Talent Acquisition Specialist

Description We're growing - join our award winning culture! Under the general direction of the Organizational Development Manager, the Talent Acquisition Specialist leads Lakeland Care’s full-cycle talent acquisition strategy and recruitment processes to support organizational growth and workforce needs. This position partners with hiring leaders to develop and execute innovative, market-informed recruitment strategies, leveraging proactive sourcing techniques, talent pipeline development, employer branding, and candidate engagement best practices. The Talent Acquisition Specialist manages the candidate journey from requisition development and position marketing through selection, offer acceptance, and pre-employment activities, ensuring a seamless and positive experience for candidates and hiring teams. The Talent Acquisition Specialist works closely with Marketing, Human Resources, and Organizational Development functions to strengthen Lakeland Care’s employment brand, expand talent outreach efforts, enhance the candidate experience, and support a smooth transition into orientation and onboarding. This role attracts, assesses, and connects top talent to opportunities that align with Lakeland Care's mission, values, culture, and competencies while advancing equitable, inclusive, data-informed, and legally compliant hiring practices. The position also supports a successful transition from candidate to employee through strong partnership in onboarding and workforce integration efforts. Essential Competencies: Lead and execute full-cycle recruitment activities for assigned positions, including requisition review, job posting, sourcing, screening, interviewing, selection support, offer preparation, and pre-employment coordination. Create, post, and update job postings across internal and external recruitment channels, including career sites, social media, educational partners, community boards, and staffing partners. Conduct candidate screens and interviews, recommend qualified candidates, coordinate hiring leader interviews, and support timely and consistent selection decisions. Prepare and extend employment offers within established guidelines and coordinate applicable pre-employment steps, including reference checks, background screening, and required new hire documentation. Maintain accurate applicant tracking system data, recruitment records, offer documentation, and recruitment reporting. Partner with leaders to understand staffing needs, position requirements, workforce trends, and hard-to-fill role challenges. Analyze recruitment activity, labor market information, candidate availability, and hiring outcomes to recommend practical recruitment strategies. Research and recommend new sources for active and passive candidate recruiting, including diverse and inclusive outreach opportunities. Identify barriers and process gaps within the recruitment process and recommend improvements that strengthen efficiency, timeliness, and quality of hire. Support compliant recruitment practices, including equal employment opportunity expectations, affirmative action considerations, job description alignment, and consistent selection processes. Deliver a positive, professional, and responsive candidate experience from first contact through offer acceptance and transition to onboarding. Ensure recruitment practices reflect Lakeland Care’s employment value proposition, mission, vision, values, and organizational competencies. Collaborate with Organizational Development and HR team members to support a smooth preboarding and new hire transition. Maintain timely communication with applicants, hiring leaders, and internal partners regarding recruitment status, next steps, and hiring timelines. Monitor recruitment metrics and feedback to evaluate the effectiveness of recruiting efforts and identify continuous improvement opportunities. Partner with hiring leaders to enhance recruitment effectiveness by developing and maintaining training, tools, and resources that support best-practice interviewing, candidate assessment, equitable hiring decisions, and a consistent candidate experience. Demonstrate professionalism, empathy, and discretion when interacting with applicants, employees, leaders, and community partners. Adapt communication style to meet the needs of diverse candidates and stakeholders while maintaining consistency and equality in the recruitment process. Promote inclusive recruitment practices that value diverse backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and talents. Respond constructively to sensitive or complex situations and maintain confidentiality in all applicant and employee matters. Consult with hiring leaders and Human Resources partners regarding position descriptions, requisition creation, compensation considerations, candidate qualifications, and sourcing strategies. Build and maintain candidate pipelines and community partnerships that support current and future workforce needs. Collaborate with Marketing to strengthen recruitment messaging, employment branding, social media content, online reputation, and external employment presence. Communicate with leaders and employees to promote internal opportunities, employee referrals, and a consistent understanding of recruitment processes. Represent Lakeland Care with educational institutions, community organizations, employment partners, and candidates in a manner that builds trust and organizational credibility while cultivating talent pipelines through the development, coordination, and oversight of internship opportunities and educational partnerships. Represent Lakeland Care at recruiting events, career fairs, community outreach activities, educational programs, and workforce development initiatives to strengthen the organization’s visibility, talent pipelines, and employer brand. Promote Lakeland Care’s mission, vision, values, culture, and employment experience through authentic candidate engagement, recruitment marketing, and community partnerships. Partner with Marketing and Organizational Development to advance organizational storytelling, strengthen employer branding strategies, and ensure a consistent and compelling employment value proposition across recruitment channels. Recognize and advocate for the connection between talent acquisition, candidate experience, employee onboarding, engagement, retention, and overall organizational performance. Contribute to a culture of continuous improvement by evaluating recruitment processes and systems, identifying opportunities for innovation, providing constructive feedback, and supporting organizational change initiatives. Requirements Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Communications, Marketing, Organizational Development, or related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience that provides the required knowledge, skills, and abilities. Minimum of three (3) years of experience in talent acquisition, recruitment, human resources, workforce development, or closely related field. Experience conducting behavioral-based interviews, supporting selection processes, and managing full-cycle recruitment activities required. Experience partnering with hiring leaders to develop recruitment strategies, advise on candidate selection, and support hiring decisions preferred. Experience using applicant tracking systems, human resource information systems, and recruitment technologies required; Paylocity experience preferred. Experience utilizing sourcing tools, social media platforms, recruitment marketing strategies, and talent pipeline development techniques preferred. Experience with employer branding, recruitment marketing, community outreach, internship programs, workforce development initiatives, or educational partnerships preferred. Experience recruiting within healthcare, managed care, long-term care, human services, or other mission-driven organizations preferred. Strong verbal, written, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills, including the ability to represent the organization professionally to candidates and community partners. Strong organizational ability with demonstrated skill in prioritizing work, managing multiple priorities, vacancies, timelines, and stakeholder expectations while maintaining attention to detail. Knowledge of employment laws, equal employment opportunity requirements, fair hiring practices, and other applicable human resources regulations preferred. Ability to analyze recruitment metrics and trends to identify opportunities for process improvement and recruitment effectiveness preferred. Ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality and exercise sound judgment, professionalism, and discretion in sensitive situations. Lakeland Care is a Wisconsin-based non-profit organization that focuses on creating a world we all want to live in. With long-standing roots as a managed care organization (MCO), Lakeland Care provides long-term care services and supports to eligible frail elders and individuals with physical and intellectual or developmental disabilities to achieve their daily and lifelong goals through Wisconsin’s Family Care program. Currently we serve in 22 counties and have 11 offices in the Central to North East region of Wisconsin. Our Mission Empowering individuals. Strengthening communities. Inspiring futures. Our Vision To create a world we all want to live in. Our Core Values Kindness – We believe kindness is always possible and that no compassionate act is ever wasted. Inclusion – We believe that open hearts and open minds are the only path to a brighter future. Trust – We believe that honesty is still in style and that promises still have power. We are an equal employment opportunity employer functioning under an Affiliation Plan. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law. We are an organization that participates in E-Verify. #J-18808-Ljbffr