Talent Acquisition Specialist

What we are looking for?

Job Title: Talent Acquisition Specialist

Location: Cardiff (Hybrid)

Salary: £35,000 - £38,000

Contract type: Permanent

Are you a recruiter who is focused on finding the right people and making an impact? At ARO, we're looking for a Talent Acquisition Specialist to join our proactive, delivery-focused Recruitment team. You'll be a true partner to our Managers, sourcing, attracting, and hiring top talent across a range of tech roles. Reporting to the Talent Acquisition Manager, you'll play a hands‑on role in a busy team, managing the full recruitment cycle for vacancies across the UK.

This is a fast‑paced, high‑impact role where your work directly shapes the growth of the business. We're looking for an experienced recruiter, ideally with a tech or sales recruitment background, who thrives on building relationships, creating proactive talent pipelines, and delivering a seamless candidate experience. If you want to join a team that never compromises on quality — for our candidates or internal stakeholders — and have the drive to make a real difference, this could be your next role!

Please note that this is a Hybrid role with onsite requirement in Cardiff 3 days a week. You must be able to commute to the office and have your own transport.

• Take full ownership of the recruitment process, managing vacancies from start to finish
• Conduct detailed role briefings with Hiring Managers to ensure clear alignment on requirements and expectations
• Create and launch compelling advertising campaigns to attract the right talent
• Shortlist suitably qualified candidates and conduct interviews, ensuring a positive candidate experience throughout
• Manage the offer process, including salary negotiations, offer letters, pre‑employment checks, and onboarding plans
• Build and maintain proactive talent pools to reduce reactive sourcing and accelerate time‑to‑hire
• Partner closely with hiring managers to streamline interview processes and minimise delays
• Monitor recruitment metrics weekly, identifying bottlenecks and implementing process improvements
• Strengthen and execute direct sourcing strategies, including Linked In outreach, networking, headhunting, and employee referrals
• Develop strong, engaged talent pipelines for key and hard‑to‑fill roles to support business growth
• Promote and support employee referral initiatives to increase quality direct hires
• Track agency usage, challenge unnecessary spend, and convert agency roles to direct sourcing wherever possible
• Ensure strong candidate‑to‑role alignment through effective screening and competency‑based interviews aligned to ARO Values
• Provide structured interview guidance and best‑practice support to hiring managers
• Set clear expectations with candidates regarding role scope, culture, and career progression opportunities
• Analyse feedback from new starters to identify trends and continuously improve hiring quality
• Partner with HR and line managers to ensure effective onboarding and smooth integration of new hires
• Increase ARO's visibility and reputation as an employer of choice through targeted employer branding initiatives
• Collaborate with Marketing to enhance attraction strategies, careers content, and talent campaigns
• Map talent markets and maintain regular engagement with high‑potential candidates
• Support the design and rollout of an Early Careers strategy, including graduate, apprenticeship, and entry‑level hiring pathways
• Continuously review recruitment processes, implementing new ideas and initiatives to improve efficiency, quality, and candidate experience

Essential:

• Proven experience within an internal recruitment team or agency environment
• Demonstrated experience managing the end‑to‑end recruitment process, including role briefing, advertising, shortlisting, interviewing, offer management, and onboarding
• Strong direct sourcing experience with excellent networking and headhunting skills to attract top talent
• Ability to work with multiple stakeholders across the business, building strong, trusted relationships in a busy and fast‑paced environment
• Solid understanding of what a good recruitment process looks like and a proactive…