Vice President of Talent Acquisition

Our client is a growing field services company with approximately 4,000 employees, the large majority of whom are skilled labor, including a significant H2B and seasonal workforce. The company has grown steadily through acquisition and is now looking for a VP of Talent to build a talent function equal to that growth. Recruiting today is handled by a team of six recruiters who are effective at day-to-day, hand-to-hand field recruiting but are operating without a broader strategy, formal structure, or modern tooling. This is a newly elevated, executive-level position reporting to the CHRO. Why This Role Matters This is a strategic build, not a staffing role: the team can already execute reqs - what's missing is a talent strategy, succession planning, and the infrastructure to scale. No legacy systems or playbook to inherit: the mandate is to design the talent operating model from first principles, not optimize something that already exists. The company has no formal succession planning, internal mobility pathways, or leadership development programming in place today across its skilled-labor and field workforce. Leadership is treating this as a priority hire and is prepared to pay for the right level of talent - the company is ready to hire immediately. What You'll Do Build the Function Design the company's talent operating model from scratch - sourcing strategy, interview architecture, hiring manager enablement, ATS/technology stack, and reporting infrastructure. Create proprietary channels for sourcing, tracking, and developing talent, particularly for skilled trades and visa's/seasonal pipelines that generic job boards don't serve well. Apply structured problem solving and process design to build a scalable, repeatable talent system rather than a collection of ad-hoc practices. Establish clear metrics, dashboards, and a funnel/pipeline view of hiring and talent performance (time-to-fill, conversion by stage, source effectiveness, quality of hire) to give leadership real visibility. Own Workforce & Succession Planning Design and lead a scalable strategy for workforce planning, addressing a recurring operational challenge. Build and manage a succession planning process to identify and prepare future leaders across field and corporate roles. Create internal mobility pathways so employees - especially high-potential field talent - have real routes for growth within the company. Develop People & Culture Implement leadership development programs and career paths aligned with the company's growth plans. Standardize performance management, including talent calibration and development planning, across a workforce that has operated without consistent process. Help shape and reinforce culture as the company continues to integrate newly acquired businesses and their teams. Lead & Develop the Recruiting Team Manage and coach the current recruiting team, elevating their capability and strategic fluency. Bring structure and process discipline to a team that is strong operationally but has been working without a playbook. Drive a strong candidate experience and build effective partnerships between recruiters, hiring managers, and field operators. Partner at the Executive Level Operate as a credible, structured thought partner to HR leadership and business-unit operators, translating growth and workforce priorities into a coherent talent plan. Use talent analytics to inform decisions on hiring, internal movement, and succession - not just report on activity after the fact. Support integration of talent and workforce planning as the company continues to grow through acquisition. Partner with HR leadership on compensation benchmarking and equity as it relates to attracting and retaining talent, particularly in competitive skilled-trades markets. What We're Looking For The Core Profile 10+ years in talent leadership, with a proven track record of driving transformational change in a high-growth or acquisitive environment. Has already served as a VP of Talent (or equivalent senior talent leader) within a field services or comparable skilled-labor business. A genuine builder's mentality: comfortable with ambiguity, energized by designing systems and processes from nothing, and able to translate structured thinking into durable operating infrastructure. Expertise spanning the full talent lifecycle: recruiting strategy, leadership development, succession planning, internal mobility, and performance management - not recruiting alone. Experience with workforce planning is a strong plus given the scale of that population here. Comfortable operating strategically while still willing to be hands-on when needed - this is fundamentally a strategy and structure-building hire, not a tactical recruiting role. Track record standing up talent infrastructure, succession planning, and reporting where little to none existed before. Also Valued Experience integrating talent functions through prior acquisitions. Working knowledge of labor and employment law relevant to a skilled-trades workforce, along with DEI best practices. A demonstrated ability to develop and elevate an existing team rather than replace it. Strong executive presence and influence - able to shape thinking with the CEO, HR leadership, and operators, not just execute their direction. Get to know our Human Resources (HR) Recruiter #J-18808-Ljbffr