Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Employment Manager

🎯 Role Definition

Are you a strategic leader passionate about building high-performing teams? As our Employment Manager, you will be the architect of our talent acquisition function. This pivotal role involves designing and executing innovative recruitment strategies, leading a team of talented recruiters, and partnering with senior leadership to forecast and fulfill future hiring needs. You will be responsible for the full spectrum of employment activities, from enhancing our employer brand to ensuring a compliant and efficient hiring process. Your success will be measured by your ability to attract top talent, improve key recruitment metrics, and cultivate a world-class candidate experience that reflects our company's values.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist
Lead Recruiter
Human Resources Generalist (with a strong focus on recruitment)

Advancement To:

Director of Talent Acquisition
Senior Human Resources Manager
Head of People / VP of Human Resources

Lateral Moves:

HR Business Partner
Compensation & Benefits Manager
Organizational Development Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop, implement, and continuously refine comprehensive, end-to-end recruitment strategies and processes that align with the company's strategic goals and workforce planning needs.
Lead, mentor, and manage a team of recruiters and sourcers, setting clear performance goals, providing regular coaching, and fostering a collaborative, high-performance team culture.
Oversee the entire full-cycle recruitment process for a variety of roles, including sourcing, screening, interviewing, extending offers, and negotiating compensation packages, ensuring a high-quality candidate experience.
Partner closely with hiring managers and department heads to understand their talent needs, define role requirements, and develop effective sourcing strategies for each unique position.
Champion and manage the candidate experience from initial contact to onboarding, ensuring all interactions are professional, engaging, and reflective of our employer brand.
Utilize data and analytics to track, analyze, and report on key recruitment metrics (e.g., time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, source effectiveness, quality of hire) to drive continuous improvement.
Manage and optimize the use of our Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and other recruitment technologies to ensure data integrity, process efficiency, and a seamless workflow.
Develop and execute innovative sourcing strategies to build robust talent pipelines for current and future openings, including passive candidate outreach, networking, and leveraging online platforms.
Lead diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives within the recruitment process, implementing strategies to attract a diverse pool of qualified candidates.
Manage relationships with external recruitment agencies, third-party vendors, and negotiation of their contracts and terms of service when necessary.
Stay abreast of industry trends, market intelligence, and best practices in talent acquisition to ensure our strategies remain competitive and effective.
Collaborate with the marketing and communications teams to develop and enhance our employer brand through social media, career fairs, university relations, and other community engagement initiatives.
Ensure all recruitment and hiring practices are in full compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws and regulations (e.g., EEO, OFCCP, ADA).
Design and conduct interview training programs for hiring managers and interview panels to ensure a consistent, fair, and effective evaluation process.
Create and manage the annual recruitment budget, effectively allocating resources to maximize ROI on sourcing channels and recruitment activities.
Drive the offer process, including creating offer letters, managing approvals, presenting offers to candidates, and facilitating negotiations.
Develop and maintain a network of key talent and industry contacts to proactively source high-caliber candidates for critical roles.
Oversee the pre-employment process, including background checks and reference checks, ensuring a smooth transition for new hires.
Partner with the broader HR team to ensure a seamless handover from recruitment to the new hire onboarding experience.
Conduct regular meetings with leadership to provide updates on recruitment activities, progress against hiring goals, and challenges in the talent market.
Manage recruitment for executive-level and other sensitive, high-profile positions with the utmost discretion and professionalism.

Secondary Functions

Partner with HR leadership on workforce planning and succession planning initiatives to anticipate future talent needs.
Contribute to the development and execution of employee retention and engagement programs based on insights gained during the hiring process.
Assist in analyzing compensation and benefits trends in the market to ensure our offer packages remain competitive.
Participate in or lead special HR projects related to talent management, performance reviews, and organizational development.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS): Deep proficiency with modern ATS platforms such as Greenhouse, Lever, Workday Recruiting, or similar systems.
HRIS Expertise: Familiarity with Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) like Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, or ADP for seamless data flow.
Advanced Sourcing Tools: Mastery of sourcing techniques using tools like LinkedIn Recruiter, SeekOut, Gem, and Boolean search strings.
Recruitment Analytics: Ability to create dashboards and analyze recruitment metrics (KPIs) to inform strategy and demonstrate ROI.
Employment Law & Compliance: Strong working knowledge of EEO, OFCCP, ADA, and other relevant employment regulations.
Recruitment Marketing: Experience using social media and other digital platforms for employer branding and candidate outreach.

Soft Skills

Strategic Thinking: Ability to design long-term talent strategies that align with business objectives.
Leadership & Team Management: Proven experience in leading, motivating, and developing a team of recruitment professionals.
Exceptional Communication: Superior verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to influence and articulate a compelling vision to candidates and stakeholders.
Negotiation & Influence: Expert ability to negotiate complex offers and influence decision-making at all levels of the organization.
Relationship Management: A natural ability to build and maintain strong, trust-based relationships with candidates, hiring managers, and senior leaders.
Problem-Solving & Decision Making: Strong analytical skills and the capacity to make sound, data-driven decisions in a fast-paced environment.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's Degree from an accredited institution.

Preferred Education:

Master’s Degree in a related field.
HR Certification (e.g., SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SPHR, TA-CP).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Human Resources Management
Business Administration
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Communications

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

7-10 years of progressive experience in full-cycle talent acquisition.

Preferred:

A minimum of 3 years of experience in a people management or leadership capacity, directly overseeing a team of recruiters.
Demonstrable experience developing and implementing successful, large-scale recruiting strategies.
Experience recruiting for a wide range of positions, from entry-level to senior leadership, preferably within a similar industry.