Director, Early Careers & Emerging Talent

Job description

Cargill is committed to providing food and agricultural solutions to nourish the world in a safe, responsible, and sustainable way. Sitting at the heart of the supply chain, we partner with farmers and customers to source, make and deliver products that are vital for living. Our 155,000 team members innovate with purpose, providing customers with life’s essentials so businesses can grow, communities prosper, and consumers live well. With over 160 years of experience as a family company, we look ahead while remaining true to our values. We put people first. We reach higher. We do the right thing—today and for generations to come. Job Purpose and Impact Location: London, UK (EC4R 9AT) Hybrid We offer a competitive salary plus comprehensive benefits package including contributory pension, private healthcare, performance related bonus and employee assistance programme. This is a permanent position. The Director, Early Careers & Emerging Talent is responsible for reimagining and refreshing Cargill’s global early careers talent acquisition strategy, delivery model, and execution across priority markets, ensuring a modern, scalable, and future-focused approach to attracting emerging talent. This highly strategic role will partner closely with enterprise, regional and functional Talent Acquisition, HR and business leaders to translate future workforce demand into scalable emerging talent pipelines, differentiated digital experiences and measurable hiring outcomes. The role will reimagine how Cargill discovers, engages, assesses and converts emerging talent through talent communities, recruitment marketing, responsible AI, automation, modern selection practices, internships, apprenticeships, graduate programs, university hiring and other emerging talent pathways. Success requires deep expertise in early careers recruiting, university relations, education and industry partnerships, recruitment technology, selection excellence, program design, data-driven decision making and global stakeholder influence. The leader must be able to operate across geographies, cultures, regulatory environments and education systems while building global consistency, regional relevance and measurable impact. You will continuously develop the strategy, capabilities, tools and partnerships needed to position Cargill as an employer of choice for early careers talent globally. This role reports to the Vice President, Global Talent Acquisition Enablement and Early Careers. Key Accountabilities Define and lead Cargill’s global early careers talent acquisition strategy, translating future workforce demand into scalable emerging talent pipelines, digitally enabled engagement models and hiring plans. Design, build and activate globally consistent early careers programs across internships, apprenticeships, graduate programs, university hiring and other emerging talent pathways. Partner with business, HR and Talent Acquisition leaders to align early careers hiring with strategic workforce planning, critical capability needs and enterprise talent priorities, ensuring programs create meaningful roles, productive experiences and clear conversion pathways rather than simply delivering hiring volume. Lead global university relations, campus engagement, school partnerships, student organizations and early talent community-building strategies across priority talent segments and markets, with an emphasis on partnerships that influence curriculum, improve work readiness and build sustainable pipelines into critical capabilities. Develop innovative attraction, sourcing, recruitment marketing and digital experience strategies that strengthen Cargill’s early careers employer brand, activate talent communities and improve diverse pipeline quality. Own the operating model, governance, standards and processes for global early careers recruiting, ensuring consistent candidate, hiring manager and stakeholder experiences. Drive measurable improvements in early careers hiring outcomes, including pipeline conversion, quality of hire, diversity representation, time to productivity, retention, offer acceptance, process governance and program effectiveness. Partner with Talent Acquisition Enablement, HR Analytics and technology teams to build dashboards, insights, automation, responsible AI-enabled capabilities and reporting that inform decisions, improve candidate and stakeholder experiences and demonstrate business impact. Lead and develop a high performing global early careers talent acquisition team, building capability in advisory skills, sourcing, selection, program management and stakeholder influence. Create and manage strategic partnerships with universities, education providers, vendors, platforms and industry organizations that support early careers attraction, assessment, engagement, work readiness, curriculum alignment and hiring delivery. Champion inclusive hiring practices and equitable access to early careers opportunities across geographies, talent communities and education systems in partnership with inclusive hiring. Other duties as assigned. Qualifications Minimum Qualifications Demonstrated experience within high-performing talent acquisition teams, preferably with significant early careers, university relations or emerging talent scope. Confirmed supervisory or people leadership experience. Confirmed experience leading global or multi-region talent acquisition strategy, with strong exposure to early careers, university recruiting, emerging talent or program-based hiring. Experience developing talent pipelines, recruitment marketing approaches, campus strategies and attraction methods for early careers talent segments. Experience using recruiting technology, assessment tools, CRM platforms, applicant tracking systems and analytics to improve hiring outcomes and candidate experience. Preferred Qualifications Proven ability to build, engage and develop high-performing global or regional teams. Proven track record designing and scaling early careers strategies, programs and hiring models across multiple countries, functions or business groups. Strong understanding of university ecosystems, student engagement, internship and graduate hiring models, school partnerships and emerging talent market trends. Excellent communication, relationship-building and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders, HR partners, hiring managers and external partners. Experience leading transformation or standardization of talent acquisition processes, programs, technology or operating models in a complex global environment. Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, with experience building inclusive access pathways and diverse early careers pipelines. Experience with applicant tracking systems, CRM tools, recruitment marketing platforms, assessment tools and other HR technology solutions (including AI). Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic global environment and adapt quickly to changing business priorities, market conditions and stakeholder needs. Adept at leveraging data, KPIs and insights to measure performance, tell a compelling story, identify opportunities and drive continuous improvement. Equal Opportunity Employer, including Disability/Vet.