Executive Researcher

About The Role

Balfour Beatty is hiring an Executive Researcher to help us attract and secure top senior talent. At Balfour Beatty, our Executive Search team plays a strategic role in shaping the future of our leadership. We align external hiring with internal succession planning to ensure we attract and retain the right leaders to drive our ambitious growth and transformation agenda.

As an Executive Researcher, you will be a key player in identifying, engaging, and assessing diverse senior talent. You’ll act as a brand ambassador, market intelligence expert, and relationship builder—ensuring every candidate and stakeholder experiences a high-touch, professional process.

What you'll be doing

• Participate full briefing sessions with hiring managers to fully understand role and person specifications, appropriate target companies, skills and behaviours required etc.
• Perform exploratory/market mapping search projects in addition to defined vacancy requirements for leadership roles, using a range of sourcing channels, including both desk based and telephone research
• Leverage internal and external networks to identify best in class talent
• Creating and nurturing an engaged pool of potential and existing candidates, keeping them and the business aware of potential opportunities
• Building out talent networks across the industry and adjacent industries and providing market insight and intelligence to the business
• Participating in update meetings on active searches, providing status reports and presentations where necessary
• Conduct screening interviews
• Build positive relationships with both hiring managers and candidates by promoting our employer brand and offering outstanding candidate care throughout the selection process
• Accurately track KPI’s and analyse data to ensure continuous incremental improvement
• Create candidate briefs and support with documentation from shortlist through to offer
• Help to drive Balfour Beatty’s D&I initiatives throughout executive recruitment processes
• Diary management and administration for executive recruitment including
• scheduling interviews, arranging travel, and coordinating assessments
• Keep accurate and detailed records on ATS and CRM to build ongoing pipeline of talent
• Collaborate with the wider resourcing and HR team; work closely with the Recruitment Delivery team to provide support, expertise and sharing suitable candidates for more junior roles.
  
  

Who we're looking for

• Proven experience in executive search or senior-level recruitment, ideally within an in-house or retained search environment
• Strong research and sourcing capabilities, with a knack for uncovering hard-to-find talent
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
• Highly organised, intellectually curious, and passionate about leadership hiring
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, ATS/CRM systems, and online search tools
• Commitment to confidentiality, professionalism, and ethical recruitment practices.
  
  

Why work for us

Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK’s most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strengthens communities.

Why join us?

Benefits

As if contributing to and supporting work that makes life better for millions wasn’t rewarding enough, we offer a full range of benefits too. You’ll have the freedom to shape the package that’s right for you and your life. Here are some of our key benefits:

• Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working, where roles allow.
• 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata)
• Family friendly policies which include 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave
• Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more…
  
  

About Us

Balfour Beatty Group Enabling Functions are Legal, Finance, IT and Procurement, Communications, Health Safety and Environment, HR and Sustainability. Together, they support delivery of our Build to Last strategy whilst improving efficiencies and standardising our approach, systems and processes.

Diversity and inclusion

At Balfour Beatty we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential components of any successful, happy workplace. Through our Value Everyone Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan, we are growing our diverse workforce and developing our inclusive culture where everyone is able to thrive and reach their full potential, regardless of their identity or background. To find out how we are making this a reality, visit www.balfourbeatty.com/diversityandinclusion

To help and support us with our desired commitment to create an inclusive culture we are members of WISE, enei, Business Disability Forum and the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE). In 2020, we signed the Audeliss and Involve Open Letter to demonstrate our commitment to taking key long term and sustainable actions on Black Inclusion. Balfour Beatty is also a Gold Award holder in the Ministry of Defence 'Employer Recognition Scheme' and actively encourage applications from Armed Forces personnel, veterans and reservists.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to working with people who have disabilities and long-term health conditions to remove barriers for them in obtaining employment. We are also committed to offering applicants with a disability an interview if they meet the minimum requirements for the role. For more info, visit: https://disabilityconfident.campaign.gov.uk/

We are looking to continually improve our resourcing process and ensure that it is fair and inclusive for all. If you have any feedback on the process, please share this with us at: [email protected]