Talent Acquisition Specialist

The Talent Acquisition Specialist (TAS) plays a critical role in driving SolarAfrica's hiring strategy by proactively headhunting and securing top talent across specialised, technical, and business roles. This position drives the full recruitment lifecycle, from sourcing and engagement to onboarding coordination, talent assessment, and continuous improvement of hiring practices.

Position of the job in the Company:

The TAS will report directly to the Chief People Officer.

Principal responsibilities:

1. Manage Talent Identification & Headhunting:

2. Proactively source and engage top talent through direct headhunting, LinkedIn

3. Recruiter, Boolean search, referrals, and talent mapping.
4. Build and maintain robust candidate pipelines for current and future business needs.
5. Partner with hiring managers to understand role requirements, critical skills, and cultural fit.

6. Drive market mapping and strategic sourcing initiatives to stay ahead of hiring needs.

7. Recruitment Process Ownership

8. Manage the end-to-end recruitment process from role briefing to offer acceptance.

9. Draft job descriptions, place adverts, manage candidate communication, and ensure a high-touch candidate experience.
10. Ensure processes are fair, consistent, and aligned with compliance standards.

11. Partner with People Ops to ensure accurate offers and contracts.

12. Onboarding Coordination & Management:

13. Coordinate onboarding logistics to ensure a seamless new joiner experience.

14. Collaborate with People Ops to deliver onboarding sessions.

15. Gather feedback to continuously improve onboarding.

16. Talent Assessment & Evaluation:

17. Manage structured interview processes, including technical and cultural interviews.

18. Coordinate candidate assessments and verification processes.

19. Partner with managers to evaluate candidate quality and hiring outcomes.

20. Continuous Improvement & Market Insights:

21. Track and report on key recruitment metrics (time-to-hire, cost savings, quality of hire).

22. Analyse market insights, salary benchmarks, and sourcing trends.

23. Recommend and implement improvements to enhance efficiency and experience.

24. Any other job duties associated with this role.

Experience & Skills

• 3–5 years' experience in recruitment or talent acquisition, ideally within renewable energy, technical, or engineering industries.
• Proven track record in headhunting, including leadership/C-suite roles.
• Experience managing the full recruitment lifecycle and onboarding processes.
• Familiarity with compliance and best practices in recruitment.

Attributes

• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
• Highly proactive, target-driven, and detail-oriented.
• Comfortable managing multiple roles simultaneously.
• Skilled in using ATS systems (e.g., BambooHR, LinkedIn Recruiter).
• Passion for creating a positive candidate and manager experience.

Desirable

• Experience recruiting in the renewable energy, engineering, or infrastructure sectors.

What Does Success Look Like?

By Month 3:

• You are fully up to speed on our recruitment processes, ATS (BambooHR), and sourcing tools.
• You've successfully run end-to-end recruitment for at least one role, including sourcing, interviewing, and offer coordination.
• You've begun building strong talent pipelines for critical and hard-to-fill positions.
• You have established effective working relationships with hiring managers and People Ops.

By Month 6:

• You are confidently managing multiple vacancies simultaneously and consistently meeting a time-to-hire of 30 days.
• You've demonstrated strong headhunting capability by sourcing quality candidates directly for both technical and senior roles, including leadership positions where required.
• Hiring managers view you as a trusted recruitment partner, and your pipelines reflect top talent.
• You're actively improving candidate experience through clear communication, structured assessments, and cultural fit evaluation.

By Month 12:

• You are driving talent acquisition strategy proactively, anticipating business needs, advising managers, and continuously improving processes.
• You've contributed to measurable cost savings in recruitment fees through effective direct sourcing and pipeline building.
• You've implemented market insights and recruitment data to support strategic workforce planning.
• You are seen as a subject matter expert in talent acquisition, consistently attracting and hiring high-calibre talent aligned with SolarAfrica's culture and values.
• Your work directly impacts the company's ability to scale through high-quality, timely hires across all levels, including critical leadership roles.

Core Values:

We hire, reward, and recognise our team against these values. It is imperative that you believe in these values and demonstrate them consistently.

• We are passionate and proud of what we do.
• We communicate candidly, especially when it is difficult.
• We take the initiative, share our mistakes, and grow together.
• We are dependable and take accountability.
• No one person is bigger than the solution - no egos.