Job Application for Director of Talent Acquisition at Headlands Research

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At Headlands Research, we are dedicated to enhancing clinical trial delivery within our communities. As a leading network of advanced clinical trial sites, we leverage cutting-edge technology and exceptional support services to broaden outreach and participation. Founded in 2018, our rapidly growing company currently operates 20+ sites across the US and Canada, with plans for further expansion.

Position Summary

The Director of Talent Acquisition is responsible for leading and executing the organization’s talent acquisition strategy across a growing clinical research network. This role serves as both a strategic leader and hands-on recruiter (“player-coach”), balancing leadership responsibilities with direct ownership of critical and high-volume requisitions.

The Director will partner closely with executive leadership, operations, site leadership, and functional teams to attract, hire, and retain top talent across clinical research, healthcare, corporate, and operational functions. The ideal candidate brings deep recruitment expertise, strong leadership capability, operational rigor, and experience scaling recruitment processes in a fast-paced, multi-site environment.

This position is responsible for building a high-performing recruitment function that delivers exceptional candidate experience, hiring manager partnership, and measurable recruiting outcomes aligned with business growth objectives.

Key Responsibilities:

Talent Acquisition Leadership

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.

Full-Cycle Recruitment

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.

Strategic Partnership & Workforce Planning

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.

Employer Branding & Candidate Experience

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.

Compliance & Operational Excellence

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:

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.

Preferred Experience

Experience supporting multi-site or geographically dispersed organizations.
Experience scaling recruiting processes during periods of rapid growth or acquisition activity.
Experience developing recruiting metrics dashboards and reporting for executive leadership.

Work Environment & Travel

Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment supporting multiple locations and business functions.
Occasional travel may be required

Headlands Research will never ask a candidate for personal identifiable information (date of birth, social security number, driver’s license information, etc) via email or messenger tools, or for a financial deposit of any kind.

Headlands Research is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

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Director of Talent Acquisition

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