James O'Donnell

James is a Talent Development Manager at Man Group, responsible for providing end-to-end talent acquisition functions and programme management within the Career Returners and Apprenticeship programme initiatives. He specialises in utilising the apprenticeship levy for staff development, early careers and comprehensive programme management. James focuses on leveraging apprenticeship opportunities to drive talent development while supporting social mobility within financial services.

Prior to joining Man Group in November 2024, James held Head of Department roles at Fitch Group, QA Ltd, and various training providers, consistently focusing on promoting apprenticeships to support widening participation and professional development within Financial Services and Technology firms. Before this, James began his career as a vocational assessor before qualifying as a Further Education lecturer, subsequently advancing to operational, sales, recruitment and management positions across the financial services and technology sectors.

A notable achievement includes reshaping the L6 Investment Services apprenticeship to better support Asset Management firms. James is also a qualified teacher and apprenticeship coach with extensive expertise in professional education, programme development and early careers talent acquisition.