Talent Acquisition Advisor

The Talent Acquisition Team is part of the wider People Team at Costain where we are responsible for sourcing and recruiting top talent into Costain.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Talent Acquisition Advisor to join our in-house TA team within our successful Water Sector. Costain continues to grow significantly across the sector on the back of a successful AMP8 campaign, partnering with UK water companies to deliver strategic capital delivery programmes, major projects and wider services. We have secured long-term collaborative programmes for the AMP8 investment cycles and beyond and seek a candidate at a pivotal time in the water sector who wants to be part of shaping the future of Costain in the industry

This key role is responsible for attracting, engaging, and hiring top talent across Operational, Design and Commercial functions. You will play a key role in delivering an effective and inclusive recruitment process with a key focus on candidate experience and sourcing candidates, ensuring the needs of hiring managers are met and understood. You will support workforce planning and ensure we have the right people to deliver essential water services sustainably and efficiently.

As part of the Talent Acquisition team, you will also be expected to get involved in true value add projects to create resourcing process efficiencies going forward over the AMP8 period.

You will be principally responsible for key Water Framework support, building strong project relationships and sourcing external candidates across various job disciplines for all projects.  

This is a full time role, home-based with an expectation to be in framework/site offices as required and attend monthly/quarterly TA meetings in our London and Manchester offices.

• Partner with hiring managers to understand current and future workforce needs across our water frameworks

• Manage the full recruitment lifecycle, including role scoping, sourcing, screening, interviewing, and offer negotiation

• Develop targeted sourcing strategies to attract scarce and specialist talent within the water and utilities sector

• Build and maintain talent pipelines for critical and hard-to-fill roles

• Promote employer brand through job adverts, social media, industry events, and partnerships

• Ensure a positive candidate experience from initial engagement through onboarding

• Use data and recruitment metrics to inform hiring decisions and improve processes

• Ensure compliance with employment legislation, equality, diversity, and inclusion standards

• Collaborate with HR colleagues on onboarding, workforce planning, and retention initiatives

• Stay up to date with industry trends, talent market insights, and competitor activity

• Work with the wider Costain TA team to maintain and improve collaboration, share best practice, create network opportunities and support each other

• Proven experience in an in-house recruitment or talent acquisition role
• Experience with HR Software / ATS systems (Oracle is desirable, but not essential) and familiarity with recruitment analytics 
• Experience recruiting within engineering, infrastructure, utilities, or environmental sectors (water sector experience highly desirable)
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills
• Ability to manage multiple roles and priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Knowledge of sourcing techniques including LinkedIn, job boards, and direct search
• Understanding of employment law and inclusive hiring practices
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Comfortable personally working through all areas of the recruitment process including sourcing, screening, and interviewing
• Ambitious and creative with a passion for looking outside the box but still with an eye on the art of the possible
• Appetite for learning, personal growth, and development within the field of Talent Acquisition
• Ability to work independently and proactively; demonstrates initiative - a self-starter who raises their hand for new opportunities
• A real ‘go getter’ who leaves no stone unturned and can operate with a sense of urgency 
• Full UK driving licence

Why join us?

Working in the water sector means contributing to essential services that impact communities and the environment every day. As a Talent Acquisition Advisor, you will directly influence our ability to deliver safe, sustainable, and innovative water solutions by ensuring we attract and retain the best talent at Costain.

You will be joining a well established team who have delivered fantastic results year on year, work for each other and stive to be the best TA team in this hugely rewarding sector!

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