Director, Head of Talent Acquisition Europe

Nottingham Trent House (95002), United Kingdom, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire Director, Head of Talent Acquisition (Europe)

The Head of Talent Acquisition, Europe is a leadership role responsible for leading and executing the end-to-end talent acquisition strategy across the business, with a primary focus on the UK Card, Velocity Black, and Global Payments Network (formally Discover) business units. The core mandate is to ensure the international business secures top-tier, future-ready talent to achieve its ambitious growth targets and maintain market share leadership, while optimising recruitment efficiency and rigorously upholding all regulatory standards related to hiring practices. This role will be the operational and strategic owner of the talent acquisition function in the region.

What you'll do

1. Strategic Talent Acquisition Partnership

• Business Translation:Partner closely with the UK Leadership, US Talent Acquisition and HR Business Partners of UK Card, Velocity Black, and Discover to forecast talent needs, understand market dynamics, and proactively design and implement tailored recruitment programs that directly support and accelerate business outcomes.

• Workforce Planning & Pipeline:Lead the functional execution of strategic workforce planning for talent acquisition. Anticipate and address future skills gaps, particularly in critical UK segment roles (e.g., analytics, fraud, software engineering) by developing deep, sustained talent pipelines.

• Recruitment Efficiency & Investment:Own and optimise all key talent acquisition metrics (cost-per-hire, time-to-fill, quality-of-hire, candidate experience). Manage the TA function's investment and budget based on projected business impact and ROI.

2. Talent Acquisition Excellence

• End-to-End Ownership:Own and drive the complete talent acquisition lifecycle for the UK business segments. Drive a unified strategy that seamlessly links sourcing, screening, hiring, and onboarding processes.

• Operational Excellence:Oversee the Talent Acquisition team to ensure a hiring pipeline focused on securing top-tier talent. Implement best-in-class recruitment technologies and processes to maximize recruiter productivity and effectiveness.

• Brand & Sourcing Strategy:Iterate on and execute a compelling employer branding strategy for the region. Lead advanced sourcing strategies to attract passive and diverse candidates for high-demand roles.

• Talent Integration: Partner with HR Business Partners and Leadership Development teams to ensure newly hired talent is effectively integrated and set up for success and long-term retention.

3. Operational Integrity and Governance

• Compliance and Risk:Serve as the functional expert for all UK statutory, regulatory, and legislative requirements related to hiring and selection practices. Own and mitigate compliance risks within the talent acquisition process.

• HR Shared Services Alignment:Collaborate closely with UK HR Shared Services to ensure seamless and efficient delivery of TA operational tasks, including data integrity, reporting, and offer management.

• Policy & Standards:Establish and maintain robust TA policies and controls that meet the highest standards of corporate governance and ensure a fair, consistent, and equitable hiring process.

What we're looking for

• Senior Talent Acquisition Leadership:Progressive talent acquisition experience operating as a functional Head or Director of Talent Acquisition in a complex, international, and regulated industry (e.g., Financial Services).

• Functional Mastery & Commercial Acumen:Deep, proven expertise in all facets of the Talent Acquisition function (sourcing, operations, employer branding, analytics). Demonstrated ability to articulate recruitment strategy in financial and business terms (e.g., quantifying the impact of TA on business goals).

• Enterprise Navigation:Strong ability to navigate and influence enterprise HR functions and global decision-making processes, ensuring the TA strategy is aligned with the parent organisation.

• International Regulatory Expertise:Proven expertise in navigating multi-jurisdictional employment law and compliance specifically as it relates to recruitment, selection, and hiring within the UK and Europe.

• Data-Driven Influence: Strong capability in using workforce and TA analytics to diagnose pipeline issues, predict future needs, and drive functional and executive decision-making.

Where and how you'll work

This is a permanent position and can be based in our Nottingham or London offices.

We have a hybrid working model which gives you flexibility to work from our offices and from home.

We're big on collaboration and connection, so you'll be based in our Nottingham or London office 3 days a week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Many of our associates have flexible working arrangements, and we're open to talking about an arrangement that works for you.

What's in it for you

Bring us all this - and you'll be well rewarded with a role contributing to the roadmap of an organisation committed to transformation

We offer high performers strong and diverse career progression, investing heavily in developing great people through our Capital One University training programmes (and appropriate external providers)

Immediate access to our core benefits including pension scheme, bonus, generous holiday entitlement and private medical insurance - with flexible benefits available including season-ticket loans, cycle to work scheme and enhanced parental leave

Open-plan workspaces and accessible facilities designed to inspire and support you. Our Nottingham head-office has a fully-serviced gym, subsidised restaurant, mindfulness