Early Careers and Talent Advisor

Team / Directorate: Recruitment and Resourcing Team

Starting salary:  £41,132 rising to £44,988  per annum through annual increments being paid each year (pro rata for part time applicants)

Contract type: Permanent

Work pattern: Full time, 37 hours per week
(Part time, annualised hours, compressed hours or term time working considered - discussions at interview stage welcome)

Interview date: 02/07/2025

Post number: 203942

The role

As the Early Careers and Talent Advisor at Natural Resources Wales, you will play a key role in shaping and delivering our ambitious early careers strategy, aligned with our resourcing action plan. This specialist position offers the opportunity to lead the development of policies, tools and initiatives that establish NRW as an employer of choice, while helping to attract, develop and retain emerging talent.

You will work closely with the Strategic Resourcing Management Team Leader and stakeholders across the organisation to design and implement graduate, undergraduate, industrial placement and  apprenticeship programmes. Building strong partnerships with schools, colleges and universities, you will provide strategic guidance and support to managers hosting placements, ensuring a positive and rewarding experience.

With oversight of the full recruitment lifecycle for early careers and a contribution to our wider People Transformation Programme, this is a pivotal role for someone passionate about nurturing future talent and fostering a culture of continuous learning and development.

As an organisation we support flexible working. You will be contracted to the nearest NRW office to your home and a suitable hybrid working pattern will be agreed on appointment. Any regular face to face meetings or training will be planned in advance.

To make an informal enquiry about this role, please contact joseph.smith@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk.   

Interviews will take place through Microsoft Teams on 02/07/2025.

Successful external applicants will be subject to a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service Check (DBS) check. We aim to make offers of appointment within 4 to 8 weeks of the closing date.

 

What you will do

• You will work closely with the Strategic Resourcing Management Team Leader to implement an early careers strategy, this includes graduate, undergraduate, year in industry placements,  apprenticeship programmes.
• You will work with all parts of the organisation to help identify early careers opportunities, coaching and advising the different areas to develop their own talent through strategic guidance and input, offering support to managers and teams who are hosting placements to achieve a positive and rewarding experience
• You will develop and maintain effective relationships with key contacts at schools, colleges and universities.
• You will support and advise on the review of our placement / early careers policy.
• You will develop opportunities and systems that enable us to ‘know, grow and flow talent’ within Natural Resources Wales. This may include seeking opportunities for colleagues to re-skill/up-skill. You will help us create a culture of ongoing learning where our employees grow and thrive.
• You will support the administration of our work experience and placement student programmes.
• You will develop compelling job adverts, support the facilitation of the assessment centres and provide administrational support the for onboarding process.
• You will provide specialist professional, project management and delivery expertise.
• You will liaise with external stakeholders including, sector representatives and partners to ensure the timely and effective delivery of project, policy or strategy obligations.
• You will support your colleagues in the Strategic Resourcing Management Team and contribute to the delivery of our ambitious People Transformation Program.
• You will proactively role model NRW’s values and behaviours to promote and achieve effective working relationships across the organisation.
• Undertake health and safety duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post
• Be committed to Natural Resources Wales Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy, together with an understanding of how it operates within the responsibilities of the post
• Be committed to your own development the effective use of your personal development plan (known as Sgwrs).
• Any other reasonable duties requested commensurate with the grade of this role.

Your qualifications, experience, knowledge and skills

In your application and interview you will be asked to demonstrate the following skills and experience using the STAR method.

1. A degree or relevant evidenced experience in a related subject or field.
2. Experience of developing and delivering early careers opportunities and project management 
3. Experience of supporting, managing or delivering placement schemes.
4. Experience of supporting managers with the delivery of placement schemes 
5. Experience of supporting or mentoring people.
6. Experience developing policies and procedures in an early careers context 
7. Excellent negotiating and influencing skills at all levels, combined with outstanding communication and inter-personal skills with a strong customer focus.

 

Welsh language level requirements

• Essential: Level A1 - Entry level (able to use and understand simple, basic phrases and greetings, no conversational Welsh) 
• Desirable: Level C2 - Higher proficiency level (fluent in both spoken and written Welsh)

Please note if you do not meet the A1 requirement i.e., ability to understand basic phrases and ability to pronounce Welsh names correctly, then NRW offers a variety of learning options and staff support to help you meet these minimal requirements during the course of your employment with us.

Benefits 

This role will offer a range of benefits, including:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme offering employer contributions of 28.97% (successful internal staff will remain in their current pension scheme)
• 28 days annual leave, rising to 33 days
• generous leave entitlements for all your life needs
• commitment to professional development
• health and wellbeing benefits and support
• weekly wellbeing hour to use as you choose

See full details for all the employee benefits you will receive.

Please keep reading

We’re passionate about creating a diverse workforce and positively encourage applications from under-represented communities. We embrace equality of opportunity irrespective of disability, neurodivergence, ethnic origin, colour, nationality, gender expression and gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, culture, or religion.   We put the principles of human rights, equality, fairness, dignity and respect at the heart of our values.

We are committed to equal opportunities and we guarantee interviews for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

We want to attract and retain talented and highly skilled staff, so we make sure that our pay scales remain competitive. We advertise the full pay scale on our job descriptions. Appointed candidates start at the first point of the pay scale and annual increments are paid each year.

We want our staff to grow professionally and personally. From leadership development to access to further and higher education courses, our staff have opportunities to expand their knowledge on variety of topics, stay current in their field and continue to learn as their career progresses.  

We are a Bilingual organisation which complies with the Welsh Language Standards.  Welsh language skills are considered an asset to NRW, and we encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills. 

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