Director of Talent Acquisition

Headlands Research

Director of Talent Acquisition leading recruitment strategies for clinical research network. Responsible for building high-performing recruitment function and enhancing candidate experience.

Posted 5/23/2026full-timeRemote • 🇺🇸 United StatesLeadWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Lead and develop the Talent Acquisition function across the clinical research network.
Serve as a player-coach by directly managing and filling assigned requisitions while mentoring and supporting the recruiting team.
Develop and execute scalable talent acquisition strategies to support organizational growth and workforce planning initiatives.
Establish recruiting goals, KPIs, service level expectations, and reporting metrics to monitor team performance and hiring effectiveness.
Partner with executive leadership and hiring managers to understand current and future talent needs across sites and corporate functions.
Drive continuous improvement in recruiting processes, workflows, systems, and candidate experience.
Personally manage a portfolio of complex, high-priority or difficult-to-fill requisitions.
Lead full-cycle recruitment activities including sourcing, screening, interviewing, offer negotiation, and closing candidates.
Support hiring across a variety of functions including but not limited to: Operations, Finance, Patient Recruitment, Site leadership, Business development.
Build proactive talent pipelines for critical and recurring roles.
Utilize creative sourcing strategies including direct sourcing, networking, referrals, social media, job boards, and industry partnerships.
Act as a trusted advisor to leaders on hiring strategy, market trends, compensation insights, organizational structure, and talent availability.
Collaborate with HR and business leaders on workforce planning, succession planning, and organizational growth initiatives.
Provide data-driven recommendations and recruiting insights to improve hiring outcomes and reduce time-to-fill.
Enhance and promote the organization’s employer brand within the clinical research and healthcare communities.
Ensure a professional, responsive, and high-quality candidate experience throughout the recruitment lifecycle.
Support recruitment marketing initiatives including career fairs, networking events, social media campaigns, and university/community partnerships.
Ensure recruiting practices comply with applicable employment laws, regulations, and internal policies.
Maintain recruiting data integrity and reporting accuracy within the applicant tracking system (ATS).
Monitor recruiting metrics including time-to-fill, quality of hire, source effectiveness, offer acceptance rates, and recruiter productivity.
Partner with HR and operations leadership to improve onboarding and new hire transition processes.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field preferred.
10+ years of progressive talent acquisition experience, including leadership responsibility.
Experience recruiting within clinical research, healthcare, life sciences, or other highly regulated environments strongly preferred.
Demonstrated success leading full-cycle recruitment in a fast-paced, growth-oriented organization.
Proven ability to operate effectively as a hands-on recruiter while leading and developing a team.
Strong experience recruiting for both operational and corporate roles, including difficult-to-fill positions.
Knowledge of sourcing strategies, recruiting technologies, ATS platforms, and recruitment analytics.
Strong business partnership, communication, influencing, and relationship-building skills.
Ability to manage competing priorities and adapt quickly in a changing environment.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Health insurance
401(k) matching
Flexible work hours
Paid time off
Professional development opportunities

ATS Keywords

✓ Tailor your resume

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard Skills & Tools

talent acquisitionfull-cycle recruitmentsourcing strategiesrecruiting analyticsworkforce planningcandidate experiencereporting metricsdata-driven recommendationsemployer brandingonboarding processes

Soft Skills

leadershipmentoringcommunicationinfluencingrelationship-buildingadaptabilityproblem-solvingteam managementstrategic thinkingcollaboration

Certifications

Bachelor’s degree in Human ResourcesBachelor’s degree in Business Administration