Talent Acquisition Specialist (Maternity Cover)
Date: 24 Sept 2026
Location: Leek, GB, ST13 5SP
Company: Ornua Co-operative Limited
Talent Acquisition Specialist (Maternity cover)
Job title: Talent Acquisition Specialist
Reports to: Director of Talent Acquisition
Location: This role covers both our Leek and Nantwich sites
Salary: £39,000 - £47,000 per annum depending on experience
Hours: 36.25 hours per week
Contract: Up to 12 months maternity cover
Benefits: Car allowance, Company pension scheme, generous holiday entitlement, discounted cheese and butter, subsidised staff canteen, onsite physio, global mobility opportunities
Ornua (meaning “new gold”) is Ireland’s largest exporter of Irish dairy products, proudly bringing the unique taste of Irish dairy to the world for over 55 years.
Are you a proactive, efficient and collaborative recruitment specialist looking for the challenge of taking a mission driven organisation to its next level of success?
Ornua is actively seeking a Talent Acquisition Specialist to join our global TA department as we continue our growth trajectory. This is a fantastic opportunity for somebody looking to make an impact on a temporary contract.
The Talent Acquisition Specialist will manage the sourcing of external candidates, both active and passive, for all recruitment needs across our UK sites as well as providing support for a Spanish site.
The role also will offer the opportunity to work in a global team that partners closely with hiring managers in the attraction, shortlisting and interviewing of applicants for specific positions and offers a high level of visibility and exposure within the business.
Why Ornua?
- Ornua operates as a commercial organisation from 10 business units worldwide, including 12 production facilities located in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa.
- The commercial organisation is responsible for the marketing and sales of Ornua’s consumer brands including Ireland’s most successful food export: Kerrygold.
- It also manages the procurement of Irish and non-Irish dairy products, the sale of dairy ingredients to food manufacturing and foodservice customers globally, and the implementation of de-risking and trading strategies to manage market volatility.
- Our co-operative ethos lies at the heart of how we do business as a purpose and values-led organisation, creating value for Irish dairy farming families.
- Our Values lie at the core of everything we do. Our five values encourage us to Seek and Embrace New Ideas, Make It Happen, Be Our True Selves, Show You Care, and Achieve Great Things Together.
- Dynamic Working policy in place which facilitates flexible hours and hybrid working
- We invest in our people and foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement.
- Career Progression including Global Mobility opportunities.
- Comprehensive Benefits with regional specific offerings.
Why This Role Is Valuable:
As our Talent Acquisition Specialist, you will be responsible for;
- Supporting the global talent acquisition strategy for Ornua Foods UK and Ornua Foods Solutions International to enhance our ability to attract, assess and retain the right talent for our business.
- Leading the end-to-end recruitment process including sourcing and phone screening, providing support and guidance to hiring managers on the selection of candidates through to managing the offer process.
- Supporting hiring managers with all documentation necessary to recruit efficiently including candidate profiling, interview script writing and debrief facilitation post interview.
- Ensuring a positive candidate and hiring manager experience throughout the process.
- Championing talent acquisition excellence and practices across all our business areas.
- Collaborating closely with Heads of HR and HR Business Partners to devise a range of solutions for Hiring Managers to enhance efficiencies in the recruitment process
What You Bring To The Role:
- Previous experience in recruitment ideally an in-house recruitment role
- Currently running end-to-end recruitment processes ‘in-house’ from operative to Exec level
- Managing stakeholders and their expectations
- Skilled in direct search techniques and online and social sourcing i.e. LinkedIn
- Experience of designing and conducting competency-based interviews and other selection methods
- Excellent communication skills both verbal and written
- Use and are familiar with ATS systems (knowledge of Success Factors is preferable)
- Flexibility to travel, full driving licence is required
Key skills
- Teamwork: Able to share due credit with coworkers; display enthusiasm and promote a friendly team working environment; support group decisions and solicit opinions from team members; display team spirit; supports team vision
- Accountability (Owns decisions): Keeps the consumer, customer and the company at the core of every decision; Makes robust, timely decisions and owns the result; Gives thought to the wider consequences of their actions; Is opened to reasoned challenge; Promotes a safe environment
- Relating & Networking: Establishes good relationships with customers and staff; Builds wide and effective networks of contacts inside and outside the organisation; Relates well to people at all levels; Manages conflict; Uses humour appropriately to enhance relationships with others
- Planning & Prioritising: Sets clearly defined objectives; plans activities and projects well in advance and takes account of possible changing circumstances; manages time effectively; identifies and organises resources needed to accomplish tasks; monitors performance against deadlines and milestones
Our interview process is designed to be thorough yet supportive. This process includes a first stage via Teams to allow us to get to know you better and to understand your skills and experiences and, if successful, a second stage face-to-face interview that will build upon the first stage and give you the opportunity to get a feel for Ornua and the environment in which you will be working.
Ornua has ambitious growth plans and we’re building a team to help enable and accelerate that growth. We are looking for people who share our values, are curious, forward-looking, take ownership and work together to build a future for themselves and Ornua.
Would you like to make an impact?
To learn more, please visit Ornua at www.ornua.com
Ornua values diversity and inclusion and welcomes applications from candidates with diverse backgrounds. We also strongly encourage women and other underrepresented groups in the manufacturing industry to apply. Your unique perspectives and experiences are highly valued and will be instrumental in driving our company’s continued success. Join us in shaping a more innovative, inclusive, and sustainable future.
Ornua is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible workplace. We will make every effort to provide for any reasonable accessibility needs you may have during your employment with us. If you require accommodations at any stage of the recruitment process or in your role, please let us know — we’re here to support you.
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