The Talent Acquisition Specialist leads full-cycle recruiting across the organization, partnering with hiring leaders to attract, assess, and secure high-quality talent aligned with business needs and workforce plans. This role acts as a strategic recruiting partner, applying expertise in sourcing, market intelligence, candidate assessment, selection, and offer development.
You will manage searches across a range of professional, technical, skilled trades, leadership, and operational roles, with a focus on difficult-to-fill and business-critical positions. You’ll proactively build talent pipelines, strengthen employment brand awareness, improve candidate experience, and continuously look for ways to make recruiting more efficient and effective.
We’re seeking a consultative recruiter who can balance business urgency with disciplined recruiting practices, compensation considerations, organizational fit, and a long-term talent strategy.
Key Responsibilities
Talent Acquisition & Recruiting
- Own the full-cycle recruiting process, from intake and sourcing through interviews, selection, offer negotiation, and the onboarding handoff.
- Partner with hiring managers to understand workforce requirements, role expectations, organizational structure, and success factors.
- Develop and execute targeted sourcing strategies for professional, technical, skilled trades, operational, and leadership roles.
- Build and maintain active talent pipelines for current and anticipated hiring needs.
- Use LinkedIn, job boards, professional networks, employee referrals, community partnerships, recruiting events, and other creative sourcing channels.
- Identify and cultivate relationships with passive candidates to ensure readiness for upcoming openings.
- Conduct recruiter screens and provide hiring leaders with well-vetted, qualified candidate slates.
- Coordinate and facilitate interview processes while ensuring a consistent, positive candidate experience.
- Collaborate with hiring leaders and HR to assess candidates based on qualifications, competencies, cultural alignment, and role requirements.
- Lead offer development and negotiations in partnership with HR leadership and hiring managers, considering internal equity, market competitiveness, candidate expectations, and established compensation structures.
- Maintain recruiting documentation and ensure timely updates in the applicant tracking system (ATS).
Business Partnership & Workforce Planning
- Serve as a trusted talent advisor to hiring managers and business leaders.
- Provide labor-market intelligence, recruiting trends, competitive talent insights, and compensation observations to support hiring decisions.
- Consult with leaders on job requirements, candidate availability, market conditions, and realistic hiring timelines.
- Support workforce planning by anticipating talent needs and developing pipelines for critical and recurring positions.
- Partner with HR Business Partners and leadership on organizational changes, succession needs, internal mobility, and talent planning initiatives.
- Identify potential internal candidates and encourage internal mobility when appropriate.
Sourcing & Talent Pipeline Development
- Develop targeted recruiting strategies for hard-to-fill and high-priority roles.
- Build relationships with technical schools, colleges, universities, trade programs, professional associations, community organizations, and other talent sources.
- Create and maintain talent communities and ongoing engagement with high-potential candidates.
- Use creative, data-informed approaches to reach candidates in competitive labor markets.
- Monitor recruiting activity and sourcing effectiveness and recommend improvements to increase impact.
Candidate Experience & Employment Brand
- Deliver a professional, responsive, and engaging candidate experience throughout the recruitment journey.
- Represent Principal Mineral accurately and compellingly to prospective employees.
- Support employment branding initiatives, recruiting events, career fairs, and community engagement efforts.
- Help strengthen the company’s reputation as an employer of choice within relevant talent markets.
- Ensure candidates receive timely communication and clear expectations throughout the process.
Recruiting Process & Continuous Improvement
- Track recruiting metrics including time-to-fill, source effectiveness, pipeline activity, offer acceptance, and other key indicators.
- Identify process gaps and implement improvements that enhance recruiting efficiency, hiring quality, and hiring-manager satisfaction.
- Ensure recruiting practices align with company policies and applicable employment laws and regulations.
- Maintain accurate and timely applicant and recruiting records.
- Support the development of standardized recruiting processes, tools, templates, and best practices.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business, organizational development, or a related field; or equivalent relevant experience.
- 5+ years of progressive talent acquisition/recruiting experience, preferably in a corporate, manufacturing, industrial, technical, or similarly complex environment.
- Proven experience managing full-cycle recruiting across multiple levels and functional areas.
- Demonstrated ability to source and recruit passive candidates for difficult-to-fill positions.
- Strong interviewing and candidate assessment skills.
- Experience partnering directly with hiring managers and business leaders.
- Knowledge of recruiting practices, employment law, and candidate selection principles.
- Experience working with an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and HRIS.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities, requisitions, and stakeholders in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment when handling sensitive information.
Preferred
- Experience recruiting within manufacturing, industrial, chemical, engineering, or other technical environments.
- Experience recruiting skilled trades, maintenance, engineering, operations, and technical talent.
- Experience recruiting leadership and specialized professional roles.
- Experience developing recruiting strategies for high-growth, expansion, or organizational transformation initiatives.
- Experience using LinkedIn Recruiter or similar advanced sourcing platforms.
- Experience with compensation benchmarking, offer analysis, and market intelligence.
- Experience developing relationships with technical schools, colleges, trade programs, and community organizations.
Key Characteristics
The successful candidate will demonstrate:
- Strategic Thinker – Builds pipelines for future needs, not just today’s openings.
- Business-Minded – Understands how talent connects to performance, workforce costs, and business outcomes.
- Consultative Partner – Provides thoughtful guidance and credible expertise to hiring managers.
- Relationship Builder – Builds meaningful connections with candidates, leaders, HR partners, and external talent sources.
- Resourceful & Persistent – Stays energized and creative in competitive or limited talent markets.
- Strong Evaluator – Distinguishes between candidates who meet requirements and those most likely to succeed long-term.
- Excellent Communicator – Communicates clearly, professionally, and promptly with all stakeholders.
- Results Oriented – Takes ownership of recruiting outcomes and delivers high-quality talent within appropriate timelines.
- Highly Organized – Manages multiple searches, priorities, and stakeholder expectations effectively.
- Discreet & Trustworthy – Treats confidential information with care and good judgment.
- Collaborative – Works effectively across HR, operations, finance, and leadership.
- Adaptable – Thrives in evolving environments where priorities and needs change quickly.
- Continuous Improvement Mindset – Actively seeks ways to improve processes, candidate experience, and sourcing effectiveness.
- Talent-Minded – Shows genuine interest in attracting, developing, and retaining people who drive long-term success.
Success Measures
Success in this role will be demonstrated through:
- Consistent delivery of qualified pipelines for critical positions.
- Improved time-to-fill and time-to-present qualified candidates.
- Strong offer acceptance and candidate conversion rates.
- Positive feedback from hiring managers and candidates.
- Increased effectiveness of passive sourcing and talent pipeline development.
- Strong partnerships with business leaders and HR teams.
- Improved recruiting processes, tools, and overall candidate experience.
- The ability to anticipate talent needs and reduce reliance on reactive recruiting.