Job description:

We are Wolves. Progressive, determined, bright, unified and humble. A pack that is hungry for success. Wolves is one of the fastest growing professional football clubs in the UK, and also boasts one of the richest histories in the beautiful game.

Formed in 1877, Wolves was a founder member of the Football League, and was one of the country’s most successful sides in the fifties and sixties. During a two decade spell the Black Country’s most decorated side won three First Division titles and one of its four FA Cups.

Fast forward 70 years and Wolves are back among football’s European elite, but this time we will compete as a sports and entertainment business across multiple brand verticals. As a challenger club, Wolves dare to be different, which is why creating world class propositions in esports, fashion and music are all part of our ambitious plans.

At Wolves, we don’t simply look to the future, we seize it.

We take seriously our commitment to the safeguarding of children and adults at risk and to ensuring that Wolves is free from discrimination and harassment.

Job purpose

To manage the end-to-end recruitment and onboarding process at the club by supporting the club’s hiring managers to attract the best talent to Wolves, in order to help the football club grow and progress. 

This role will be responsible for managing the safer and inclusive recruitment process for all workers Wolves hires including employees, consultants, bursary placement students and casuals and working closely with the HR team to ensure the experience for candidates is positive and meaningful.

This will include arranging interviews and owning the recruitment lifecycle from recruitment authorisation, offer process until the new recruit is onboarded with the club.  The role will involve administration and governance, as well as the accurate maintenance of HR and Payroll data. 

This role will provide a fantastic opportunity to someone with strong organisational and communicative capabilities who can apply those skills to a sporting environment.

There is a requirement for this person to travel regularly between the campuses so own car and clean driving licence is essential.

Key responsibilities

• Recruitment – role model for best practice in recruitment standards.
• Managing the recruitment campaign process with managers from the planning, role approval, advertising, sifting, shortlisting, interviewing, selection/offer, declines and onboarding stages.
• Writing and editing job descriptions, ensuring these are on the correct template and written to a high standard of spelling, grammar and punctuation.
• Listing job vacancies for advert, monitoring applications, maintaining the Monday.com boards, liaising with hiring managers, releasing applications, arranging interviews, giving feedback.
• Overseeing the Jobs@wolves.co.uk mailbox and managing all candidate communications.
• Thoroughly sifting applications on behalf of managers, flagging any HR queries to the HR Managers.
• Working with managers to create interview questions and interview proformas before interviews in good time.
• New starters onboarding – preparing and issuing offers and contracts, ensuring new starter paperwork is returned, obtaining references, right to work and DBS documents.  Ensuring all relevant paperwork is submitted to payroll in time for payroll cut off to ensure new starters are paid on time.
• Responsibility for ensuring Right to Work is collected for all workers, including attending Steward inductions (which are conducted up to approx. 4 times a year evenings and weekends) to collect and document these, which may be on an evening or weekend.  Conduct Right to Work checks for overseas workers obtaining the relevant gov.uk share code information. 
• Supporting HR Director where visa sponsorship applies. 
• Requesting the relevant IT equipment and access identification to ensure new starters are set up correctly for when they start.
• Managing the club’s referencing provider account to ensure they are meeting the club referencing standards and completing accurate pre-employment reference checks. 
• Supporting the relationship with the club’s DBS provider and maintaining a high level of knowledge on internal DBS processes.  Completing overseas DBS checks for staff when needed. 
• Working in conjunction with the EDI Manager to complete the FA’s Football Leadership Diversity Code reporting on an annual basis.
• Maintenance of the Academy SRS board for academy new starters, this is essential for maintaining Premier League EPPP safe to operate standard to maintain academy Cat 1 status.  
• To develop and improve the departmental processes where relevant, which will include the future implementation of an ATS system and training rollout to managers.   
• Management and delivery of the club induction to new starters. 
• Being the main point of contact for apprenticeships and management of the apprenticeship portal.
• Being the main point of contact with all existing and partner universities including the creation of placement agreements where needed.
• Role model for the Wolves Spirit Values of Progressive, Determined, Bright, Unity and Humble.

General responsibilities

• Compliance with Club policies
• Compliance with the Club’s health and safety procedures
• Compliance with the Club’s safeguarding policies
• To promote the Club’s values
• To work consistently to embed equality & diversity into the Club
• To undertake such other duties as may be reasonably expected
• To maintain professional conduct at all times

Key relationships

• Human Resources Director
• Human Resources Managers
• EDI Manager
• Payroll Team
• Hiring Managers
• Senior Leadership Team
• New Starters
• Complex and varied workforce
• Partners – university / apprenticeship / career fair etc.

Person Specification

Knowledge: the level and breadth of knowledge to do the job e.g. understanding of a defined system, method or procedure, legal or regulatory frameworks etc

Essential

• Specialist in this field, able to advise peers and managers and represent Wolves in live project groups such as EDI Working Group
• Knowledge and appreciation of the importance of confidentiality in this role
• A general understanding of organisational structures and reporting lines
• Knowledge and understanding of HR policies and practices gained from working in an HR environment
• Knowledge of the Equality Act (2010) and Unconscious Bias in recruitment processes and experience in managing this
• Familiar with how to use Linked In and other job board posting sites to their full capacity at low cost
• Knowledge of Right to Work UK to check eligibility of worker
• A general understanding of employment terms and conditions and employment rights and practices
• GDPR for workers and candidates

Desirable

• DBS processing
• Knowledge of the history of Wolves
• Knowledge of IR35 legislation

Technical/work-based skills: skills specific to the job e.g. language competence, typing skills, coaching skills etc

Essential

• A minimum requirement of Advanced level working knowledge of Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint
• High level of written English
• Ability to process HR data at speed whilst maintaining 100% accuracy
• Ability to give feedback to candidates in a sensitive and constructive manner
• Comfortable putting together accurate MI data
• Ability to work with managers to compile suitable interview questions
• Ability to cost up a budget

Desirable

• Sharepoint
• Apprenticeship Levy Portal
• Monday.com
• X-Ref – or alternative previous referencing provider
• Safety Media e-Learning
• Team Spirit Payroll
• Ability to run Mail Merge

General skills and attributes: more general characteristics e.g. flexibility, communication skills, team working etc

Essential

• Promoter and implementer of the Club’s Equality Policy, working consistently to embed equality, diversity & inclusion into the Club
• A proactive approach and the ability to work under pressure, whilst maintaining high attention to detail is required due to the fast paced, demanding nature of the role
• Strong communicator with a desire to help club colleagues
• Customer-focussed approach to support the needs of the managers with recruitment
• Excellent attention to detail with a high standard of spelling and grammar
• Ability to take the initiative, self-motivating and able to see tasks to completion
• High level of numeracy and literacy
• Ability to prioritise tasks and communicate rapidly when changes are afoot
• Conscientious and motivated with high level of personal initiative

Experience: proven record of experience in a particular field, profession or specialism.

Essential

• Significant recruitment process experience
• Previous experience as a recruitment advisor and / or HR administrator
• Proven positive stakeholder management
• Experience of interviewing both in person and over Microsoft Teams
• Accurate administration capability including speedy data inputting
• Experience of working in a fast-paced environment
• Experience of dealing with enquiries and resolving problems
• Experience of giving sound advice to managers
• Diary management experience

Desirable

• Working in a professional sporting environment

Qualifications: the level of educational, professional and/or occupational training required

Essential

• Educated to A-level or equivalent, GCSE grades B and above in English and Maths (we will seek proof of qualifications)

Desirable

• Recruitment – specific qualification
• Certificate in HR Practice / Certificate in Personnel Practice
• CIPD qualification or working towards
• Degree or equivalent