Recruitment Transformation Specialist

About this Role

UNISON is the UK’s leading public services trade union, with over 1.3 million members working in the public sector, private, voluntary and community sectors and in the energy services. We employ approximately 1,200 staff, with around 370 at our national centre in Euston in central London and the remainder in our 12 regions across the UK, including Northern Ireland.

UNISON’s HR team is looking for a Recruitment Transformation Specialist to lead a key project that will modernise how we attract, assess, and welcome staff across the organisation. This isn’t just about systems, it’s about improving experiences, embedding equity, and streamlining processes for long-term impact.

About the role:
You’ll lead a full redesign of our in-house recruitment practices, from outreach to onboarding, creating a journey that is fair, consistent, and engaging for candidates, while also saving time and reducing complexity for hiring managers and HR.

Your focus will include:

• Embedding equity at every stage to improve outcomes for underrepresented groups
• Streamlining recruitment to support better, faster hiring decisions
• Shaping a candidate experience that reflects UNISON’s values
• Collaborating with stakeholders to co-create lasting change
• Supporting the rollout of a new Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
• Developing clear, practical tools and training for hiring managers and HR teams
• This is a strategic project with hands-on delivery and real organisational impact.

About you

We’re looking for someone with strong recruitment expertise, a collaborative mindset, and experience driving inclusive hiring change. You should be confident working with data, influencing stakeholders, and navigating complexity with a practical, solution-focused approach.

You’ll bring:

• Proven experience in inclusive, end-to-end recruitment
• A track record of improving processes and delivering change
• Excellent stakeholder skills, especially with senior leaders and union reps
• The ability to use data to inform strategy
• Knowledge of ATS platforms and recruitment systems
• A values-led, adaptable and proactive working style
• Patience and adaptability to work within traditional or evolving structures, and an understanding that change often involves many voices and perspectives
• Experience working with trade union representatives, ideally in a not-for-profit or similar environments (desirable)

A full job description and person specification can be found in the Documents section on the vacancies webpage.

Further information

Why join us?

At UNISON, your work will make a meaningful difference. You’ll help build a more inclusive workforce and a more human candidate experience, while making recruitment easier and more effective for those delivering it. You’ll have space to lead this work, support to succeed, and the chance to make change that lasts.

The completed application form along with the monitoring form should be sent to [email protected], quoting the correct ref: ORD/AR45T

Completed application forms must be received by no later than 5pm on
20th June 2025.

Interview date to be confirmed.

UNISON is a dynamic, progressive union, committed to equality. We encourage men and women of all ages, black and minority ethnic groups, disabled people, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to work with us.