Job Description

The Talent Solutions Operations Manager is responsible for the overall strategy, operational performance, client delivery, people leadership, and financial performance of a talent solutions business.

The role will lead the development and execution of scalable talent acquisition operating models, ensuring strong delivery performance, client satisfaction, operational efficiency, and sustainable profitability. The successful candidate will combine strong Talent Acquisition Operations expertise with commercial and business leadership capability.

Key Responsibilities

Business Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and execute the business unit's strategic and operating plans in alignment with organizational objectives.
• Translate business and client requirements into effective, scalable talent acquisition strategies and operating models.
• Identify opportunities to improve business performance, expand service capabilities, and support sustainable growth.
• Establish business priorities, operating standards, KPIs, and performance targets.
• Provide strategic direction and leadership across talent acquisition operations and service delivery.
• Monitor market trends, talent acquisition practices, technology, and competitive developments to continuously improve the business proposition.

Talent Acquisition Operations

• Lead end-to-end talent acquisition operations across RPO and/or outsourced recruitment programs.
• Oversee recruitment delivery, sourcing, screening, interview coordination, offer management, onboarding, and related recruitment processes.
• Ensure delivery against agreed SLAs, KPIs, hiring targets, quality standards, and client commitments.
• Develop workforce and capacity plans aligned with client hiring volumes and business requirements.
• Monitor recruitment funnels, productivity, time-to-fill, quality, conversion rates, and other operational metrics.
• Identify operational bottlenecks and implement corrective actions to improve recruitment efficiency and outcomes.
• Establish standardized processes, governance frameworks, and best practices across recruitment operations.
• Ensure effective use of ATS, CRM, recruitment analytics, sourcing tools, automation, and other recruitment technologies.

Client & Stakeholder Management

• Build and maintain strong relationships with key client and internal stakeholders.
• Act as a senior escalation point for operational and service-related matters.
• Lead regular performance and business reviews, providing insights, recommendations, and improvement plans.
• Ensure consistent delivery against contractual commitments and agreed service standards.
• Proactively identify client needs and opportunities to enhance or expand services.
• Partner with clients to understand workforce plans, talent challenges, and evolving recruitment requirements.
• Drive high levels of client satisfaction, retention, and service quality.

P&L & Commercial Management

• Own the financial performance of the business unit, including revenue, costs, margins, profitability, and P&L performance
• Develop and manage budgets, forecasts, financial targets, and resource plans.
• Monitor financial performance against budget and identify opportunities for margin improvement.
• Ensure recruitment resources are aligned with business volumes and commercial requirements.
• Drive cost efficiency and productivity while maintaining service quality.
• Support commercial proposals, pricing, contract discussions, renewals, and account expansion opportunities.
• Provide leadership with accurate financial and operational reporting and recommendations.

People Leadership

• Lead, coach, and develop recruitment and talent operations teams.
• Establish clear objectives, KPIs, productivity expectations, and accountability mechanisms.
• Build a high-performance culture focused on delivery excellence, client service, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Identify capability gaps and develop appropriate training and development plans.
• Support succession planning and development of future leaders.
• Ensure the organizational structure and resource model are appropriate for current and future business requirements.
• Drive employee engagement, retention, and performance across the business unit.

Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Continuously evaluate and improve recruitment processes, workflows, and operating models.
• Identify opportunities to increase productivity, reduce cost, improve speed-to-hire, and enhance candidate and client experience.
• Lead continuous improvement and transformation initiatives across talent operations.
• Leverage data and analytics to identify trends, diagnose performance issues, and improve decision-making.
• Drive appropriate automation and technology adoption across recruitment operations.

Governance Reporting & Risk Management

• Establish appropriate governance and performance management frameworks across talent acquisition operations.
• Develop dashboards and reports covering operational, financial, client, and people metrics.
• Provide regular performance updates to senior leadership.
• Identify and manage operational, commercial, contractual, and delivery risks.
• Ensure compliance with company policies, client requirements, contractual obligations, and applicable employment and data privacy regulations.

Required Experience

• Bachelor's degree in HR, Business, Management, or a related field.
• 8–12+ years of experience in Talent Acquisition, Recruitment Operations, RPO, staffing, or talent solutions.
• Proven experience managing RPO or large-scale recruitment operations.
• Experience leading recruitment teams and managing KPIs, SLAs, hiring targets, and workforce planning.
• Strong experience managing clients and senior stakeholders.
• Commercial experience, including budgets, costs, revenue, margins, and/or P&L.
• Experience improving recruitment processes, productivity, and operational performance.
• Strong understanding of recruitment operations, sourcing, workforce planning, and recruitment technology.