Human Capital SME: Talent Acquisition / Recruiting SME

Golden Key Group; Washington (District of Columbia); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Golden Key Group is seeking a Human Capital SME: Talent Acquisition / Recruiting SME to provide senior-level expertise in federal recruiting, staffing strategy, onboarding, and workforce planning. Address hiring priorities, labor market conditions, and mission-aligned staffing actions for HCSP/HCOP initiatives.

Remote work is possible, with mandatory on-site meetings in D.C. Qualified candidates will have 10+ years in federal HR operations, a BA in a related field, and preferably a Master's in

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in human resources, business administration, organizational development, public administration, or related field.
• Experience: 10+ years in senior-level human capital management, staffing, recruiting, talent acquisition, workforce planning, or federal HR operations.
• Knowledge of federal human capital policies, merit system principles, and recruitment challenges.
• U.S. citizenship and ability to obtain required security screening.

Responsibilities

• Develop and support talent acquisition and staffing strategies for federal programs.
• Analyze recruitment pipelines, timelines, labor market trends, and onboarding improvements.
• Provide senior leadership with practical, measurable staffing recommendations aligned to mission objectives.

Skills

Talent acquisition

Staffing strategy

Onboarding

Workforce planning

Federal HR operations

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR or related field

Master's degree in HR/Organizational Development (preferred)

Job description

About GKG

With a passion for excellence, Golden Key Group (GKG) helps clients solve their strategic, organizational, and operational challenges to better meet their mission demands. We have serviced more than 25 Federal departments and agencies and several large commercial companies since our inception in 2002.

Golden Key Group's talented professionals, combined with our strategic partners, bring a depth of commercial and government experience and expertise. We are relentless in delivering the highest levels of services to provide tangible value and create sustainable results for our clients.

ID: 2026-3406 | Category: Human Resources | Type: Full Time | Clearance: Obtain Public Trust | Location: US-DC-Washington, D.C.

Overview

The Human Capital SME: Talent Acquisition / Recruiting SME will provide senior-level subject matter expertise in federal recruiting, staffing strategy, hiring process improvement, onboarding, retention, and workforce growth planning. The SME will support development of the HCSP and HCOP by translating staffing targets, mission needs, workforce model outputs, and stakeholder input into practical talent acquisition strategies, recruitment priorities, hiring and onboarding timeline improvements, and implementation actions aligned to Secret Service human capital objectives. This role will help ensure that the proposed approach addresses hiring, retention, recruitment, onboarding, labor market conditions, workforce risks, and operational staffing needs.

The selected individual will have the option to work remotely however will need to be local for onsite mandatory meetings in D.C.

Note** This position is being recruited in support of potential future contract awards, and qualified candidates may be considered for upcoming opportunities supporting federal government clients.

Responsibilities

The SME will contribute to the Talent Acquisition Strategy component of the HCSP and support HCOP initiatives that operationalize recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and retention objectives. The SME will analyze recruitment pipelines, hiring timelines, labor market trends, competitor hiring practices, candidate conversion challenges, retention linkages, and workforce readiness requirements. The SME will support development of goals, objectives, initiatives, milestones, metrics, and implementation actions related to talent acquisition and recruiting. The SME may participate in stakeholder interviews, focus groups, working sessions, and review meetings, and will help incorporate stakeholder feedback into draft and final deliverables. The SME will also support senior leadership briefings and ensure that talent acquisition recommendations are practical, measurable, mission-aligned, and appropriate for federal human capital operations.

Qualifications

• The minimum qualifications for this role include a bachelor's degree in human resources, business administration, organizational development, public administration, or a related field. The candidate should have at least ten years of senior-level experience in human capital management, staffing, recruiting, talent acquisition, workforce planning, or federal HR operations.
• The candidate should demonstrate experience developing or supporting talent acquisition strategies, recruitment initiatives, onboarding improvements, hiring process analysis, or workforce growth plans.
• The candidate should understand federal human capital policies, staffing practices, merit system principles, recruitment challenges, and the relationship among talent acquisition, retention, workforce planning, and mission execution.
• The candidate must be a U.S. citizen and able to complete required suitability or security screening before accessing sensitive but unclassified information.

Desired Qualifications

• The ideal candidate will hold a master's degree in human resources, public administration, organizational development, business administration, or a related discipline.
• Direct experience supporting federal talent acquisition transformation, federal recruiting strategy, delegated examining, staffing modernization, or large-scale hiring improvement initiatives is strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting law enforcement, DHS, national security, or high-volume mission-critical hiring environments would provide additional proposal strength.
• The ideal candidate will be able to connect workforce planning models, attrition projections, hiring targets, talent pipelines, onboarding practices, recruiting metrics, time-to-hire analysis, and retention initiatives into a measurable talent acquisition strategy suitable for senior leadership approval.