Are you ready tochart your own career path? With our refreshed strategy, we’re building on our rich heritage and transforming our business to be more scalable and efficient, unlocking the capabilities needed for future success. This includes significantly investing in technology, streamlining the way we work and creating an environment where colleagues feel engaged, empowered and accountable; where they can show up, speak up and perform - because we believe in the difference our work makes.
At a glance:
Location: Cirencester Office
Workplace Type: Hybrid
Employment Type: Permanent
Seniority: Mid-Senior Level
The role:
We’re looking for a bold, agile and people-first leader to shape the next generation of talent across our UK business. As Head of Early Careers Programmes, you’ll own the end-to-end attraction and activation strategy for our graduate, intern and apprenticeship programmes, building diverse pipelines, elevating the candidate experience and developing future capability at pace.
This is a rare opportunity to shape an early careers proposition that directly supports our business strategy, building future skills, improving diversity and creating succession pipelines across the organisation. You’ll have the scope to innovate, the visibility to influence, and the backing to deliver programmes that are truly best-in-class
What you'll be doing:
1. Lead and inspire the Early Careers team, setting clear direction, developing capability and role-modelling best practice.
2. Own the annual early careers cycle end-to-end: attraction, recruitment, selection, onboarding, development and retention.
3. Build trusted partnerships with senior leaders and group executives, influencing decisions, balancing priorities and shaping future skills pipelines.
4. Design and deliver an innovative attraction strategy across digital and in-person channels, including targeted schools/university engagement and diversity partnerships.
5. Lead the selection experience that is inclusive, data-led and aligned to business needs, measured through candidate experience, acceptance and renege benchmarks.
6. Oversee development programmes (graduates/apprentices/interns), including rotations, induction, performance roadmaps, reward and skills development.
7. Manage external relationships with schools, universities, training providers and vendors, driving performance in partnership with procurement and finance.
8. Set KPIs and run a data-driven operation, tracking outcomes and reporting progress to senior forums (including the Early Careers SteerCo).
9. Maintain governance and compliance across recruitment and selection activity.
Who we're looking for:
This role is for someone with proven experience leading an early careers team with the confidence to partner with group executive stakeholders, translating business strategy into hiring and development plans that deliver real impact. Including:
10. Proven experience leading an early careers team or function (graduates/apprentices/interns), delivering high-quality and diverse hiring at volume.
11. Strong group executive stakeholder management, you can build trust quickly, influence credibly, and hold your own in senior forums.
12. A track record of designing attraction and selection approaches that deliver an outstanding candidate and hiring manager experience.
13. Experience creating and delivering development programmes (, rotations, induction, skills development, performance roadmaps).
14. Confidence navigating complexity with a highly agile mindset, adapting plans fast, solving problems creatively, and staying calm in ambiguity.
15. An inspiring, coaching leadership style that develops others, raises the bar, and creates a culture of continuous improvement.
16. Commercial and operational strength: significant budget and vendor management experience, plus a strong grip on metrics, insights and reporting.
17. Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) with presence and composure under pressure.
18. Working knowledge of the early careers landscape, including apprenticeships (, levy) and entry-level talent considerations (, visa sponsorship legislation).
Special Requirements:
19. Hybrid working: you’ll be in the office 2–3 days per week (Early Careers team is based in Cirencester).
20. Travel: occasional UK travel, including some overnight stays.
We encourage early applications, as we will review candidates on an ongoing basis and may close the role once a suitable shortlist has been identified.
What's in it for you?
We reward you for the work you do, whether that’s through our discretionary annual bonus scheme that reflects both personal and company performance, competitive annual leave allowance (28 days plus bank holidays, with the option to purchase an additional 5 days), or online rewards platform with a variety of discounts.
We also have benefits to support whatever stage of life you are in, including:
21. Competitive parental leave (26 weeks full pay)
22. Private medical insurance (optional taxable benefit)
23. 10% non-contributory pension (increasing with length of service)
Reasonable Adjustments
We're an equal opportunities employer and want to ensure our recruitment process is accessible and inclusive for all, if you require reasonable adjustment(s) at any stage please let us know by emailing us at
Research tells us that applicants (especially those from underrepresented groups) can be put off from applying for a role if they do not meet all the criteria or have been on an extended career-break. If you think you would be a good match for this role and can demonstrate some transferable experience please apply, regardless of whether you tick every box.