Manager - Early Career

Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the organization’s Early Career strategy and programs, creating structured development pathways that attract, develop, and retain high-potential early-career talent.

The role will oversee graduate, internship, and other early-career development initiatives from program design and selection through onboarding, development, assessment, progression, and program completion. The Manager will work closely with business leaders, HR Business Partners, Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, and external partners to ensure programs build the capabilities and future talent pipelines required by the organization.

The role will also ensure that early-career initiatives provide a high-quality participant experience while delivering measurable business and talent outcomes.

Requirements

Early Career Strategy & Program Design

- Develop and implement the Early Career strategy in alignment with the overall Talent Management and workforce strategy.
- Design structured graduate, internship, trainee, and other early-career development programs.
- Define program journeys including onboarding, rotations, formal learning, experiential development, mentoring, assessments, and career progression.
- Establish clear program governance, standards, policies, and operating procedures.
- Benchmark early-career practices and introduce improvements based on market trends and organizational requirements.
- Ensure programs create sustainable pipelines for critical and future capability areas.

Graduate & Early Career Program Management

- Manage early-career programs end to end, from workforce requirements and participant selection through development and graduation.
- Build structured development plans and learning journeys for program participants.
- Coordinate business rotations, placements, projects, mentoring, coaching, and development activities.
- Work with business leaders to identify appropriate placements and meaningful development experiences.
- Monitor participant progress and proactively address performance, engagement, or development concerns.
- Ensure smooth transitions from early-career programs into permanent roles where applicable.

Talent Assessment & Development

- Establish appropriate assessment methodologies to evaluate participant capability, performance, potential, and development.
- Facilitate talent and progress reviews for early-career populations.
- Identify high-potential participants and recommend appropriate development and career opportunities.
- Partner with Talent Management and Learning & Development teams to address capability gaps.
- Use assessment and performance data to continuously improve program design and participant outcomes.https://outlook.office365.com/owa/?ItemID=AAMkADM1YzMzMDdiLTM4NGEtNGQ5OS05YTJlLWFjYTM5MjQwNDEwYwBGAAAAAADc0WpC4OJBQZK%2fnHaYqFbGBwDQK4%2fF58bLQ7APpesOSjAEAAAAAAEMAACGxnFgCV6YR5TTbSMoNXd5AAP73JyVAAA%3d&exvsurl=1&viewmodel=ReadMessageItem

Stakeholder & Business Partnership

- Partner closely with HR Business Partners and business leaders to understand future talent and capability requirements.
- Build strong relationships with managers hosting graduates, interns, and trainees.
- Provide guidance and support to managers on developing and managing early-career talent.
- Partner with Talent Acquisition on attraction, assessment, and selection strategies.
- Collaborate with Learning & Development and Leadership Development teams to deliver high-quality development interventions.
- Manage relationships with universities, educational institutions, external providers, and development partners where required.

Participant Experience & Engagement

- Create a consistent and engaging employee experience throughout the early-career journey.
- Develop effective communication and engagement plans for participants and their managers.
- Organize development events, networking opportunities, workshops, leadership exposure, and community-building activities.
- Establish feedback mechanisms to understand participant experience and identify improvement opportunities.
- Act as an escalation point for significant participant or program issues.

Analytics, Reporting & Program Effectiveness

- Define and monitor KPIs for all Early Career programs.
- Track participant performance, retention, engagement, program completion, placement, and progression.
- Develop dashboards and reports for Talent Management and HR leadership.
- Analyze program data and participant feedback to identify trends and recommend improvements.
- Measure program effectiveness and demonstrate the contribution of Early Career initiatives to the organization's future talent pipeline.

Governance & Continuous Improvement

- Maintain appropriate governance, documentation, and controls across Early Career programs.
- Ensure participant decisions and assessments are fair, consistent, evidence-based, and properly documented.
- Manage program calendars, budgets, suppliers, and resources as required.
- Identify opportunities to digitize and automate program administration and reporting.
- Stay current on emerging practices in graduate development, skills-based talent management, AI-enabled learning, and early-career development.

Qualifications & Experience

Education

- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Psychology, Education, Learning & Development , or a related discipline.
- Master’s degree is advantageous.
- Professional qualifications such as CIPD, SHRM, HRCI , coaching, assessment, or talent development certifications are advantageous.

Experience

- Typically 8+ years of relevant HR/Talent experience , with meaningful exposure to Early Careers, Talent Management, Learning & Development, Leadership Development, or Graduate Programs.
- Demonstrated experience designing and managing structured talent or development programs.
- Experience managing graduate, internship, trainee, leadership, or early-career initiatives is strongly preferred.
- Experience partnering with senior business stakeholders and HR Business Partners.
- Experience using talent data, assessments, and participant feedback to drive decisions.
- Experience managing external vendors, universities, assessment providers, or learning partners is advantageous.