Talent Acquisition & People Assistant

We're looking for a Talent Acquisition & People Assistant to join our People team in Oxford, supporting recruitment and the wider employee lifecycle across HydraB's operating companies. If you're super organised, great with people and keen to start a career in recruitment or HR, this one's for you.

The UK's zero-emission transport sector is being built right now. HydraB is at the centre of it - developing the vehicles, hydrogen infrastructure, power systems and energy services that move decarbonisation from ambition to operational reality across bus, coach, fleet and energy markets.

A People function that needs to run as one business, and a hiring plan that needs to keep moving. This role sits at the heart of that.

This is an entry-level role and a genuine first step into a career in People. You'll keep recruitment moving, from the first candidate conversation to a new starter's first day, and be a go-to point of contact for day-to-day People admin and queries.

Reporting to the Talent Acquisition Manager, you'll manage the Talent Acquisition inbox and calendar, partner with hiring managers across the Group, and support the wider People team with contracts, onboarding, employee records and payroll admin.

No previous HR or recruitment experience needed. Full training and support will be provided, with structured on-the-job learning across both recruitment and HR.

We can offer this role on a 4 or 5 day working pattern, based fully on-site in Oxford.

• Manage the Talent Acquisition inbox and calendar - responding to candidates and hiring managers, and booking interviews, calls and stakeholder meetings
• Coordinate recruitment admin across live vacancies, from posting jobs and keeping adverts up to date to scheduling interviews and assessment days
• Be the main point of contact for candidates, keeping communication timely, clear and professional at every stage
• Keep candidate pipelines, recruitment trackers and the applicant tracking system accurate and up to date
• Coordinate right to work checks, pre-employment screening and references, making sure everything is done before start dates
• Help pull together recruitment metrics, including time to hire, pipeline status and source effectiveness
• Support employer branding, job advert copy and careers events
• Prepare offer letters and contracts using approved templates, and coordinate onboarding so new starters are set up for day one
• Support employee lifecycle changes - probation, promotions, transfers, salary changes and leavers
• Maintain employee records in BambooHR, and support monthly payroll admin, the annual salary review and wider People projects
• Spot and suggest better ways of doing things across recruitment and HR

• Have some experience in an admin, customer-facing or coordination role - part-time jobs, placements, internships and volunteering all count
• Are highly organised and can juggle several things at once without dropping the ball
• Communicate in a clear, friendly and professional way, both in writing and in person
• Have a strong eye for detail, especially with names, dates and documents
• Are confident with Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Word and Excel) and happy to learn new systems
• Handle confidential information with discretion and good judgement
• Have a proactive, can-do approach - comfortable asking questions, taking ownership and suggesting better ways of working
• Have a genuine interest in recruitment, HR or working with people, and want to build a career in this area

• Exposure to recruitment, scheduling or HR systems, such as BambooHR or an applicant tracking system
• An interest in working towards a CIPD qualification

• Pension - up to 8% employer contribution
• Private medical & dental
• 25 days holiday + bank holidays, with buy & sell flexibility
• Life assurance - 4x basic salary
• Income protection
• Electric car salary sacrifice scheme
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Critical illness cover
• Employee referral bonus
• Employee Assistance Programme - 24/7, 365 days
• Retail discounts & cashback via Fizz Benefits
• Eyecare vouchers - Specsavers

HydraB is pioneering the UK's transition to net zero energy and transport - building the hydrogen and electric infrastructure that gets the sector to scale.