Role SummaryThe Director of Talent Acquisition & Employee Experience is a critical leadership role responsible for designing and executing strategies that attract top talent while fostering an engaging, inclusive, and connected employee culture.  The Director drives the effort to centralize and standardize production recruitment processes and programs to support organizational growth. This leader will help to cultivate a high-performance team. This role oversees end-to-end talent acquisition, employer branding, onboarding, and enterprise-wide engagement initiatives that enhance the employee lifecycle from first touchpoint to long-term retention. The ideal candidate is both strategic and hands-on—comfortable building scalable programs, influencing senior leaders, and rolling up their sleeves to activate initiatives across our manufacturing plants and distribution centers, corporate office, support center, and operations teams. Key ResponsibilitiesStrategic LeadershipBuild and lead a best-in-class TA function that supports high-volume manufacturing, corporate, support center, operations, technical, and leadership hiring. Develop and implement a long-term talent acquisition strategy aligned with business growth and workforce planning.Oversee full-cycle recruiting, including sourcing, selection, assessment, and offer processes. Optimize TA processes, workflow, and technology (ATS, talent intelligence tools, recruitment automation). Drive employer branding and recruitment marketing efforts to strengthen Jack Link’s presence across digital channels, community partnerships, universities, and trade programs. Partner with leaders and HR Business Partners across sites to anticipate talent needs and build proactive pipelines. 
Leadership and Cross Functional InfluenceLead, coach, and develop a team of talent acquisition professionals and employee experience specialists. Serve as a strategic partner to the HR Leadership Team and executive stakeholders. Use data and analytics to inform decisions, track KPIs, and measure the impact of TA and engagement programs. Manage budgets, external vendors, and key workforce-related partnerships. Lead workforce planning initiatives across departments, establishing talent pipelines for critical manufacturing roles, skilled trades, and executive leadership positions. Partner with Leadership, HRBP, and Communications teams to design and implement inclusive recruiting strategies and employment branding initiatives. Process OptimizationDrive continuous improvement and automation of recruitment processes using data and technology to increase hiring speed, quality, and effectiveness. Streamline and simplify the interview and hiring process to ensure speed and quality. Implement recruiting metrics and dashboards to track performance and continuously improve outcomes. Ensure compliance with employment laws and best practices. Work closely with Legal and Finance to manage vendor relationships, negotiate recruiting-related MSAs/SLAs, and control recruitment technology and agency spending. Cross-Functional CollaborationCollaborate with Marketing and Communications to enhance digital presence and candidate storytelling. Collaborate with Training & Development and Talent Management to support internal mobility programs, upskilling initiatives, and succession planning. Coordinate with IT and HRIS teams to select, implement, and optimize recruiting technologies, ATS systems, and data analytics tools. Provide guidance and coaching to cross-functional hiring teams, ensuring consistent, equitable interview practices and strong partnership with operations leaders. Lead cross-departmental initiatives impacting recruitment, including onboarding redesign, workforce retention strategies, and continuous improvement projects. Build strong relationships with production-site leadership, ensuring TA strategies meet the unique needs of plant operations, safety culture, and shift-based staffing. 
