Regional Talent Acquisition Lead

About the Role

Castrol is seeking a highly experienced and commercially minded Regional Talent Acquisition Lead - China to lead end-to-end recruitment across one of our most strategically important markets.

As the Talent Acquisition leader for China, you will be responsible for delivering hiring outcomes across Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Digital, Technology, Finance, HR and Corporate functions. You will partner closely with business leaders and People & Culture teams to develop and execute hiring strategies that support Castrol's growth ambitions while ensuring a world-class candidate and hiring manager experience.

This role combines recruitment leadership, stakeholder management, workforce planning, employer branding, talent intelligence and operational excellence. You will act as the primary TA advisor for China and play a critical role in shaping Castrol's talent agenda within the region.

Key Responsibilities

Talent Acquisition Leadership

• Lead all recruitment activity across China, ensuring delivery against hiring plans and business priorities.
• Develop and execute country-specific talent acquisition strategies aligned with Castrol's growth objectives.
• Manage requisition demand, hiring forecasts and recruitment capacity planning.
• Drive recruitment outcomes across professional, technical, leadership and niche talent segments.

Business Partnering

• Act as the trusted recruitment advisor to senior business leaders, functional leadership teams and People & Culture partners.
• Provide market intelligence, talent insights and hiring recommendations to support business decision-making.
• Challenge and influence hiring managers on talent availability, market conditions and recruitment strategy.

Recruitment Delivery

• Ensure timely delivery of hiring requirements through direct sourcing, referrals, talent pipelines, internal mobility and agency partners where required.
• Oversee recruitment lifecycle activities including workforce planning, sourcing, assessment, interviewing, offers and onboarding.
• Monitor and improve key recruitment metrics including time-to-fill, quality of hire, candidate experience and hiring manager satisfaction.

Talent Market Intelligence

• Build understanding of China's evolving talent landscape and competitor hiring activity.
• Provide insights on talent availability, compensation trends and emerging skills.
• Develop proactive talent pools for critical and hard-to-fill roles.

Vendor & Agency Management

• Govern relationships with recruitment suppliers and external search partners.
• Ensure agency usage aligns with Castrol governance and approval requirements.
• Drive cost optimization and vendor performance management.

Recruitment Governance & Compliance

• Ensure compliance with local Chinese employment regulations, data privacy requirements and recruitment policies.
• Drive consistent use of Greenhouse and recruitment processes.
• Ensure adherence to hiring governance, approvals and documentation requirements.

Employer Brand & Early Careers

• Partner with business and P&C stakeholders to strengthen Castrol's employer brand within China.
• Support university recruitment, internships, graduate programs and future talent initiatives.
• Build strategic partnerships with target universities and external talent communities.

Key Deliverables

• Delivery of annual hiring plan across China.
• Achievement of recruitment SLAs and hiring targets.
• Strong stakeholder satisfaction across P&C and business leadership teams.
• Development of diverse talent pipelines for critical roles.
• Effective management of recruitment costs and agency utilization.
• Robust recruitment governance and compliance adherence.
• Continuous improvement of recruitment processes and candidate experience.

Skills & Experience

Essential

• 10+ years of Talent Acquisition experience with significant experience leading recruitment within China.
• Experience supporting multiple business functions and senior stakeholder groups.
• Strong understanding of the China talent market and recruitment landscape.
• Proven experience leading direct sourcing and talent attraction strategies.
• Experience managing recruitment vendors and external search partners.
• Strong data-driven decision-making and reporting capability.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Ability to operate in a fast-paced, matrixed, global environment.

Preferred

• Experience within FMCG, Consumer Goods, Energy, Chemicals, Industrial or Manufacturing sectors.
• Experience working in multinational organizations.
• Experience with Greenhouse or other enterprise ATS platforms.
• Experience supporting organizational transformation and growth initiatives.
• Knowledge of employer branding and early careers recruitment.

Leadership Competencies

• Strategic Thinking
• Commercial Acumen
• Collaboration & Influencing
• Customer Focus
• Talent Advisory
• Data & Insights Orientation
• Change Leadership
• Continuous Improvement

Why Join Castrol?

This is an opportunity to shape the future of talent acquisition within one of Castrol's largest and most strategic markets. You will play a pivotal role in building high-performing teams, influencing senior leaders and helping Castrol attract the talent required to achieve its growth ambitions across China.