarding, employer branding and other HR processes. 

• The Catapult is attracting skilled candidates from diverse backgrounds. 

The purpose of your new team: 

The core focus of the people team is to ensure our people can connect, grow and learn in a safe and supportive environment to ‘Innovate for a better world empowered by Space’. 

We do this by developing initiatives and providing services that support the ‘moments that matter’ throughout a Catapultians journey here at the Catapult.

How we work: 

We strive to create a high trust environment that enables team members to bring their whole selves to work – this helps to create the foundations of an innovation culture. Our shared values are critical to this: 

• We care - for our people, our partners, and our planet 

• We connect - and engage with people and ideas 

• We learn - and grow, as people and as an industry 

Underpinning this is our belief in great teams, our combined efforts will always deliver outcomes beyond that of any individual providing we are honest through debate, experiment and reflect, and create shared resolutions in support of our purpose. Live these values, work to our principles, take ownership to deliver, and we are certain you will thrive with us. 

This job description set outs the skills and experience we believe are needed to be able to do this job but, research also tells us women are much more likely than men to take this list of requirements as absolute and self-select out of the process. If you think you can deliver this role then we want to hear from you, regardless of the boxes you didn’t tick. 

Important notice for applicants: We use tools to detect plagiarism and the use of AI or chatbots for applicant answers. If plagiarism, AI use (such as ChatGPT) or similar software are found to have been used in your application you will not be considered for this or future roles within the Satellite Applications Catapult.

At Satellite Applications Catapult, we're committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workforce. We welcome candidates from all corners of the globe, but due to legal and logistical considerations, we want to be transparent about the potential visa-related challenges that could arise. Our ability to offer sponsorship will depend on the level of interest for our roles and salary level.

If you need any additional support during the application process, please do reach out and connect. We also invite you to share feedback via Applied.