PhD Sourcing Specialist

ittihad medical centre; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

An exciting opportunity at ittihad medical centre for a PhD Sourcing Specialist to enhance our presence within research communities and build vital relationships with academics. You’ll focus on mapping the talent landscape, engaging with potential candidates, and partnering closely with recruitment efforts to ensure IMC attracts top-tier talent.

Your responsibilities will include developing outreach strategies, managing programs like the PhD Fellowship, and tracking competitive hiring trends. Strong communication and a collaborative approach are key to success in this role.

Qualifications

• 4–7 years of experience in university recruiting or talent strategy.
• Strong understanding of AI/ML research ecosystems and academic conferences.
• Experience engaging talent through various research communities.

Responsibilities

• Map the PhD and postdoc talent landscape relevant to IMC's business.
• Develop relationships with faculty advisors and lab leads.
• Source PhD candidates and pipeline talent for IMC's technical hiring.

Skills

University recruiting

Talent strategy

Research partnerships

AI/ML research ecosystems

Strong communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

GitHub

Discord

Twitter/X

arXiv

Hugging Face

Job description

As a PhD Sourcing Specialist, you will be focused on mapping the research talent landscape, building relationships with academics before they enter the job market, creating programs that strengthen IMC’s presence in research communities, assessing candidates against our technical and cultural standards, and partnering with recruiters by delivering strong pipelines.

Your Core Responsibilities

Talent Landscape & Market Intelligence

• Map the PhD and postdoc talent landscape across the technical disciplines relevant to IMC's business — understanding which programs, labs, and research communities are producing the talent that matters to us
• Track competitive hiring trends, fellowship programs, and academic community dynamics to keep IMC's strategy current and proactive
• Serve as an internal expert on the research talent market, regularly sharing insights with recruiting leadership and business stakeholders

Attraction & Community Building

• Develop and maintain relationships with faculty advisors, lab leads, and student researchers at target institutions — building IMC's presence and credibility in academic communities over time
• Represent IMC at key academic conferences and research events (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, and others) with a candidate-facing focus: building connections, identifying talent, and deepening relationships — not managing logistics
• Partner with our APAC and European recruiting teams on shared talent pools, ensuring a coordinated global approach to PhD-level attraction

Programs & Initiatives

• Own IMC's PhD-focused programs end-to-end: our PhD Fellowship, conference travel grants, and lab partnership initiatives — from strategy and design through execution and iteration
• Identify gaps in our current PhD engagement approach and develop new initiatives that strengthen our position with research communities
• Build and maintain a strong alumni and fellow network, cultivating ongoing relationships that generate referrals, advocacy, and re-engagement over time

Pipeline Development

• Source and pipeline PhD candidates across IMC's technical hiring areas, partnering with teams across the business as PhD recruitment continues to grow in scope and demand
• Develop and execute creative outreach strategies — direct engagement, conference follow-up, research community participation — to identify high-potential candidates at all career stages: PhD students, postdocs, and selectively, experienced researchers
• Hand off qualified, engaged candidates to recruiters with context, relationships, and momentum already built

Your Skills and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree; 4–7 years of experience in university recruiting, talent strategy, research partnerships, or academic engagement programs, ideally within a technical, quantitative, or research-driven environment
• Strong understanding of AI/ML research ecosystems, leading research labs, academic conferences, and influential advisors
• Demonstrated ability to build authentic, long-term relationships within academic and research communities
• Experience identifying and engaging talent through channels such as arXiv, Hugging Face, GitHub, Discord, Twitter/X, and other research and developer communities
• Proven ability to develop and execute sourcing programs or strategic initiatives using data, feedback, and market insights
• Collaborative approach with experience partnering closely with recruiters, hiring managers, and regional stakeholders in fast-paced environments
• Strong communication, organizational, and stakeholder management skills, with a high degree of ownership and sound judgment

Please note that immigration sponsorship is not offered for this specific opening.

Salary Range: $100,000 - $150,000 USD