Talent Acquisition Program Manager - Remote

POSITION SUMMARY 

The Senior Talent Acquisition Program Manager drives strategic hiring initiatives that strengthen Empower’s ability to attract exceptional talent within a hyper-growth, highly regulated 503A and 503B environment. This role owns end-to-end execution of enterprise Talent Acquisition programs, including Early Careers, Always-On Pipelining, Competitive Hiring, and strategic initiatives, ensuring projects remain aligned, visible, and deliver measurable business outcomes. Success in this role is measured through operational and program-delivery metrics—milestone adherence, execution quality, and stakeholder satisfaction—rather than recruiting-volume metrics. Leveraging AI as a force multiplier, the position accelerates planning, reporting, decision-making, knowledge management, and operational efficiency while maintaining quality, compliance, and candidate experience. Success requires Talent Acquisition expertise, disciplined project management, exceptional stakeholder partnership, and continuous improvement. This opportunity is designed for P80–P90 talent demonstrating strategic thinking, execution rigor, learning agility, and unwavering accountability for delivering scalable recruiting programs that create sustainable organizational impact. 

RESPONSIBILITIES 

Program Leadership 

• Program Ownership: Own end-to-end planning and execution of strategic Talent Acquisition programs, such as early careers, proactive pipelining, competitive intelligence, and other prioritized initiatives. Develop comprehensive project plans, manage milestones, dependencies, risks, and deliverables while leveraging AI-enabled planning, documentation, and reporting tools to improve execution speed, stakeholder visibility, decision quality, and overall program performance across multiple concurrent workstreams supporting business growth.
• Strategic Execution: Translate Talent Acquisition priorities into structured project roadmaps by defining objectives, timelines, success metrics, governance, and resource requirements. Balance competing priorities while proactively identifying risks, resolving issues, and utilizing AI-generated insights to strengthen planning accuracy, optimize resource allocation, improve execution consistency, and ensure projects deliver measurable business value aligned with organizational objectives and hiring strategies.
• Risk Management: Establish disciplined project governance by monitoring progress, identifying emerging risks, escalating issues appropriately, and implementing mitigation strategies before challenges impact hiring outcomes. Utilize AI-assisted reporting, predictive analysis, and operational dashboards to improve visibility, support informed decision-making, strengthen accountability, and ensure strategic Talent Acquisition programs remain on schedule, within scope, and positioned for long-term success.

Talent Acquisition Expertise 

• Recruiting Partnership: Partner closely with recruiters, sourcers, Talent Acquisition leaders, and hiring managers to translate recruiting strategies into executable project plans that improve hiring outcomes. Apply practical expertise in sourcing, funnel management, candidate experience, employer branding, and workforce planning while leveraging AI tools to enhance planning, collaboration, documentation, and operational effectiveness without replacing sound recruiting judgment.
• Pipeline Strategy: Support strategic hiring programs by understanding the unique objectives, timelines, and success measures associated with campus recruiting, evergreen talent pipelines, and competitive hiring initiatives. Monitor funnel health, identify substantive recruiting risks beyond project schedules, leverage AI-driven insights to recognize trends, and recommend corrective actions that strengthen pipeline quality and hiring effectiveness.
• Program Excellence: Develop repeatable operating models, implementation plans, and recruiting playbooks that enable Talent Acquisition programs to scale consistently across business functions. Capture lessons learned, standardize best practices, and use AI-supported knowledge management to improve documentation quality, accelerate onboarding, preserve institutional knowledge, and continuously enhance execution across future hiring initiatives.

Cross-Functional Collaboration 

• Stakeholder Alignment: Serve as the central point of coordination across Talent Acquisition, Human Resources, Marketing, business leaders, universities, vendors, and external partners to maintain alignment, resolve dependencies, and ensure seamless execution. Facilitate productive discussions using structured communication, AI-assisted meeting preparation, and transparent reporting that builds trust, strengthens collaboration, and drives successful project outcomes.
• Executive Communication: Deliver concise, data-driven updates that provide leaders with clear visibility into project health, hiring progress, program risks, and recommended actions. Develop executive-ready dashboards, presentations, and status reports enhanced through AI-generated analysis while ensuring messaging remains accurate, actionable, compliant, and aligned with organizational priorities and strategic workforce objectives.
• Event Coordination: Coordinate recruiting events, career fairs, campus engagement activities, hiring campaigns, and cross-functional initiatives that strengthen employer branding and talent attraction efforts. Manage logistics, communications, stakeholder readiness, and execution plans while utilizing AI to streamline planning activities, improve scheduling efficiency, enhance candidate experiences, and maximize program effectiveness throughout each recruiting cycle.

Operational Excellence 

• Performance Analytics: Measure and communicate program effectiveness through meaningful recruiting metrics, dashboards, and business insights including pipeline health, conversion rates, hiring velocity, and program outcomes. Leverage AI-powered analytics to identify trends, forecast opportunities, uncover operational improvement areas, and equip leaders with actionable recommendations that strengthen recruiting performance and strategic decision-making.
• Process Improvement: Evaluate Talent Acquisition workflows to identify inefficiencies, eliminate unnecessary complexity, standardize operating procedures, and improve execution quality across recruiting programs. Apply structured continuous improvement methodologies supported by AI-enabled workflow analysis to enhance scalability, reduce manual effort, improve stakeholder experiences, and create sustainable operational excellence supporting organizational growth.
• Vendor Evaluation: Support periodic evaluation and selection of Talent Acquisition vendors, tools, and platforms as program needs evolve, preparing recommendations for leadership review; this role does not hold budget ownership, and hands-on guidance for vendor analysis and selection will be provided as needed.
• Continuous Learning: Maintain awareness of emerging Talent Acquisition practices, project management methodologies, AI capabilities, and industry trends that strengthen organizational performance. Champion innovation through thoughtful experimentation, continuous learning, and disciplined implementation while balancing business agility with governance, compliance, and long-term operational sustainability in a rapidly evolving hiring environment.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS 

• Demonstrated knowledge of Talent Acquisition operations, including recruiting lifecycle management, sourcing strategies, pipeline development, candidate experience, hiring metrics, workforce planning, and recruiting program execution.
• Strong project management capabilities with experience developing project plans, managing timelines, facilitating cross-functional collaboration, mitigating risks, and delivering complex initiatives across multiple stakeholders simultaneously.
• Proficiency using project management platforms, applicant tracking systems, Microsoft 365 applications, reporting tools, dashboards, and AI-enabled productivity solutions to improve planning, communication, documentation, and decision-making.
• Exceptional analytical, organizational, communication, and stakeholder management skills with the ability to synthesize data, influence without authority, solve complex operational challenges, and drive continuous improvement.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS 

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Human Resources, Project Management, Organizational Development, Communications, or a related field required.
• Minimum of 5+ years of combined experience in Talent Acquisition including both full-cycle recruiting and program or project management with demonstrated ownership of enterprise-level Talent Acquisition programs and cross-functional initiatives.
• Practical understanding of recruiting fundamentals, including sourcing strategies, funnel management, candidate experience, pipeline development, hiring stages, and recruiting seasonality.
• Experience managing multiple concurrent projects while coordinating cross-functional stakeholders, communicating project status, mitigating risks, and delivering measurable business outcomes.
• Proficiency with project and change management tools and techniques plus experience working within applicant tracking systems such as Greenhouse.
• Experience supporting candidate attraction, campus recruiting, evergreen hiring programs, competitive hiring initiatives, or large-scale recruiting campaigns is preferred.
• PMP, CAPM, Agile, Scrum, or comparable project management certification is preferred but not required.
• Demonstrated curiosity, learning agility, strategic thinking, execution discipline, and commitment to continuous improvement within fast-paced, high-growth environments.