Talent Acquisition Advisor - Early Career Programs

Varsity Brands; Farmers Branch (TX); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401(k)

Career development

Paid time off

Employee discounts

Job summary

Varsity Brands is seeking a Talent Acquisition Advisor – Early Career Programs to shape and scale our early career talent initiatives. You will partner with leaders to translate future workforce needs into internships, rotational programs, and university partnerships, while improving the candidate experience and pipeline health.

You will collaborate across HR, Marketing, and Internal Communications to design and execute a compelling early career brand, programs, and campus engagement, traveling

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business Administration, Communications, Marketing, or a related field.
• Five or more years of progressive experience in Talent Acquisition, university recruiting, or early career programs.
• Experience developing and executing campus recruiting, university relations, internship, rotational, or early career talent strategies.
• Proven ability to advise business leaders and manage complex stakeholder relationships across a matrixed organization.
• Experience using ATS and/or CRM platforms; familiarity with Handshake, LinkedIn Recruiter, and campus recruiting tools.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex projects, partnerships, events, and program budgets.
• Experience cultivating external partnerships and vendor relationships; data-driven recruiting outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Serve as enterprise expert on early career talent strategy, university recruiting, and market trends.
• Partner with leaders to identify future talent needs and where early career talent creates value.
• Lead a scalable, multi-year early career strategy aligned with business priorities.
• Design role frameworks, onboarding, and development for internships, co-ops, and entry-level hires.
• Build university relationships and evaluate partnerships and investments.
• Lead the early career employment brand and recruitment marketing in collaboration with internal teams.
• Own campus engagement, budget recommendations, and program operating rhythm.
• Plan high-impact virtual and in-person engagement events and campus activities.
• Develop sourcing strategies and ensure a consistent candidate experience.
• Oversee selection processes including requisition planning, assessment, and offers.
• Design program experiences that support onboarding, mentorship, and conversion.
• Use data to identify trends, ROI, and program improvements; communicate insights to leadership.

Skills

Influence senior leaders

Stakeholder management

Data-driven decisions

Program management

Talent acquisition strategy

University relations

Sourcing strategies

Communication skills

Relationship building

Project execution

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR, Business Administration, Communications, Marketing, or related field

Tools

Handshake

LinkedIn Recruiter

ATS/CRM platforms

Workday

Phenom

Job description

JOIN THE BEST TEAM IN SPORT & SPIRIT

At Varsity Brands, we believe every student deserves the opportunity to succeed and every educator wants to make a difference. It takes a team to make a real impact, and through our two divisions – BSN SPORTS and Varsity Spirit – and our network of 6,000+ employees and independent representatives, we are proud to partner with a wide range of educational institutions and club and professional sports to transform the student journey in SPORT and SPIRIT.

Location: Onsite Hybrid 2-3 days per week at our Varsity Brands HQ in Farmer Branch TX

HOW YOU WILL MAKE AN IMPACT

The Talent Acquisition Advisor – Early Career Programs is a strategic talent advisor responsible for shaping, scaling, and continuously improving Varsity Brands’ early career talent strategy. This role partners with business leaders, HR, Talent Acquisition, and Workforce Planning to translate future workforce needs into targeted early career pipelines, including internships, entry-level hiring, rotational experiences, and university partnerships.

As a visible enterprise advisor, the Talent Acquisition Advisor – Early Career Program brings market insight, data, and practical recommendations that strengthen the candidate experience, broaden access to emerging talent, and build a sustainable pipeline of future leaders for Varsity Brands.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

• Serve as the enterprise subject matter expert and trusted advisor on early career talent strategy, university recruiting, and emerging-talent market trends
• Partner with business leaders, HR Business Partners, Talent Acquisition leaders, and Workforce Planning to identify future talent needs and determine where early career talent can create meaningful business value
• Develop and lead a scalable, multi-year early career strategy that aligns with business priorities, workforce plans, and the overall Talent Acquisition strategy
• Advise leaders on role design, timing, selection approach, onboarding, development, and conversion practices for internships, co-ops, rotational programs, and entry-level hiring
• Build and steward strategic relationships with universities, community organizations, professional associations, and other early career talent partners; assess partnership performance and recommend investments
• Lead the design and execution of a compelling early career employment brand and recruitment marketing approach in partnership with Internal Communications, Marketing, and Talent Acquisition
• Own the annual early career recruiting calendar, campus engagement plan, budget recommendations, and program operating rhythm; balance business needs with candidate experience and resource priorities
• Plan and facilitate high-impact virtual and in-person engagement activities, including career fairs, information sessions, interview days, campus events, and targeted outreach
• Partner with Talent Acquisition colleagues to develop sourcing strategies, provide clear recruiting guidance, and ensure a consistent, high-quality candidate and hiring-manager experience
• Lead the selection process for assigned early career roles, including requisition planning, candidate assessment, interview strategy, offers, and candidate communications, in accordance with company practices and applicable law
• Design and improve program experiences that support successful onboarding, mentorship, development, engagement, and conversion of early career talent
• Use talent-market intelligence, program data, candidate feedback, and stakeholder input to identify trends, assess return on investment, and make recommendations for program enhancements
• Create and communicate clear program dashboards, progress updates, and executive-ready insights that inform decisions and demonstrate program impact
• Establish and document scalable processes, tools, and best practices that enable consistent execution across business units and promote continuous improvement
• Partner with internal resources to advance inclusive early career outreach and build diverse candidate pipelines
• Stay current on emerging early career technologies, recruiting practices, and regulatory requirements; apply innovations that improve reach, efficiency, and experience
• Ensure all early career recruiting and program activity is compliant with applicable employment laws, company policies, and data practices

This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities required of the employee for this job.

QUALIFICATIONS

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities

• Demonstrated ability to influence and advise senior leaders in a highly visible, matrixed environment
• Strategic talent advisory and stakeholder-management skills, with the ability to translate business needs into scalable early career solutions
• Strong business acumen and ability to assess workforce needs, talent-market conditions, and program tradeoffs
• Ability to collect, analyze, and interpret data from multiple sources and turn findings into clear recommendations and executive-ready narratives
• Strong program-management skills, including strategy development, operating plans, budgets, timelines, process design, and risk management
• Knowledge of early career recruiting cycles, university relations, candidate attraction, and recruitment marketing practices
• Ability to develop effective, audience-specific campaigns and engagement experiences for students, recent graduates, and internal stakeholders
• Excellent written, verbal, facilitation, and presentation skills in one-to-one, group, and executive settings
• Strong relationship-building and networking capability with students, university partners, business leaders, vendors, and cross-functional colleagues
• Ability to manage multiple priorities independently, exercise sound judgment, and drive work to completion in a fast-paced environment
• Working knowledge of employment laws, equal employment opportunity practices, and compliant selection processes
• Ability to work in a hybrid environment and travel to assigned campuses, events, and company locations up to 25% during peak seasons

Education, Certification and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Communications, Marketing, or a related field
• Five or more years of progressive experience in Talent Acquisition, university recruiting, early career programs, talent management, or a related field
• Demonstrated experience developing and executing campus recruiting, university relations, internship, rotational, or early career talent strategies
• Proven ability to advise business leaders and manage complex stakeholder relationships across a matrixed organization
• Experience using applicant tracking systems (ATS) and/or candidate relationship management (CRM) platforms;
• Experience using sourcing and early career talent platforms such as Handshake, LinkedIn Recruiter, and campus recruiting tools
• Demonstrated experience managing multiple complex projects, partnerships, events, and program budgets
• Experience creating, cultivating, and evaluating external partnerships and vendor relationships
• Experience using data and reporting to evaluate recruiting outcomes and recommend program improvements

Preferred

• Advanced degree or relevant professional certification
• Workday (ATS) and Phenom (CRM) experience

Physical Demands and/or Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

This job operates in a home office and/or professional office environment. The ability to sit or stand for long periods through meetings and while operating office equipment, PC’s, laptop, telephone will be required.

During events, the ability to stand and walk for long periods of time (5 hours plus) is required. The ability to lift, bend, push, pull and manipulate equipment that is a minimum of 30 lbs. is required.

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities required of the employee for this job.

OUR VALUES

Service - We lead with heart. We champion community.

Passion - We love what we do. It fuels our purpose.

Integrity - We do what we promise. We own our actions and decisions.

Respect - We earn it by giving it. Because everyone deserves it.

Innovation - We never stop striving to be better. For ourselves and our community.

Transparency - We are committed to openness and honesty in everything we do.

OUR BENEFITS

We are committed to putting you and your families first. For benefits eligible roles, we offer a variety of choices and costs as well as program enhancements that align with our responsibility to elevate the employee experience. Some of our offerings include:

• Comprehensive Health Care Benefits
• HSA Employer Contribution/ FSA Opportunities
• Wellbeing Program
• 401(k) plan with company matching
• Company paid Life, AD&D, and Short-Term Disability
• Generous My Time Off & Paid Holidays
• Varsity Brands Ownership Program
• Employee Resource Groups
• Access to Financial Coaching and member-owned Credit Union
• St. Jude Partnership & Volunteer Opportunities
• Employee Perks including discounts on personal apparel and equipment!

Eligibility for company-sponsored benefits is determined by scheduled work hours, and the terms of the applicable benefit plans. Benefit offerings and eligibility requirements may vary by position and are subject to change in accordance with plan documents and applicable law.

Varsity Brands companies are equal opportunity employers. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran’s status, age or disability.