Principal Executive Search Recruiter (Contract)

Micron Technology, Inc.; California; On-site; USD 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Micron Technology, Inc. is seeking a Principal Executive Search Recruiter for a contract role within our Global Executive Search team. You will lead complex senior‑level searches and help Micron build proactive leadership pipelines and a world‑class internal executive search capability.

You will personally drive confidential searches from strategy through close, partnering with senior leaders and HR to ensure alignment with business goals and leadership needs.

Qualifications

• Significant progressive experience in executive search and executive recruiting.
• Demonstrated ability to lead in-house executive searches at senior director or C-suite levels.
• Strong market intelligence, talent mapping, and candidate assessment capabilities.
• Proven experience building confidential pipelines and advisory relationships with senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end executive searches for senior leadership and technical leaders across multiple levels.
• Partner with hiring leaders, People, and HR to translate strategy into search plans.
• Develop target-market hypotheses, candidate archetypes, and outreach strategies.
• Identify industries, organizations, and talent ecosystems relevant to Micron’s needs.
• Drive candidate identification, engagement, assessment, interviews, and close with discretion.
• Manage multiple confidential assignments with high quality and responsiveness.

Skills

Executive search

Senior leadership recruitment

Market intelligence

Candidate engagement

Networking

Tools

ATS/CRM systems

Research platforms

Job description

Our vision is to transform how the world uses information to enrich life for all.

Micron Technology is a world leader in innovating memory and storage solutions that accelerate the transformation of information into intelligence, inspiring the world to learn, communicate and advance faster than ever.

Principal Executive Search Recruiter | Global Executive Search & Talent Intelligence - Contract Opportunity

Micron is redefining how the world uses information to enrich life for all. As a global leader in memory and storage solutions, our technology is fundamental to the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, data centers, automotive systems, mobile devices, and the intelligent edge.

Behind every breakthrough is exceptional leadership.

As Micron continues to grow and strengthen its position in the semiconductor industry, we are expanding our internal Executive Search capability to identify, engage, and attract exceptional senior leaders and distinguished technical talent who will help shape our future.

We are seeking an accomplished Principal Executive Search Recruiter to join our Global Executive Search team in a contract. This role is intended to provide a pathway to a regular full-time position for a successful incumbent, subject to demonstrated performance, continued business need, required approvals, and applicable employment processes.

This is an opportunity for a sophisticated, highly accomplished hands‑on executive search professional who combines the research rigor, market intelligence, advisory capability, and candidate engagement skills of a top‑tier retained search consultant with the ownership, agility, and organizational understanding of an experienced in‑house executive recruiter.

You will personally lead complex senior‑level searches while helping Micron build proactive leadership pipelines and a world‑class internal executive search capability.

We are looking for someone equally comfortable developing a global market thesis, conducting original research, mapping organizations and talent ecosystems, approaching a difficult‑to‑access passive executive, advising senior leaders, assessing candidates, and personally driving a confidential search from initial strategy through successful close.

What You Will Do:

Lead Complex Executive Searches from Strategy Through Close

• Personally lead end‑to‑end searches for senior leadership and distinguished technical talent across Director, Senior Director, Vice President, Corporate Vice President, Senior Vice President, Fellow, Senior Fellow, and other strategically important positions.
• Partner closely with executive hiring leaders, People leaders, and HR partners to understand business strategy, organizational context, leadership challenges, and future capability requirements.
• Translate those needs into sophisticated search strategies, success profiles, target‑market hypotheses, candidate archetypes, and engagement plans.
• Identify relevant industries, organizations, functions, geographies, leadership profiles, and adjacent talent markets.
• Personally lead executive candidates throughout the search process, from initial identification and engagement through assessment, interviews, offer negotiation, closing, and transition.
• Operate effectively across multiple complex and confidential assignments while maintaining exceptional quality, responsiveness, discretion, and candidate care.

Bring Exceptional Research, Sourcing & Talent Intelligence Capabilities

• Conduct advanced executive research across the global semiconductor and technology ecosystem, including memory, storage, silicon, AI infrastructure, engineering, manufacturing, advanced packaging, equipment, materials, cloud, systems, and adjacent industries.
• Build sophisticated company, organizational, and talent maps to identify both established executives and emerging leadership talent.
• Look beyond titles and obvious competitors to understand a leader's actual scope, accomplishments, technical or functional depth, organizational influence, and trajectory.
• Develop evidence‑based market intelligence that helps hiring leaders understand talent availability, competitive dynamics, relevant talent adjacencies, and potential search challenges.
• Create and maintain proactive pipelines for critical leadership and technical talent ahead of immediate hiring demand.
• Capture market intelligence and organizational knowledge so that every completed search strengthens Micron's future ability to identify and attract exceptional talent.

Find and Engage the Talent Others Cannot

• Develop creative sourcing strategies to identify executives and technical leaders who may not be readily identifiable through traditional recruiting methods.
• Leverage professional networks, executive referrals, advanced Boolean search, original research, talent platforms, competitive intelligence, public information, and other approved resources.
• Construct thoughtful search strategies across direct competitors, adjacent industries, alumni populations, emerging companies, customer and supplier ecosystems, and nontraditional talent pools.
• Approach highly passive senior talent with personalized, credible outreach that demonstrates genuine understanding of their career and accomplishments.
• Build relationships with executives who may not be ready to make a move today but could become important future candidates.
• Maintain long‑term relationships with exceptional talent, referrals, prospects, and future succession candidates.

Become a Trusted Talent Advisor to Senior Leaders:

• Bring an informed perspective to executive hiring discussions rather than simply delivering a predetermined target list.
• Advise senior leaders on talent markets, competitive dynamics, candidate availability, profile tradeoffs, and search feasibility.
• Use research and market evidence to challenge assumptions constructively and recommend alternative strategies when appropriate.
• Lead thoughtful calibration discussions that distinguish essential leadership capabilities from preferences.
• Provide clear, concise, executive‑ready search updates, market landscapes, candidate insights, and recommendations.
• Communicate with credibility and confidence at senior levels while maintaining a highly responsive and service‑oriented approach.
• Exercise exceptional judgment and discretion when managing confidential searches, potential succession situations, organizational changes, compensation information, and sensitive candidate matters.

Assess Executive Talent with Depth and Rigor

• Conduct substantive executive conversations that explore leadership accomplishments, business impact, transformation experience, organizational scale, functional or technical depth, enterprise influence, leadership approach, and career motivation.
• Evaluate candidates based on demonstrated experience, relevant achievement, and alignment with the business outcomes required of the role.
• Develop insightful candidate briefs that articulate relevant experience, differentiated strengths, potential concerns, open questions, and motivation.
• Distinguish verified evidence, candidate‑provided information, recruiter observations, and areas requiring further validation.
• Partner with hiring leaders to support structured, consistent, job‑relevant candidate assessment and decision‑making.

Deliver an Exceptional Executive Candidate Experience

• Create a highly personalized, discreet, responsive, and professional experience throughout the search process.
• Serve as a trusted relationship owner and advisor for candidates.
• Help candidates understand not only the opportunity, but Micron's strategy, technology, leadership environment, culture, and potential for impact.
• Prepare candidates and hiring leaders for substantive, high‑value conversations.
• Maintain thoughtful communication and follow‑through throughout what can be a lengthy executive decision process.
• Navigate complex considerations involving compensation, equity, relocation, timing, career risk, and other factors that can influence an executive career decision.
• Partner effectively with Executive Compensation, HR, Global Mobility, Legal, executive support teams, and other stakeholders to create a coordinated candidate experience.

Innovate Through AI & Technology

• We are looking for an executive recruiter who is excited about how technology can make exceptional recruiters even better.
• Leverage approved AI and talent intelligence capabilities to accelerate research, company mapping, talent discovery, profile synthesis, outreach development, market analysis, and search reporting.
• Identify opportunities to use automation and AI to reduce administrative work and increase time spent on strategic research, candidate relationships, assessment, and advisory work.
• Experiment thoughtfully with new research and sourcing methodologies while maintaining appropriate human judgment and accountability.
• Maintain disciplined data quality, candidate documentation, and market intelligence.
• Help build reusable research practices, search methodologies, talent maps, and knowledge that strengthen the entire Executive Search function.

Required Qualifications

• Significant progressive experience in executive search, executive recruiting, talent intelligence, or senior‑level talent acquisition.
• A demonstrated track record of personally leading successful in‑house executive searches at the Senior Director, Vice President, C‑suite, Fellow/Senior Fellow, or comparable level.
• Deep hands‑on expertise in executive research, direct sourcing, market mapping, passive‑candidate engagement, assessment, and closing.
• Demonstrated success recruiting within semiconductors, hardware, advanced manufacturing, AI, cloud infrastructure, engineering, or another technically sophisticated global industry.
• Ability to understand complex business and technical requirements and translate them into differentiated search strategies.
• Experience partnering directly with senior executives and influencing hiring strategy through market intelligence and sound judgment.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication, executive‑level storytelling, candidate presentation, and stakeholder management capabilities.
• Strong executive presence combined with curiosity, humility, urgency, and a highly responsive approach.
• Demonstrated ability to build trusted relationships with senior passive candidates.
• Experience managing highly sensitive and confidential executive searches with discretion.
• Ability to succeed in a fast‑moving, highly matrixed, global environment.
• Advanced proficiency with executive sourcing platforms, professional networks, talent databases, research tools, ATS/CRM systems, and contemporary recruiting technology.

Highly Preferred

• Experience combining in‑house corporate executive search with retained executive search, executive search boutique, or another research‑intensive search environment.
• Direct executive search experience within semiconductors, memory, storage, silicon, engineering, manufacturing, advanced packaging, AI infrastructure, or adjacent technology sectors.
• Experience recruiting both senior business executives and distinguished technical leaders.
• Advanced expertise in talent mapping, organizational research, competitive intelligence, succession pipelines, and executive talent landscapes.
• Experience supporting