Early Talent Acquisition Associate (Remote- DMV Area)

ICF; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 83,000 - 138,000; Full time

Job summary

ICF is seeking an Early Talent Acquisition Associate to manage full lifecycle recruitment for interns, early-career, and emerging talent pipelines. You will partner with hiring managers, use data and internal tools to source and hire, and deliver a strong Early Talent experience across the organization.

The role emphasizes collaboration, scalable processes, and leveraging AI-enabled tools in a compliant, high-quality recruitment strategy to attract top early-career talent.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Minimum 2 years of recruiting experience in early talent, university recruiting, campus recruiting, or related area.
• Experience with ATS/CRM systems and analytics tools.
• Proven ability to engage early-career candidates and build pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Manage end-to-end Early Talent acquisitions from intake through start.
• Coordinate stakeholders, timelines, and deliverables in a fast-paced environment.
• Create compliant job postings, sourcing strategies, and interview plans.
• Follow Workday workflows and employment law requirements with audit-ready documentation.
• Provide timely, transparent updates and deliver a best-in-class candidate experience.

Skills

Stakeholder collaboration

Data-driven recruiting

Candidate engagement

Storytelling

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Workday

Beamery

12Twenty

Simplicity

Job description

Early Talent Acquisition Associate

We’re looking for an early talent acquisition associate to help shape the next generation of talent at ICF. In this role, you’ll manage full lifecycle recruitment for intern, early-career, and emerging talent pipelines while partnering with hiring managers and other stakeholders to deliver a strong Early Talent experience. You’ll contribute to recruiting strategies, build relationships across the organization, and grow your expertise in university and early talent recruiting. This is an ideal opportunity for an individual who thrives in a fast‑paced environment, enjoys building collaborative relationships, and is eager to apply data, technology, and new ideas to sourcing and hiring.

The anticipated salary for this role is in the mid $80,000's.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage Early Talentrequisitionsfrom intake through start, supporting high-impact and high-volume hiring needs.
• Facilitateearly talent hiring with a high degree of accuracy, coordinating multiple stakeholders, timelines, and deliverables in a fast‑pacedenvironment.
• Create compliant job postings, sourcing strategies, and interview plans using internal frameworks.
• Follow all Workday workflows, employment law requirements, and internal standards whilemaintainingaccurate,audit‑readydocumentation.
• Ensuretimely, transparent communication that reflects ICF values and delivers abest‑in‑classcandidate experience.
• Guide candidates with professionalism, empathy, and ahigh‑touchapproach tailored toearly‑careerneeds while delivering clear and consistent updates throughout the hiring process.
• Partner with the Early Talent Manager and other stakeholders to support early talent hiring strategies and demand planning using data, market intelligence, and workforce insights.
• Collaborate with Hiring Managers, Business Leaders, and HR partners to understand workforce needs, align expectations, and support informed hiring decisions.
• Gather and share competitive intelligence and Early Talent market trends to support recruiting strategy and stakeholder decisions.
• Use dashboards, analytics, and recruiting trends to strengthen sourcing strategies and improve process efficiency.
• Learn and use approved AI and emerging technologies responsibly to support sourcing, candidate engagement, data synthesis, and process improvement, while applyingappropriate humanjudgment and following organizational policies.
• Proactively build andmaintainpipelines of intern andearly‑careertalent using ICF HR technology and tools.
• Execute targeted outreach and nurturing campaigns to engage early‑career talent; use available tools to streamline sourcing and tailor messaging to candidates’ interests, motivators, and long‑term development goals.
• Collaborate with and share effective early talent sourcing and hiring practices across the global talent team.
• Serve as a visible and enthusiastic ambassador of the ICF Early Talent brand with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Travel and attend various college and university campuses for career fairs, networking events, and other Early‑Talent programming.
• RepresentICF and Early Talent at community events.

Minimum Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree.
• Minimum 2 years of recruiting experience in early talent, university recruiting, campus recruiting, or a related area.

Preferred Qualifications

• Willingness to travel up to 50% during fall and spring recruiting cycles.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships and communicate data and market insights to stakeholders.
• Strong judgment, organization, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Excellent communication, storytelling, and candidate engagement skills.
• Sourcingexpertise, especially with Early Talent initiatives, including proactive outreach andpassive talentengagement.
• Experience using ATS/CRM systems (i.e. Workday,Beamery) and analytics tools.
• Demonstrated curiosity with AI-enabled recruiting technologies and helping to incorporate approved capabilities into team processes.
• Experience using Early Talent platforms such as Handshake, 12Twenty, Simplicity, etc.

Candidate AI Usage Policy

At ICF, we are committed to ensuring a fair interview process for all candidates based on their own skills and knowledge. As part of this commitment, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to generate or assist with responses during interviews (whether in-person or virtual) is not permitted. This policy is in place to maintain the integrity and authenticity of the interview process. However, we understand that some candidates may require accommodation that involves the use of AI. If such an accommodation is needed, candidates are instructed to contact us in advance [e-mail]. We are dedicated to providing the necessary support to ensure that all candidates have an equal opportunity to succeed.

Pay Range

There are multiple factors that are considered in determining final pay for a position, including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location, education and certifications as well as contract provisions regarding labor categories that are specific to the position.

The pay range for this position based on full-time employment is: $81,147.00 - $137,949.00

Reston, VA (VA30)

Employment Equality and Accessibility

We can only solve the world’s toughest challenges by building a workplace that allows everyone to thrive.

We are an equal opportunity employer.

Together, our employees are empowered to share their expertise and collaborate with others to achieve personal and professional goals.

For more information, please read ourEEO policy.

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Reasonable Accommodations are available, including, but not limited to, for disabled veterans, individuals with disabilities, and individuals with sincerely held religious beliefs, in all phases of the application and employment process.

To request an accommodation, please [e-mail] we will be happy to assist.

All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.

Read more aboutworkplacediscriminationrights or our benefit offerings which are included in theTransparency in (Benefits) Coverage Act.