Principal Talent Acquisition Specialist

McDermott International, Ltd; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

McDermott International, Ltd seeks a Principal Talent Acquisition Specialist to solve complex TA challenges and lead regional or functional teams. You will develop strategies, train colleagues, and recruit across multiple regions with a focus on energy and engineering sectors.

You will partner with business leaders and HR to forecast workforce needs, manage candidate pipelines, and ensure compliant, efficient hiring processes globally.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in HR or related field.
• 7–9+ years of progressive Talent Acquisition experience with 5+ years in agency/corporate recruiting.
• Experience recruiting in Oil & Gas or related sectors.
• Experience with front-end resume screening and research for technical roles.

Responsibilities

• Partner with leaders and HR to plan workforce needs.
• Develop and execute recruitment strategies for direct and contingent roles.
• Attract and recruit top talent across regions and disciplines.
• Lead full-cycle recruitment: requisition to onboarding and offers.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Sourcing expertise

Multinational recruitment

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources or related field

Tools

Oracle ATS

PCRecruiter

CRM platforms

LinkedIn Recruiter

Job description

The Principal Talent Acquisition Specialist interprets internal or external business issues and recommends best practices. They will be tasked with solving complex Talent Acquisition-related problems and will work independently with minimal guidance. The Principal Talent Acquisition Specialist may be responsible for leading functional teams or projects and is regarded as a specialist in the field of Talent Acquisition. This position may also be responsible for training less experienced team members. As such, they must have in-depth expertise in Talent Acquisition and broad knowledge of the Talent Acquisition discipline within the Human Resources function.

Responsibilities:

Key Tasks and Responsibilities:

• Partner with business leaders, hiring managers, HR teams, and Resource Managers to understand business objectives and workforce planning needs for both immediate and long-term hiring requirements.
• Develop and execute recruitment strategies for direct hire and contingent workforce positions.
• Attract, identify, and recruit top-tier talent across multiple disciplines and geographic regions.
• Deliver innovative recruitment solutions and tailored hiring strategies for global and regional clients and stakeholders.
• Support recruitment efforts globally as business needs require, regardless of location.
• Develop talent pipelines for current and future hiring needs.
• Manage full-cycle recruitment activities from requisition intake through offer negotiation and onboarding.
• Create, review, and post accurate job advertisements that align with business requirements, legal regulations, and internal posting procedures.
• Conduct candidate sourcing, resume reviews, phone screenings, interviews, assessments, and selection activities.
• Manage contract negotiations and offer discussions while ensuring a positive candidate experience.
• Serve as the primary liaison between candidates, hiring managers, and Human Resources throughout the recruitment process.
• Coach and guide hiring managers on recruitment processes, expectations, responsibilities, and cycle-time commitment
• Utilize advanced sourcing techniques, including LinkedIn Recruiter, job boards, networking, referral programs, and market research.
• Assess and monitor the effectiveness of sourcing channels and recommend improvements to support hiring goals.
• Build and maintain proactive candidate pipelines for technical, professional, and operational positions.
• Identify passive talent and engage high-performing candidates for current and future opportunities.
• Promote strategic cross-selling of candidates across business units and regions.
• Build strong partnerships with hiring managers, Human Resources, operations leaders, and business stakeholders.
• Provide consultative recruitment advice to all levels of the organization.
• Support workforce planning discussions and recruitment forecasting.
• Drive high levels of client and hiring manager satisfaction through service excellence and responsiveness.
• Act as a trusted advisor on recruitment market trends, talent availability, and hiring strategies.
• Ensure accurate and timely documentation of candidate and client information within Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tools.
• Partner closely with the Global Resource Center (GRC) to ensure recruiting activities are accurately reflected in recruiting systems.
• Monitor and report recruitment metrics, targets, and performance results on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis.
• Track key performance indicators (KPIs) and ensure recruitment goals are met or exceeded.
• Ensure compliance with company policies, employment legislation, equal employment opportunity requirements, and diversity initiatives.
• Lead, mentor, and support Talent Acquisition team members within the assigned region or country.
• Provide training, coaching, and development opportunities to recruiters and talent acquisition professionals.
• Share recruiting best practices and help drive continuous process improvements.
• Participate in recruiter engagement initiatives and training programs.
• Represent the organization at career fairs, industry events, networking functions, and talent marketing initiatives.
• Actively participate in global employer branding programs.
• Support account development efforts through relationship building and strategic recruitment consulting.
• Maintain regular client communication and document updates within CRM systems.
• Manage strategic recruitment accounts and may operate within a 360-recruitment environment, including both business development and recruiting responsibilities.
• Support temporary, contract, and project-based hiring needs.
• Collaborate with operations and HR teams to align staffing requirements with organizational and contractual obligations.
• Lead or participate in special projects related to recruiting, sourcing, workforce planning, and talent acquisition operations.
• Demonstrate flexibility in performing responsibilities outside the core scope of the role as business needs dictate.

Qualifications:

Essential Qualifications and Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in human resources, Business Administration, or related field; equivalent experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• 7-9+ years of progressive Talent Acquisition experience with a minimum of 5+ years of agency and/or corporate recruiting experience, preferably within the energy, oil and gas, engineering, construction, industrial, or related sectors. Also, minimum of 3+ years of demonstrated experience with front-end, resume screening and research for technical roles
• Experience recruiting within the Oil & Gas, Energy, Upstream, Downstream, Engineering, or related industries.
• Demonstrated experience conducting candidate sourcing, research, resume screening, and phone screening for technical and professional positions.
• Proven success managing full-cycle recruitment for direct hire and contract positions.
• Demonstrated success using LinkedIn Recruiter and other advanced sourcing tools.
• Knowledge of global recruiting practices and international talent acquisition strategies
• Track record of achieving or exceeding recruitment metrics and hiring targets.
• Experience recruiting across multiple countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil
• Experience leading small teams, projects, or regional recruiting initiatives.
• Experience partnering with business leaders and hiring managers in a consultative capacity.
• Strong understanding of recruitment processes, sourcing methodologies, and talent market dynamics.
• Excellent stakeholder management and relationship-building skills.
• Outstanding communication, negotiation, and candidate management abilities.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple requisitions and priorities simultaneously.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
• Ability to work independently, demonstrate sound judgment, and solve complex recruiting challenges.
• Must have Impeccable references, strategic thinker, professionalism and team player

Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and equal employment opportunity practices.

Preferred:

• Experience using Oracle, PCRecruiter, CRM platforms, and Applicant Tracking Systems.
• Experience working a 360-degree recruitment desk, including business development and account management responsibilities.
• Bilingual in English and Spanish or Trilingual in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

About Us

Our ingenuity fuels daily life. Together, we’ve forged some of the most trusted partnerships across the energy value chain to make what was once just an idea a reality: laying subsea infrastructure thousands of feet below sea level, installing platforms hundreds of miles from shore, using our expertise to design and build offshore wind infrastructure, and reshaping the onshore landscape to deliver the energy products the world needs safely and sustainably.

For more than 100 years, we've been making the impossible possible. Today, we're driving the energy transition with more than 30,000 of the brightest minds across 54 countries.