Talent Acquisition Specialist

QualiTech; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Ellison is a food solutions partner for brands demanding premium inclusions specific to their formula, process, consumer, and path to commercialization. The Talent Acquisition Specialist supports recruitment and onboarding within a fast-paced food manufacturing environment across multiple sites.

This role partners with hiring managers and HR leaders to identify staffing needs, source and screen qualified candidates, coordinate interviews, and support a consistent candidate experience.

Qualifications

• 2–3 years of talent acquisition, recruiting, or HR experience in a high-volume environment.
• Knowledge of recruiting processes, onboarding requirements, and employment compliance practices.
• Strong communication, organization, follow-up, and candidate relationship skills.
• Ability to manage multiple open positions, priorities, and site needs in a fast-paced setting.

Responsibilities

• Support full-cycle recruiting for hourly, technical, and select salaried roles across multiple food manufacturing sites.
• Source, screen, and evaluate candidates using job boards, referrals, and other channels.
• Coordinate interviews, onboarding, and pre-employment steps, ensuring a positive candidate experience.
• Develop talent pipelines to support current staffing and future succession needs.

Skills

Talent acquisition

Recruiting

HR experience

Communication

Multi-site coordination

Education

Bachelor’s degree in HR

Tools

HRIS

ATS

Timekeeping systems

Job description

Ellison is a food solutions partner for brands demanding premium inclusions specific to their formula, process, consumer, and path to commercialization.

Combining culinary creativity, food-science expertise, responsive collaboration, and scalable manufacturing, we create solutions that perform in the product, in production, and in the market.

The Talent Acquisition Specialist supports recruitment and onboarding within a fast-paced food manufacturing environment across multiple sites. This role partners with hiring managers and HR leaders to identify staffing needs, source and screen qualified candidates, coordinate interviews, and support a consistent candidate experience. The Talent Acquisition Specialist also helps manage the onboarding process to ensure new hires are prepared for a successful start while supporting compliance with company policies, food safety expectations, and employment practices.

Recruitment & Talent Acquisition

• Support full-cycle recruiting for hourly, technical, and select salaried roles across multiple food manufacturing sites.
• Partner with hiring managers and HR leaders to understand staffing needs, job requirements, shift schedules, and site-specific workforce priorities.
• Source, screen, and evaluate candidates using job boards, referrals, community partnerships, and other recruiting channels.
• Build and maintain talent pipelines for critical hourly, technical, and leadership feeder roles to support current staffing levels and future succession needs.
• Develop relationships with community partners, schools, workforce agencies, referral sources, and industry networks to create a steady pool of qualified candidates for multiple sites.
• Coordinate interviews, assessments, hiring manager feedback, offer approvals, and pre-employment processes.
• Coordinate the onboarding process from offer acceptance through the new hire’s first days of employment.
• Ensure completion of new hire paperwork, background checks, employment eligibility verification, system entries, and required pre-employment steps.
• Partner with HR, operations, safety, quality, and training teams to support site-specific orientation and readiness for food manufacturing roles.
• Support managers and employees in identifying training and development needs during onboarding and throughout the employment lifecycle.
• Coordinate with managers, HR, and site leadership to help connect employees with role-specific training, development resources, and follow-up support.
• Provide timely communication to candidates and new hires to create a positive, organized, and welcoming experience.

Multi-Site HR Support & Compliance

• Support recruiting activity, hiring updates, and onboarding coordination for multiple locations while maintaining consistent processes and service levels.
• Maintain accurate applicant tracking, onboarding, and HRIS data, including timely updates to candidate and new hire records.
• Assist with recruiting metrics, open position reports, and communication of hiring status to HR and operations leaders.
• Track pipeline activity, candidate availability, recurring staffing gaps, and emerging succession needs to help HR and operations leaders plan ahead.
• Analyze hiring trends, labor market conditions, recruitment activity, and compensation data to help inform sourcing strategies, hiring decisions, and staffing plans.
• Share market insights with HR and operations leaders to support competitive hiring practices, candidate attraction, and retention of key talent.
• Follow applicable employment laws, company policies, food safety practices, and confidentiality requirements throughout the hiring and onboarding process.

Hours:

• Typically M-F day schedule, on site
• 2nd and 3rd shift hours or weekends may be required occasionally
• Flexible schedule for holidays

Skills/Work Experience Needed:

Required

• 2–3 years of talent acquisition, recruiting, or HR experience, preferably in food manufacturing, manufacturing, or a similar high-volume environment
• Experience supporting recruitment for hourly production, technical, and operations roles across multiple sites
• Knowledge of recruiting processes, applicant tracking systems, onboarding requirements, and employment compliance practices
• Strong communication, organization, follow-up, and candidate relationship skills
• Ability to manage multiple open positions, priorities, hiring managers, and site needs in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to build proactive talent pipelines and support workforce planning for staffing levels, hard-to-fill roles, and succession needs
• Ability to support managers and employees with training, development, and onboarding needs throughout the employment lifecycle
• Ability to analyze hiring trends, recruitment metrics, labor market conditions, and compensation data to support effective hiring practices
• Experience with HRIS and timekeeping systems

Preferred

• Bachelor’s degree in HR, Business, or related field