WaterAid UK Talent Acquisition Advisor

Contract: Permanent, Full-time

Location: The role can be based in Rwanda, Ghana, Ethiopia or Kenya, or in other African countries where WaterAid is registered, subject to the right to work in the respective country.

Internal staff based across WaterAid Africa and South Asia regions can apply from any location where WaterAid has a presence.

Salary: Salaries and benefits for different countries will vary in line with the location of the successful candidate and depending on experience. See further details below: 

• Kanya: KES 4,440,00 – KES 5,772,000 per annum with excellent benefits
• Rwanda:  RWF 25,837,800 – RWF 33,690,445 per annum with excellent benefits
• Ethiopia: ETB 2,328,363 – ETB 3,445,177 per annum with excellent benefit

Change starts with water. Change starts with you.

Every day, millions of people live without clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. WaterAid exists to change that – for everyone, everywhere. Join us, and your energy will help unlock people’s potential and create a fairer future.

About WaterAid

We’re a global federation driven by one vision: a world where everyone, everywhere has clean water, sanitation and hygiene by 2030. Powered by our values of Respect, Accountability, Courage, Collaboration, Integrity and Innovation, we work alongside communities, partners and supporters to make change happen.

About the team

The Talent Acquisition team is a central specialist function supporting recruitment across WaterAid UK Directorates, Country Programmes and Federation Member Countries, including Global Policy and Campaigns, International Programmes, Finance & IT, People, the CEO Office, WAi, Canada and India. The team leads the delivery of strategic talent acquisition, ensuring WaterAid attracts, identifies and appoints the right skills, in the right place, at the right time to achieve our mission.

About the role

Working in partnership with hiring managers, People colleagues, and stakeholders across the wider federation, the Talent Acquisition Advisor oversees the end-to-end recruitment journey for UK-based hiring, including attraction, advertising, candidate management, pre-employment screening, and onboarding. The role also provides expert advice and guidance on recruitment best practice, inclusive hiring, and capability building, supporting managers to make confident and informed hiring decisions.

Alongside UK recruitment delivery, the role acts as a key Talent Acquisition partner to Country Programmes, leading sourcing activity for specialist and hard-to-fill roles, developing sustainable talent pipelines, providing expert support on recruitment processes and systems and building capability within country, in line with local regulations. As a Workable super-user and trusted adviser, the postholder champions continuous improvement, drives adoption of best practice, and supports hiring managers across WaterAid UK and the wider federation to deliver an outstanding candidate experience and successful hiring outcomes.

In this role, you will;

WaterAid UK Operational Recruitment Support

• Provide high-quality Talent Acquisition support to deliver a consistent, positive candidate and hiring manager experience across WaterAid UK.
• Guide and support hiring managers through the recruitment process, including role profiles, advertising, candidate management and selection approaches.
• Own the end-to-end candidate journey for UK recruitment, from attraction and advertising through to onboarding.
• Maintain recruitment trackers, databases, reporting information and recruitment records, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
• Manage the job description library, ensuring role profiles are current and accessible.
• Prepare and issue offers, contracts and recruitment documentation.
• Conduct and oversee all pre-employment and safer recruitment checks, including references, DBS/criminal record checks, right-to-work verification and other required clearances.

Country Programme Talent Acquisition Advisory & Sourcing Support

• Act as a key Talent Acquisition contact for Country Programmes, Regional Hubs and People Teams.
• Proactively support the Talent Acquisition Partner to source for niche, specialist and hard-to-fill Country Programme roles using direct sourcing, talent mapping and networking approaches.
• Build and maintain internal and external talent pools for Country Programme and fixed-term project roles.
• Maintain accurate talent-pool records, including skills, experience, availability, employment history and pre-employment screening status.
• Partner with Regional and Local People Teams to understand workforce requirements and develop talent pipelines for current and future vacancies.
• Act as a Workable super-user, supporting system configuration, automation, optimisation, troubleshooting and adoption across Country Programmes and WaterAid UK.
• Support the rollout, implementation and continuous improvement of Workable functionality, including AI-enabled features.

Requirements

To be successful, you will need:

Essential skills and experience

• Proven experience of owning the end-to-end recruitment process from job briefing through to onboarding of new starters.
• Experience of using data for accurate tracking, reporting, and management information.
• Knowledge and experience of inclusive hiring practices.
• Experience using LinkedIn Recruiter to source for hard to fill/niche talent, especially in Africa and/or South Asia.
• Understanding of HR legislation, GDPR, and Talent Acquisition best practice.
• Experience of providing recruitment advice and guidance to hiring managers, supporting effective and informed hiring decisions.
• Ability to work at pace, managing a high volume of work while maintaining attention to detail.
• Experience of managing the candidate journey and delivering a positive experience from candidate to colleague.
• Excellent use of recruitment systems and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

Behavioural Qualities

• Builds credible stakeholder relationships that inspire trust and confidence.
• Confident in engaging proactively and professionally with internal stakeholders and external candidates.
• Demonstrates the ability to connect with others and build trust through effective verbal and written communication.
• Proactive completer-finisher who takes ownership and acts on their initiative.

Although not essential, we’d prefer you to have:

• French language skills are desirable and would be beneficial in supporting collaboration across our global network. We would be particularly interested in candidates with French language proficiency.
• Experience of supporting or participating in the implementation, configuration, or optimisation of recruitment systems or Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).
• Experience of working with, supporting, or living in a Country Programme or international development context.

View the full job description here

Closing date: Applications close at 12:00 PM UK time on 25 November 2026. Interviews are expected to take place the week commencing 1 December 2026.

How to apply: Click Apply to answer the pre-screening questions and upload your CV and cover letter only.

Can I use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in my application? At WaterAid, we strongly advise against using AI technology at any stage of the recruitment process. Our goal is to ensure a fair and transparent process that provides every applicant with an equal opportunity to succeed. We value hearing about your unique experiences and perspectives in your application, and, if shortlisted, during the interview as well.

Pre‑employment screening: To apply for this role, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the respective country. All pre-employment checks will be carried out according to local law and WaterAid’s Safer Recruitment policy.

Benefits

As a global organisation, WaterAid is committed to creating an environment where you can thrive and be yourself at your very best. Alongside our inspiring mission and meaningful work, we offer a range of benefits tailored to each country’s context and policies. These will be shared during the process

Our Global Commitment

Our People Promise

We will work with passion and focus to make sure everyone everywhere has clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. WaterAid is a place of purpose – where people have a real commitment and shared responsibility for the impact we have. We are a global community with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, motivated by inspiring, stimulating work. We are determined to be a place where people feel safe and able to contribute their voice and truly live our values.

Equal Opportunities

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, beliefs, customs, traditions, ways of life and status. This includes, but is not limited to, race, ethnicity, caste, colour, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability status, neurodiversity, age, marital and family status, sexual orientation and gender identity, health status, place of residence, economic and social situation.

Safeguarding

We are committed to protecting everyone we come into contact with. We have a zero- tolerance approach to abuse of power, privilege or trust across our global work, and to any form of inappropriate behaviour, discrimination, abuse, bullying, harassment, or exploitation. Safeguarding the people and communities we work with, our staff, volunteers and anyone working on our behalf is our top priority, and we take our responsibilities extremely seriously. All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks (which can include counterterrorism, safeguarding and criminal records checks).

Together, we’ll change the world through water.

Join us and be part of the change!