Principal Specialist, Talent Acquisition (Sourcer)

Role Description

As a key member of the Talent Acquisition team, you will operate with a high degree of autonomy and ownership, serving as a strategic sourcing expert. You will leverage advanced research methodologies, market insights, and talent mapping strategies to identify, engage, and attract top talent across critical business functions.

In this role, you will proactively influence talent strategy by providing market intelligence, competitive insights, and workforce recommendations that enable hiring leaders to make informed decisions. You will partner closely with recruiters, hiring managers, and business leaders to build sustainable talent pipelines, develop innovative sourcing strategies, and solve complex talent challenges before they become hiring needs.

You will understand that every search requires a customized approach and will apply creativity, curiosity, and strategic thinking to uncover and engage talent in highly competitive and niche markets.

What You Will Do

• Serve as a strategic talent sourcing partner supporting RTX Corporate, Enterprise Services, and/or Technology & General Engineering organizations.
• Lead proactive talent mapping initiatives to identify critical talent pools, succession pipelines, and future workforce opportunities aligned to business objectives.
• Design and execute sophisticated sourcing strategies utilizing advanced search techniques, market research, networking, referrals, and competitive intelligence.
• Build and maintain high-quality talent communities and pipelines for current and future hiring needs.
• Conduct comprehensive market analysis, competitor mapping, and talent landscape assessments to inform recruiting and workforce planning strategies.
• Partner with recruiters and hiring leaders during intake discussions to shape search strategies, define target talent profiles, and identify potential market constraints.
• Develop and maintain talent intelligence reports, providing actionable insights on talent availability, compensation trends, competitor activity, geographic considerations, and hiring risks.
• Engage passive candidates through personalized outreach campaigns and relationship-building strategies that strengthen RTX's employer brand.
• Leverage sourcing technologies, CRM platforms, AI-enabled tools, social networking platforms, and applicant tracking systems to maximize talent identification and engagement efforts.
• Collaborate with recruiters to transition qualified talent into active hiring processes while maintaining a seamless candidate experience.
• Provide consultative recommendations to business leaders regarding talent availability, hiring feasibility, market conditions, and alternative workforce strategies.
• Continuously evaluate sourcing effectiveness through data analysis, pipeline health metrics, and conversion trends, implementing improvements to optimize results.
• Champion innovative sourcing practices and share market intelligence, talent trends, and best practices across the Talent Acquisition organization.

Qualifications

• Typically requires a University Degree or equivalent experience and a minimum of 8 years of relevant prior experience, or an Advanced Degree in a related field and a minimum of 5 years of relevant work experience.
• Minimum of 4 years of strategic sourcing, talent intelligence, or proactive recruiting experience in competitive talent markets.
• Prior experience identifying and engaging passive candidates across technical, corporate, engineering, or specialized functional disciplines.

Requirements

• Expertise in talent mapping, market research, competitive intelligence, and workforce planning methodologies.
• Proven ability to build long-term talent pipelines for hard-to-fill, niche, or business-critical roles.
• Advanced sourcing capabilities utilizing LinkedIn Recruiter, CRM platforms, Boolean search methodologies, social sourcing, and emerging talent discovery technologies.
• Experience influencing hiring strategies through talent market insights, competitive intelligence, and workforce analytics.
• Strong consulting and stakeholder management skills with the ability to advise senior leaders and hiring teams on talent availability and market realities.
• Demonstrated ability to translate labor market data, talent trends, and sourcing metrics into actionable business recommendations.
• Exceptional relationship-building and candidate engagement skills, particularly with passive talent.
• Strong analytical mindset with experience measuring pipeline health, sourcing effectiveness, and talent attraction outcomes.
• Ability to influence recruiting strategy and business decisions through data-backed insights, executive presence, and strategic thinking.
• Passion for innovation, talent intelligence, and building proactive talent acquisition capabilities.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision, life insurance.
• Short-term disability, long-term disability.
• 401(k) match.
• Flexible spending accounts.
• Flexible work schedules.
• Employee assistance program.
• Employee Scholar Program.
• Parental leave.
• Paid time off and holidays.