Recruiter and Retention Specialist

Primary purpose: Manage the recruiting, candidate communication, and pre-hire onboarding lifecycle while maintaining clear handoff points to the Payroll & HR Generalist for payroll, personnel-file completion, HR-system setup, benefit-related processing, and post-hire administrative updates. Coordinate structured 30-, 60-, and 90-day retention reviews.

Reports to: HR Director of Compliance

Employment status: Salaried Full-time, exempt

Key Duties

·      Partner with hiring managers to confirm approved openings, job descriptions, qualifications, recruiting plans, and hiring timelines.

·      Post positions, source candidates, screen applications, coordinate interviews, document selection activity, and maintain applicant-tracking records.

·      Coordinate background checks, references, offer letters, pre-employment requirements, and candidate communications using approved criteria and compensation.

·      Manage recruiting and prehire onboarding, including candidate forms, orientation scheduling, policy-acknowledgment coordination, pre-employment requirement tracking, and stakeholder notifications. After the hire is approved, transfer the completed prehire file and onboarding checklist to the Payroll & HR Generalist for personnel-file completion, HRIS/HR-system setup, payroll processing, benefit-related coordination, required training assignments, equipment requests, and approved access requests.

·      Maintain recruiting and onboarding checklists; confirm completion of required prehire documentation before the employee begins work; and ensure all records are accurate, complete, and ready for transfer to the Payroll & HR Generalist for payroll and personnel-file processing.

·      Support department leaders in recruiting and onboarding volunteers by assisting with volunteer opportunity postings, outreach, applicant communications, interview scheduling, required forms, orientation coordination, onboarding checklists, and status follow-up. Department leaders retain responsibility for volunteer selection, placement, supervision, and confirmation of role-specific readiness.

·      Schedule and track 30-, 60-, and 90-day retention reviews; provide role-specific forms to employees and managers; monitor completion; document themes and commitments; assign follow-up actions to the responsible manager or HR owner; and track each action to closure.

·      Escalate overdue retention reviews, onboarding gaps, missing or incomplete documentation, early-retention concerns, and recurring process issues to the HR Director of Compliance, the employee’s manager, and the Payroll & HR Generalist when payroll, HRIS, access, training, or personnel-file follow-up is needed.

·      Track and analyze recruiting sources, time-to-fill, prehire onboarding completion, handoff timeliness, early turnover, review completion, retention trends, and related process gaps; recommend improvements that support accurate payroll processing, timely HR-system updates, and a consistent employee experience.

·      Maintain confidential applicant, onboarding, and employee-related records according to retention, privacy, and access requirements; ensure documentation is organized for authorized HR, payroll, compliance, and audit review.

Core Competencies

·      Recruiting coordination and candidate communication

·      Onboarding workflow management and documentation accuracy

·      Confidentiality, discretion, and sound judgment when handling applicant and employee information

·      Strong organization, follow-through, and ability to manage multiple hiring timelines

·      Collaboration with hiring managers, HR, payroll, and cross-functional partners

·      Retention tracking, issue escalation, and process-improvement mindset

·      Clear written and verbal communication with employees, candidates, and leaders

·      Attention to compliance requirements, policy consistency, and record-retention standards