Group Early Careers & Employer Brand Lead

Who are we? Howden is a collective – a group of talented and passionate people all around the world. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 18,000 employees spanning over 100 countries. People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work/life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

This is a fantastic opportunity for a highly commercially minded and progressive Early Careers (EC) & Employer Brand (EB) Lead to join us on an exciting journey as we scale our Early Careers proposition across the Group, as well as develop our EVP and EB. Reporting to the Group Head of Talent Acquisition and working as part of the HR Centre of Expertise (CoE), the individual will be responsible for developing and driving a global strategy for attracting, developing and retaining high quality, diverse early careers talent across our business areas and regions. They will also develop our EVP and EB, working with markets, business lines, HR and TA colleagues to help them articulate and deploy this.

This role will require close collaboration with senior leadership, Talent Acquisition, HR Business Partners and business areas to ensure Early Careers programmes and initiatives align with business objectives and that our employer brand helps position Howden as an employer of choice.

What you’ll do…

• Lead the strategy, design and execution of effective early careers attraction, recruitment, onboarding and development programmes globally for apprentices, interns, graduates, and other early careers professionals. This will be through a combination of direct ownership and also working alongside some HR and business segments to execute through your direction, education and support.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition Leads and HR Business Partners to understand resourcing needs and future recruiting plans and educate business areas on the Group’s early careers approach, embedding best practices and providing high-touch business partnering to deliver a quality, diverse pipeline of EC talent.
• Establish key performance indicators to measure success.
• Provide regular updates to senior stakeholders and recommend adjustments where required.
• Lead and develop a small team of early careers specialists, ensuring they are equipped with the resources and knowledge to deliver successful outcomes; provide mentorship and opportunities for development.
• Work with the Global Head of Talent Acquisition to review processes and systems from an early careers perspective to improve effectiveness and deliver a quality candidate experience at scale.
• Collaborate with the Group Brand and Group Communications teams to lead the global early careers recruitment marketing strategy (including events, digital campaigns, website optimisation, content creation, social media and employee advocacy).
• Collaborate with the Group Social & Community Impact team to deliver and support key outreach initiatives.
• Work with Group Brand, Group Communication, HR and business stakeholders to refine and help deploy our EVP and employer brand to support in the attraction and retention of top talent to Howden, as well as position us as an employer of choice.
• Cultivate and manage relationships with external stakeholders and partners.
• Keep up to date with relevant trends to continuously improve and innovate the Group’s approach to early careers and employer branding.
• Get involved in ad-hoc projects across the wider HR function at the direction of the Group Head of TA.

The kind of skills we'll need…

• Demonstrated experience in developing and executing strategic plans for early careers talent acquisition.
• Strong awareness of global talent markets and the ability to tailor early careers strategies to different regions and business needs.
• Demonstrated ability to lead, inspire and develop cross-functional teams and manage multiple global initiatives simultaneously.
• Excellent project management capability.
• Excellent communications skills, with the ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders, colleagues and peers.
• Ability to adapt quickly to changing priorities and business needs.
• Experience leading employer brand projects / talent attraction tactics would be highly beneficial.
• Strong financial services experience or a natural interest and willingness to learn.

International travel may be required based on business need.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:

• Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new.
• We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges.
• We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond.

Reasonable adjustments

We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours or hybrid working.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.

Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.

Permanent