Strategic Sourcing Lead – Fulfillment

Appen Limited; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Appen Limited is seeking a Strategic Sourcing Lead to build and lead a new global sourcing hub focused on finding contributors for complex AI projects, including linguists and specialized talent. The role combines strategic planning with hands-on execution to design scalable sourcing programs.

The ideal candidate has 5+ years in sourcing or talent acquisition, proven leadership, and strong analytical skills to drive data-informed decisions across time zones and markets. U.S.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in sourcing, recruitment, talent acquisition, or related field.
• Experience leading or mentoring sourcing teams in fast-paced environments.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication across teams.
• Strong analytical skills and data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities

• Design and lead a global sourcing hub for AI-related projects.
• Partner with Recruitment and Delivery to shape sourcing strategies and feasibility.
• Build relationships with stakeholders and manage risks, timelines, and expectations.
• Embed data, AI, and automation into sourcing workflows to improve efficiency and scaling.

Skills

Sourcing

Stakeholder management

Data-driven decision making

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

About the Role

As a Strategic Sourcing Lead, you’ll lead a new global sourcing hub focused on finding the right contributors for complex AI projects that require specialized or hard-to-reach talent across a wide range of domains, from translation and localization to legal, medical, scientific, and technical fields.

This is a strategic, hands‑on role within Fulfillment. You’ll define how the hub operates, develop the team, and partner with Recruitment and Delivery to build sourcing strategies ranging from complex searches to high‑volume scaling. The team will work in a data‑informed and AI‑enabled environment, using technology to enhance research, outreach, analysis, and sourcing efficiency.

Your Impact

• Design and execute creative sourcing strategies for specialized, hard‑to‑reach, and high‑volume needs.
• Partner with Recruitment and Delivery to assess requirements, sourcing feasibility, and project needs.
• Build relationships with production stakeholders and communicate risks, timelines, and expectations.
• Use sourcing and conversion data to identify bottlenecks, test approaches, and improve funnel performance.
• Embed AI and automation into sourcing workflows to improve research, outreach, analysis, efficiency, and scalability.

What You Bring

• 5+ years of experience in sourcing, recruitment, talent acquisition, or a related field.
• Experience leading or mentoring sourcing teams in a fast‑paced environment.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication, and influencing skills across teams.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to use data to guide sourcing decisions.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.

Nice to Haves

• Experience sourcing for AI, data, or crowdsourcing projects.
• Experience sourcing linguists, translators, or other language profiles across markets.
• Experience working with global or distributed teams across time zones.
• Flexibility to work regular U.S. hours or provide U.S. overlap when working in a different time zone.