Director Talent Acquisition

The Director of Talent Acquisition provides enterprise leadership for Cherokee Federal’s talent strategy, ensuring the organization attracts, engages, and hires the specialized talent required to support mission‑critical federal programs. This role oversees all aspects of talent acquisition including workforce planning, sourcing innovation, employment branding, recruiting operations, and onboarding effectiveness and ensures alignment with organizational growth, contract readiness, and long‑term business objectives. The Director drives operational excellence, builds high‑performing teams, and partners with senior leadership to shape the workforce capabilities needed for future success.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

Strategic Talent Leadership

• Develops and executes a multi‑year talent acquisition strategy that supports organizational growth, contract pursuits, and evolving workforce needs.
• Serves as a strategic advisor to executive leadership, providing insights into labor market trends, competitive intelligence, and talent risks that influence business decisions.
• Partners with business leaders to forecast hiring demand and ensure TA strategy aligns with federal contracting requirements and long‑term organizational goals.
  
  

Enterprise Recruiting Operations

• Leads all recruiting operations, ensuring scalable, efficient, and compliant processes that support high‑volume and rapid‑response hiring.
• Establishes enterprise standards, policies, and performance expectations that drive consistency, quality, and operational discipline across the TA function.
• Evaluates and improves recruiting processes, tools, and workflows to enhance speed, quality of hire, and recruiter productivity.
  
  

Sourcing Strategy & Talent Pipelines

• Designs and oversees comprehensive sourcing strategies, including passive outreach, talent communities, recruitment marketing, and proactive pipeline development for critical skill areas.
• Ensures readiness to staff cleared and specialized roles quickly in support of contract awards and surge hiring needs.
• Leverages data, technology, and market insights to identify new sourcing channels and optimize talent attraction efforts.
  
  

Employment Brand & Talent Marketing

• Leads the development and evolution of Cherokee Federal’s employment brand, ensuring messaging reflects mission impact, organizational values, and competitive differentiators.
• Oversees recruitment marketing strategies, digital presence, and social media engagement to strengthen visibility and attract diverse, high‑caliber talent.
  
  

Leadership & Team Development

• Directs, coaches, and develops a high‑performing TA leadership team, ensuring clear accountability, continuous learning, and operational excellence.
• Fosters a culture of partnership, transparency, and service excellence between TA, hiring managers, and internal stakeholders.
• Ensures the TA team is equipped with modern tools, training, and capabilities to support evolving business demands.
  
  

Stakeholder & Vendor Management

• Builds strong, consultative relationships with business leaders, program managers, and proposal teams to ensure TA is a strategic partner in contract readiness and delivery.
• Oversees vendor strategy, including evaluation and optimization of external recruiting agencies and technology partners.
  
  

Data, Metrics & Insights

• Establishes a robust analytics framework to measure TA performance, forecast hiring needs, and inform strategic decisions.
• Provides executive‑level reporting on talent trends, pipeline health, and operational performance.
• Uses data to evaluate the effectiveness of recruiting tools, programs, and initiatives and to drive continuous improvement.
  
  

SUPERVISORY / MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY

Provides strategic direction to TA leaders and managers; sets enterprise‑wide priorities, policies, and standards; and makes decisions that impact organizational capability, contract readiness, and business performance.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required with 15 years of progressive HR/TA leadership experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated success leading enterprise recruiting functions and implementing modern recruiting programs at scale.
• Experience with global or multi‑site recruiting operations is highly preferred.
• Proven ability to lead through complexity, influence senior leaders, and drive organizational change.
• Proven track record managing full-lifecycle recruiting for security-cleared positions (Secret, TS, TS/SCI) in a federal contracting environment.
• Deep understanding of proposal and capture workforce staffing requirements, including key personnel designations, incumbent capture strategy, and staffing matrix development.
  
  

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Expertise in talent strategy, workforce planning, and organizational capability building.
• Strong leadership, communication, and relationship‑building skills with the ability to influence at all levels. Deep knowledge of recruiting technologies, HR enterprise systems, and data‑driven decision‑making.
• Ability to design and execute innovative sourcing strategies for diverse and specialized roles.
• Demonstrated ability to lead in a fast‑paced, mission‑driven federal contracting environment.
• Working knowledge of security clearance processes and the unique sourcing challenges of cleared talent markets (Secret, TS, TS/SCI).
• Familiarity with leading ATS and HRIS platforms such as Oracle Fusion; experience evaluating and implementing recruiting technology preferred.
• Familiarity with veteran hiring programs, military community outreach, and military occupational specialty (MOS) crosswalks to civilian roles.
  
  

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