Recruitment Officer

Who are we?

Kibble supports children and young people (aged 5-26) who have experienced trauma and adversity through residential care, education and mental health services. For more than 200 years, we’ve put young people first and have built a trusted charity with vital services that strive to transform lives, families and communities. When starting a new job at Kibble, you’ll become part of a dedicated staff team who make sure children are happy and safe 365 days a year, 24/7. Whether your role is in care, education, or the corporate side, you’ll help give young people a chance at life.

Job Purpose:

The Recruitment Officer will play a key role in ensuring Kibble attracts, selects and appoints high‑quality staff across all services. This is a standalone recruitment role operating within an established HR team, providing dedicated support to managers and contributing specialist expertise to the wider HR function.

The post involves managing the end‑to‑end recruitment lifecycle, supporting managers in developing accurate role profiles, and ensuring candidates have a positive and professional experience. A strong focus on reporting, compliance and workforce planning is essential.

Main Duties:

The work of the Recruitment Officer allows a structured and strategic approach that must be responsive to the evolving needs of staff across the organisation. This work involves four main areas:

1. Recruitment Planning & Coordination

• Manage the end-to-end recruitment lifecycle, from vacancy approval through to appointment.
• Liaise closely with HR, managers and senior leadership to confirm staffing needs and ensure accurate job descriptions.
• Support managers in developing interview questions, selection tasks and role profiles.
• Attend interviews as the HR representative, ensuring consistency, fairness and safer recruitment compliance.
• Coordinate recruitment drives and ensure timely progression through each stage.

2. Candidate Management & Experience

• Ensure candidates receive timely, professional communication.
• Manage application tracking, shortlisting, pre-employment checks and onboarding handover.
• Promote an inclusive recruitment experience aligned to Kibble’s values.
• Ensure compliance with safer recruitment and legislative requirements.

3. Partnership Working & Stakeholder Support

• Build effective working relationships across multidisciplinary teams.
• Provide guidance to managers on recruitment best practice, legislation and internal policy.
• Work with HR colleagues to align recruitment processes with organisational needs.
• Collaborate with senior managers to support workforce planning.

4. Reporting, Compliance & Continuous Improvement

• Produce regular recruitment reports including vacancy levels, time‑to‑hire and compliance checks.
• Analyse recruitment data to identify trends and opportunities for improvement.
• Monitor compliance with safer recruitment, confidentiality and equality standards.
• Recommend improvements to recruitment processes and contribute to policy development.

Person Specification:

Essential Criteria

• Proven experience delivering recruitment activity in a fast‑paced, multi‑disciplinary environment.
• Strong understanding of relevant employment legislation.
• Ability to provide clear advice and guidance to managers on recruitment best practice.
• Competent in using recruitment/HR systems and interpreting data to support decision‑making.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to build positive working relationships.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise and work independently.
• High attention to detail, accuracy and confidentiality.
• Commitment to equality, inclusion and a high‑quality candidate experience.
• Professional, calm and solutions‑focused approach in changing or pressured situations.
• Demonstrated ability to use initiative and take a proactive approach to progressing recruitment activity and solving problems.

Desirable Criteria

• ·Experience working within social care, education, health or trauma‑informed sectors.
• Understanding of workforce planning concepts and how recruitment contributes to broader staffing strategies.
• Experience contributing to process or policy improvements within an HR or recruitment context.
• Creativity in developing recruitment drives or sourcing approaches.

Notes:

• This job outline reflects the main tasks and responsibilities discharged by the post holder at the present time, however, Kibble reserves the right to alter or amend the content of this job outline to reflect changes to the job or services provided, while maintaining the overall character and level of responsibility for the post.
• Notwithstanding any information or statement described within this job outline, all duties must be carried out in a way that promotes equality of opportunity, dignity and respect for all individuals and which is consistent with Kibble’s stated policy on equal opportunities.
• The successful candidate will be subject to PVG Scheme Membership. Having previous convictions will not automatically disbar you from working at Kibble (with the exception of offences against children or other vulnerable groups) and every case is taken on an individual basis.
• Appointments will be subject to a twelve-month probationary period.

What do we offer?

Holidays (up to 40 days per year), enhanced sick and maternity pay, cash4health, employee assistance programme, free parking, free meals plus access to onsite physio.