About the role
At West Northants Council, it’s about our people — ambitious, curious, bold thinkers who never shy away from a challenge. And right now, it’s an especially exciting moment to join us. Our Recruitment Service has just expanded to create a fully centralised, modern and dynamic Talent Acquisition model, designed to unlock potential and help our organisation THRIVE.
As our Senior Talent Acquisition Officer, you’ll be working closely with the Talent Acquisition Manager to be a driving force in this transformation. This role places you at the intersection of strategy and delivery — shaping how we attract diverse talent, guiding managers as a trusted expert, and leading some of our most complex and high-profile recruitment campaigns. You’ll help influence the future of our workforce and play a crucial role in building a Council where people can do their best work and genuinely make an impact.
This is your opportunity to make a tangible difference every day — for candidates, hiring managers and the communities we serve.
PLEASE NOTE: If we receive a high-volume of quality applications, we may close the advert earlier than advertised.
What will you be doing?
In this role, you’ll play a pivotal part in delivering a high-performing, forward-thinking recruitment service across the Council. Your day-to-day work will include:
- Leading end-to-end recruitment for a varied portfolio, including hard-to-fill, specialist and senior-level roles.
- Designing innovative attraction and sourcing strategies informed by workforce data, labour-market intelligence and organisational priorities.
- Partnering closely with hiring managers, offering expert guidance and building their confidence in making great selection decisions.
- Acting as an escalation point for Talent Acquisition and Compliance colleagues, providing clarity and solutions to complex recruitment and CQC-related compliance queries.
- Representing the Council at careers fairs, university events and community outreach sessions to widen access to public sector careers and strengthen our employer brand.
- Contributing to process improvement projects and helping to shape tools, resources and guidance that uplift hiring capability across the organisation.
- Supporting the development of our Early Careers offer, including work-experience programmes and education partnerships, helping us build strong talent pipelines for the future.
- Using data and insight to drive better, smarter and more inclusive recruitment decisions.
About you
You’re someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment where ambition, innovation and people-centred thinking drive everything you do. You combine strong strategic awareness with hands-on recruitment delivery, and you’re confident operating as a subject-matter expert.
You’re an exceptional communicator who can influence, challenge and guide senior stakeholders with credibility. You understand recruitment inside out — the legislation, the compliance, the best-practice, the labour-market trends — and you know how to turn insight into action.
You’re proactive, creative and always looking for better ways of working. You enjoy owning complex campaigns, solving problems and shaping improvements that make the experience more inclusive, efficient and impactful. If you’ve used Tribepad applicant tracking system previously, that would be an advantage.
Most importantly, you’re someone who believes in the power of great talent. You care about building an organisation that reflects the communities we serve and you’re excited to help people unlock their potential.
Our benefits
You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here: Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council.
About us
At West Northants Council, it’s about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.
Our vision is ‘to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive’. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.
We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner
The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.
If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.
West Northants Council, where careers thrive.
Attached documents
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