David Jones

Three standout metrics

87%

reduction in Candidate Noise

2–3

recruiter FTE saved in manual labour

1,500

roles filled during annual hiring campaign

The voice of the customer

“We used to run on basic, manual processes. By pairing PageUp with AI optimization, we went from a transactional recruitment team to a semi-automated engine. We got our best Christmas hiring campaign ever because we had absolute trust in PageUp and the platform’s support.”

Ben Roberts, Talent Acquisition Lead, David Jones

case_study_not_working_image_6_2

What wasn’t working

Prior to optimisingoptimizing their setup with PageUp, David Jones faced significant operational friction across their talent acquisition workflows:

Manual & Transactional Screening: Running a massive enterprise retail operation with a lean team meant recruitment was heavily transactional. Sorting through tens of thousands of CVs manually created severe bottlenecks and burned out internal resources.
Christmas Campaign Overload: Peak trade required handling up to 40,000 applications. TA consultants were drowning in CV screening and manual status updates instead of properly engaging top-tier talent.
Disjointed Legacy Workflows: Legacy processes and a lack of smart automation meant time was wasted on low-value tasks rather than quickly surfacing the best candidates for store operations.

The turning point

To keep pace with peak seasonal hiring without burning out the team, David Jones needed to shift away from manual, spreadsheet-heavy admin and build a semiautomated recruitment engine.

The shift unfolded through key strategic focus areas:

Establishing a CentralisedCentralized Source of Truth

CentralisedCentralized people reporting and recruitment workflows within PageUp alongside their core payroll system to ensure data integrity.
Process Re-engineering

Completely dismantled and rebuilt their peak Christmas casual hiring workflow right before the holiday rush to focus on candidate quality over raw volume.
Embedding Smart AI Stack

Integrated Sapia and PageUp AI stack to upgrade recruitment engine without interrupting live hiring and better identify high-fit candidates instantly.

The solution in action

David Jones transformed its recruitment function by pairing PageUp’s core ATS capabilities with AI-driven screening technologies.

Key initiatives included:

Core Vendor Integrations

Embedded Sapia directly into the PageUp AI stack to automate screening, operating seamlessly alongside core payroll systems with zero operational disruption.
Zero-Downtime Rollout

Executed a six-week implementation in the background-allowing the team to upgrade tech without halting active recruitment drives.
Phased Change Management

TA led the initiative, gradually bringing Business Partners and Operational Leaders into streamlined workflows, with hiring managers slated for the next phase as confidence grew.
Hands-on Partner Support

PageUp provided dedicated, on-the-ground support during the high-stakes Christmas overhaul, giving the David Jones team complete confidence to innovate during their busiest trade period.

The impact

Hard ROI

87% drop in candidate noise
Hundreds of manual admin hours cut and reinvested in talent quality
1,500 roles filled with higher-quality talent from a streamlined candidate pipeline
1 central platform powering talent acquisition and people reporting

Soft ROI

Recruiters spend less time on admin, eliminating manual screening and overtime burnout
Candidates receive fast, transparent updates throughout the entire application journey
Hiring managers get higher-quality shortlists
Background integration enables seamless upgrades

What surprisedsurprised us the most

The Sapia and PageUp partnership integration went on completely in the background with no heavy lifting on our side. It made what could have been a difficult and complex upgrade completely painless.

Ben Roberts, Talent Acquisition Lead, David Jones