Talent Acquisition, Early Careers & Recruitment Events Manager - South Africa

The Early Careers & Recruitment Events Manager, Talent Acquisition, is responsible for building and nurturing a solid pipeline for early career roles.

This role is part of the EMEA Talent Acquisition team, reporting to the Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition.

The role works closely with partners across EMEA Talent Acquisition Hub Team, HR Data & Analytics, property HR teams, local HR teams, and a range of external stakeholders, including educational institutions and youth employment partners. It represents Marriott International across the region in attracting early career talent for Internships, Apprenticeships, Voyage Graduate Leadership Development Program and direct entry roles.  The Early Careers & Recruitment Events Manager role is responsible for delivering impactful recruitment events that strengthen talent pipelines, accelerate hiring outcomes, and support the successful filling of critical roles across the region.

Scope

Stakeholder Engagement (Hotels)

• Develop an understanding of our brands and local hotel portfolio to confidently promote opportunities to early career talent and align candidates with roles.
• Establish relationships with ADHRs, Hotel HR leaders, Hiring Managers at a country level to understand their recruitment needs and champion youth programs within the country
• Develop an understanding of localisation initiatives and initiate a tailored outreach plan to attract talent
• Drive Early Careers Program needs (Internships, Apprenticeships, Voyage) across hotels, facilitating group information sessions and tailored one-to-one‑to‑one discussions with hotel leadership where appropriate.
• Develop insight and remain updated on local labor market trends and competitor practices in market trends and competitor practices in ‑market trends and competitor practices in early‑career recruitment.
• Collaborate with EMEA Youth Champion Programs, partnering with Hotels and Next Gen representatives to increase reach and engagement within local country level schools and NGOs.

Stakeholder Engagement (Partners)

• Create a concise database of educational institutions and partners
• Build solid relationships, nurture and actively engage with educational institutions and partners 
• Leading timely engagement with partner institutions including career fairs, exclusive Marriott on Campus Days, Property Site Inspections
• Deliver engaging and impactful presentations on career opportunities at Marriott International to inspire and attract early careers talent
• Coach, guide and mentor early careers and present opportunities at Marriott International at any given opportunity
• Serve as an ambassador for Marriott International at all partner institutions consistently reflecting the brand in a positive and professional manner.

Recruitment Events

• Develop and maintain an annual calendar of career and recruitment events, including campus engagements, key source markets outreach and local hotel hiring initiatives.
• Represent Marriott International at career fairs and events hosted by universities and local institutions.
• Lead the end-to-end-to-end‑to‑end execution of recruitment events—from goal setting, planning and logistics, candidate registration and communications, event promotion, onsite management, through to post‑event evaluation and reporting.
• Leverage digital platforms and technology to design and deliver virtual recruitment experiences that maximize reach and candidate engagement.
• Activate effective platforms and source target markets for promoting recruitment events to maximize both candidate volume and quality, including channels such as LinkedIn and Sprinklr Campaigns

Process 

• Partner with Hubs team to remain up to date on all open roles’ potential for early careers talent
• Partner with local market Hubs team on in initiatives where appropriate
• Develop sourcing strategies to ensure a solid pipeline for early careers open roles with specific attention to ageing requisitions

Technology, Tools, and Integration

• Stay current on key hiring metrics and leverage data insights to guide strategic decisions in early career recruitment.
• Champion digital transformation initiatives to streamline recruitment and candidate and hiring manager experience

Candidate Profile 

Required Experience

• 3+ years in Human Resources, Talent Acquisition, Event Management or Sales & Marketing (hospitality industry preferred)
• Craft and deliver compelling presentations that captivate and inspire audiences
• Solid experience leading or supporting end-to-end event or program management, including planning, logistics, vendor coordination, registration, and post-event evaluation.
• Exposure to youth or early careers programs, campus engagement and recruitment events 
• Demonstrated ability to manage and collaborate with multiple stakeholders designing solutions where required to increase applications and elevate the candidate and hiring manager experience
• Experience in creating marketing content for events or recruitment campaigns (e.g. Canva, digital outreach)
• Familiarity with virtual recruitment/event platforms or technology enabled engagement tools.
• Knowledge of hospitality industry trends, early career talent, and local labor markets is a plus. 
• Strong data capability to design metrics and interpret program performance.

Success Measures

• Increase direct applications from event-related campaigns
• Increase youth applications and youth hires at all entry points.  Total conversion on key youth programs such as the Voyage Leadership Development Program, Internships, apprenticeships (fill ratio, time to fill, quality of hire)
• Growth of partnerships with local institutions measured by number of active relationships and repeat engagements
• Increase brand presence at campus and industry events (measured through participation, reach)
• Improved stakeholder confidence in the HUB model.

Skills & Competencies

Skills and Behaviours

• Project management and operational organization, planning, execution skills
• Proactive in building and nurturing relationships
• Stakeholder management and influencing
• Highly effective in communication and cross functional collaboration‑functional collaboration
• Enterprise mindset - Goal oriented and committed to driving local initiatives forward ‑oriented and 
• Passion for youth and developing innovative solutions to facilitate connecting early career talent to opportunities
• Creative and innovative storyteller with a strong marketing mindset
• Digitally fluent, with strong capability in using digital platforms and social media to support engagement and outreach
• Adaptability and agility
• Data driven decision making
• University or professional project qualification is preferred
• Language requirements: High proficiency in English is required. Additional language knowledge or proficiency is desirable.

At the time of application, applicants must have the legal right to work in South Africa either by being South African citizens by birth or by acquiring that right through other means such as having permanent residency or naturalisation. Unfortunately, this role is not eligible for visa sponsorship or relocation assistance.

At Marriott International, we are dedicated to being an equal opportunity employer, welcoming all and providing access to opportunity. We actively foster an environment where the unique backgrounds of our associates are valued and celebrated. Our greatest strength lies in the rich blend of culture, talent, and experiences of our associates.  We are committed to non-discrimination on any protected basis, including disability, veteran status, or other basis protected by applicable law. 

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