Transport for Wales: Recruiting a Crucial Tax Expert

Situation

Transport for Wales (TfW) is on a mission: to deliver an integrated travel system across Wales and revolutionize travel. To achieve this, they quickly expanded their workforce in partnership with PeopleScout, their RPO partner.

They were now looking for a new Tax Analyst, a qualified VAT subject matter expert, to provide guidelines in line with legislation to help TfW reclaim VAT to reinvest into the transport network. This is a highly competitive sector, and the Tax Analyst needed specialty skills.

Solution

This was a particularly challenging role to recruit. There is a very small talent pool of qualified candidates in Wales. This market is competitive, and many candidates are reluctant to move jobs unless for a significant increase in salary. Plus, these roles are known for low turnover; tax professionals are risk-averse and require significant consultation before considering a new opportunity. In addition, the global COVID-19 pandemic was at its height—a climate that contributed to candidates’ reluctance to change jobs.

We adopted a fully consultative approach and took a detailed brief from the hiring manager. By using a blended approach of media, advertising across a number of well-known recruitment websites to drive applications, and hands-on sourcing of passive candidates.

Attraction did not produce results, so we doubled down on a thorough search of the passive market. Our specialist recruiter knew straight away when they found a candidate that would be a good fit for TfW. This candidate had worked as a tax expert for a similar government body, they understood government processes and they were a strong fit culturally for Transport For Wales.

Results

In total, we approached over 100 qualified professionals in South Wales and beyond. Our strategic passive candidate search produced an ideal candidate who has moved into the Tax Analyst role.