Talent Acquisition Manager

Role Summary

• Responsibilities: You will lead Costello Medical's Talent Acquisition function, driving recruitment strategy, managing a team of Talent Acquisition professionals, partnering with senior stakeholders and ensuring we continue to attract, assess and hire exceptional talent across our global business
• Salary: £47,000 to £52,000 per annum, depending on your previous experience, as well as profit share bonuses paid twice per year
• Benefits: Discretionary profit share bonuses paid twice per year, hybrid and flexible working options, generous holiday allowance, private medical insurance, critical illness cover, income protection, full funding for external training, and more
• Role Type: Full-time, permanent role
• Start Date: This role will ideally commence in November or December 2026. However, we also have start dates available in early 2027, and you will be asked to state your availability on your application form
• Application Deadlines: Whilst there are no set application deadlines, we strongly recommend applying as early as possible. The role will close when a suitable candidate is found
• Location: This role is available in our Global Headquarters in Cambridge, as well as our London office

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Talent Acquisition Manager to lead our global Talent Acquisition function and shape how we attract, assess and hire exceptional people across the organisation. This is an opportunity to join a company with ambitious growth plans, build on an established and successful recruitment function, and have a significant influence on the future direction of talent acquisition at Costello Medical. You will have genuine autonomy to challenge established approaches, introduce better ways of working and shape how Talent Acquisition supports our continued global growth.

This is a varied and impactful role, combining recruitment strategy, stakeholder partnering, people management, operational oversight and continuous improvement. You will oversee recruitment across all regions, business areas and experience levels, working closely with senior leaders and your colleagues in Talent Acquisition to ensure our hiring approaches remain effective, inclusive and scalable. You will lead and develop an ambitious team, while remaining close to day-to-day delivery and gaining exposure to a varied mix of early careers and experienced hiring.

Alongside leading the effective delivery of recruitment, you will play a central role in major transformation and improvement initiatives, identifying opportunities to enhance our processes, candidate experience, employer brand and use of technology, data and AI. You will join a collaborative and purpose-driven organisation committed to improving global health, where you can see the impact of your decisions and help ensure our recruitment practices continue to evolve alongside the business.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Leading recruitment delivery across the global business, working closely with senior leaders and hiring managers to understand their needs, agree hiring targets and keep recruitment on track
• Partnering with our Head of People to shape our Talent Acquisition strategy, translating business growth plans into short-, medium- and long-term hiring priorities
• Ensuring we have effective approaches to attracting, assessing and hiring talent across a wide range of roles, including strengthening our employer brand
• Building internal and external talent pipelines, including for strategically important or hard-to-fill roles, to support current and future hiring needs
• Leading and developing a team of Talent Acquisition professionals, providing coaching, feedback and development opportunities
• Planning the team’s capacity and resources to deliver high-quality recruitment activity alongside longer-term projects and improvement initiatives
• Monitoring recruitment KPIs, using workforce and recruitment data to identify trends, anticipate risks, refine our approach and provide clear updates to senior leaders
• Improving recruitment processes, systems and assessment approaches so they remain effective, inclusive and scalable as the company grows, including exploring opportunities to use technology, automation and AI
• Developing recruitment training and practical guidance for colleagues involved in hiring, supporting consistent, high-quality assessment and compliance with relevant regional requirements
• Working collaboratively across the People Team to connect recruitment with wider people priorities, share learning and embed improvements into day-to-day practice

Hybrid Working Policy: We believe that having face-to-face time in the office holds many benefits and is central to ensuring that the community we have created, where people have a workplace they belong to and feel part of, is never lost. At the same time, we recognise that homeworking can improve work life balance, reduce commuting times and costs, and provide the opportunity to juggle personal commitments.

Therefore, we offer flexible working arrangements that allow our colleagues who have passed probation to work from home up to half their time, measured across a 2-week rolling period. During your probationary period (normally the first 6 months of the role), you will be able to work from home 1 day per week.

Career Profile

To learn more about the personal and professional development opportunities at Costello Medical, explore first-hand career profiles from our colleagues about their experiences with the company: https://www.costellomedical.com/careers/working-at-costello-medical/

About Costello Medical

Costello Medical is a rapidly growing global healthcare agency specialising in medical communications, market access, and health economic and outcomes research. We work with a wide range of clients, including the industry’s most successful pharmaceutical and medical technology companies, patient and public health bodies, and charitable organisations. We have been listed in the Top 100 Best Companies to Work For list since 2017, the Boston Globe’s Top Places to Work list in 2025, and were proud to receive B Corporation accreditation in 2022. We are also a certified Disability Confident and menopause friendly workplace. Learn more about us, our work, and our mission on our website: https://www.costellomedical.com/

Requirements

About You

The successful candidate will combine strong operational expertise with a passion for leading and developing high-performing teams, as well as delivering exceptional hiring experiences for candidates and hiring managers alike. You enjoy finding practical solutions to complex recruitment challenges and are equally comfortable thinking strategically and taking a hands-on approach to delivery when needed.

Essential requirements for the role are:

• At least 2 years’ experience in an in-house recruitment role at manager or team leader level
• Experience developing and implementing recruitment strategies, supported by extensive experience of managing end-to-end recruitment processes and using data and insights to inform decisions
• Strong knowledge of recruitment best practice and equitable assessment methods, alongside awareness of relevant employment law and visa legislation and when to seek advice from our in-house Legal team
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with experience partnering with senior stakeholders and hiring managers, adapting your approach to different audiences and confidently presenting to a Board of Directors
• The confidence and judgement to constructively challenge hiring decisions and coach teams towards well-informed outcomes, balancing candidate experience with business and operational needs, risk and wider company priorities
• Strong organisational and time management skills, with the ability to balance competing deadlines, communicate priorities clearly and lead recruitment projects and process improvements while maintaining smooth day-to-day delivery
• Discretion and sound judgement when handling confidential or sensitive information

Desired requirements for the role are:

• Talent acquisition experience across a range of sectors and growing organisations, including international recruitment experience, particularly across the US, Canada, Singapore and/or China. Experience within the life sciences or pharmaceutical sectors would be advantageous
• Experience representing an organisation at careers fairs and/or webinars, supported by strong public speaking skills
• Experience using new and innovative recruitment technology, such as assessment platforms, automation tools or AI solutions
• Experience leading graduate, internship or early careers recruitment programmes

Benefits

What We Offer

Alongside our award-winning company culture, where every team member is celebrated, respected, and has their voice heard, we are proud to offer a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

• A starting salary of £47,000 to £52,000 per annum, depending on your previous experience, as well as a discretionary profit share bonus paid twice per year. Please note that we have established salary bands to ensure a fair and consistent approach for all applicants, eliminating the need for individual negotiations
• 25 days’ annual leave plus bank and public holidays, as well as a holiday buy and sell scheme
• Flexible working hours and the chance to work from home for up to half of your working time after passing probation
• Flexible benefits scheme offering cash payments, additional pension contributions and more
• Private Medical Insurance which offers comprehensive cover on a “medical history disregard” basis
• Paid study leave and funding for external qualifications
• Critical Illness Cover, Income Protection and Life Assurance
• Paid and unpaid sabbaticals based on length of service

Learn more about our full reward package and the other benefits of working for Costello Medical: https://www.costellomedical.com/careers/benefits-package-in-the-uk/

The Application Process

You are required to submit your CV and a cover letter via our online application form. In your cover letter, you must explain why you think you would be suited to the role and why you would like to join Costello Medical, with examples to support both.

Our recruitment process includes an initial telephone interview with a member of the Talent Acquisition team. If successful, you will be invited to a final interview with senior members of our People and wider Operations teams, which includes completing a short assessment. Please note that the successful candidate may be required to undergo security/background checks, and any employment offer will be conditional on the results of these. Our standard recruitment process typically lasts around 3-4 weeks, however, this can be adapted if necessary.

As an equal opportunity employer, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce and, throughout the recruitment process, there are a number of reasonable adjustments we can provide: https://www.costellomedical.com/reasonable-adjustments/

Please note that, whilst we embrace AI to innovate and improve processes, your role may involve working with confidential data that cannot be uploaded to AI. Therefore, it is important for us to assess your own skills and abilities, so we recommend that you do not rely solely on this technology to generate any application materials.

Visa Sponsorship

We can provide visa sponsorship for eligible candidates for our Talent Acquisition Manager role. You will be asked to provide details of your right to work in the UK within your application, however this will have no impact on the processing of your application.