Recruitment Officer

For every journey, let’s take first steps together.

At First Steps Together, we believe exceptional services begin with exceptional people.

We are a growing group providing specialist education and care services, supporting children, young people and adults with a range of additional and complex needs. Across the Group, our teams work together to create safe, supportive and aspirational environments where the people we support can achieve positive outcomes.

As First Steps Together continues to grow, we are looking for an exceptional Recruitment Officer to join our People Services team and help us find, attract and appoint the people who make that possible.

This is much more than recruitment administration.

Reporting to our Recruitment & Compliance Lead, you will coordinate recruitment activity across the Group, working closely with hiring managers to deliver an efficient, professional and engaging recruitment journey from vacancy through to appointment.

You’ll play a particularly important role in safer recruitment and pre-employment compliance, helping ensure that every person joining First Steps Together has been recruited safely and that the right checks are completed before they start.

What you’ll be doing

You’ll coordinate recruitment campaigns across First Steps Together advertising vacancies, managing recruitment platforms, monitoring applications, supporting candidate screening, arranging interviews and keeping candidates informed throughout their recruitment journey.

You’ll take ownership of coordinating pre-employment and safer recruitment checks, including Enhanced DBS applications, Right to Work and identity checks, references, qualification and professional registration checks, overseas criminal record checks and online searches where required.

Candidate experience will be at the heart of the role. From someone’s first interaction with First Steps Together through to their first day with us, you’ll help ensure they receive a responsive, welcoming and professional experience.

You’ll also support onboarding, prepare recruitment and new starter documentation, maintain accurate and audit-ready records, and work with colleagues across People Services to make sure new starters are ready to join the organisation.

And because First Steps Together is growing, you’ll have the opportunity to help us continually improve how we recruit supporting recruitment marketing and social media campaigns, attending recruitment events, developing relationships with colleges and universities, strengthening our employer brand and helping us increase direct recruitment and reduce reliance on agencies.

Bring your difference

We’re looking for someone who understands recruitment and, most importantly, understands that every appointment matters.

You’ll have experience working within recruitment or HR administration, with the organisation and attention to detail needed to manage multiple vacancies, candidates and pre-employment checks at the same time.

You’ll be confident building relationships with candidates and hiring managers, communicating professionally and keeping people informed. You’ll be comfortable using recruitment or HR systems, maintaining confidential records and working to deadlines without compromising accuracy or compliance.

Experience recruiting within education, children’s social care or healthcare would be particularly valuable, as would knowledge of safer recruitment and KCSIE, experience completing DBS applications and experience using an Applicant Tracking System.

We’re looking for someone who is proactive, organised and accountable; someone who takes pride in getting the detail right, provides an excellent service and looks for ways to make recruitment simpler, faster and better.

Above all, you’ll understand the important part recruitment plays in safeguarding. Finding great people matters but making sure we recruit them safely matters just as much.

Why First Steps Together?

This is an opportunity to join First Steps Together at an exciting stage of our growth.

You won’t simply process vacancies. You’ll help shape how we attract and recruit our people.

You’ll work alongside colleagues across People Services and managers throughout a growing organisation, with opportunities to develop your recruitment experience, contribute ideas and improve the candidate journey.

You’ll have the opportunity to see the direct impact of your work too helping schools, homes and services build the teams they need to provide exceptional support every day.

If you’re an organised and ambitious recruitment professional who believes recruitment should be people-focused, responsive and uncompromising when it comes to safer recruitment, we’d love to hear from you.

Bring your difference. Take your next step with First Steps Together.

Safeguarding

First Steps Together is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Appointment to this role will be subject to appropriate safer recruitment and pre-employment checks, including an Enhanced DBS, satisfactory references, online checks and overseas police checks where required.

Application

If you would like to arrange an informal discussion about the role with our Head of People Services, please contact us by emailing, recruitment@fstmanagement.uk.

Completed application forms (attached below) must be sent to recruitment@fstmanagement.uk prior to the application closing date.

We reserve the right to close applications earlier should be receive a number of suitable applications which meet the essential criteria. We will not accept CVs in place of completed application forms.