Recruiter / Talent Acquisition Junior / Senior / Lead

Recruiter / Talent Acquisition Junior / Senior / Lead

Chicago, Illinois, United States Or refer someone Job Openings Recruiter / Talent Acquisition Junior / Senior / Lead

About the Job Recruiter / Talent Acquisition Junior / Senior / Lead

Catalyst Labs is a specialized talent agency with a specialized vertical in Recruitment, People Operations, and Talent Acquisition. We embed ourselves directly into our clients' hiring infrastructure functioning as an extension of their internal talent teams and leadership, not as an external vendor.

We work closely with Founders, CHROs, Heads of People, and Talent Acquisition Leads across Tier 1 VC-backed startups, scaling technology companies, investment entities, and enterprise organizations. Our clients are building high-performance teams across engineering, product, finance, GTM, and operations and they rely on disciplined, data-driven recruiters who understand speed, quality, and stakeholder alignment.

We take pride in facilitating conversations that match your recruiting expertise, operational rigor, and strategic understanding of the people function. This is a general / expression of interest therefore by submitting your CV, you will be considered for upcoming roles with our clients.

Locations: Most of our client base is concentrated in California, New York, select hubs across Europe and the UK.

Who Can Apply: We welcome Recruitment and People professionals with demonstrated experience in internal talent teams, embedded recruiting functions, reputable staffing agencies, or HR/People departments within respected organizations. Experience: From early-career recruiters and talent coordinators to senior talent partners, lead recruiters, and people operations managers.

General Requirements by Role:

• Proven experience managing full-cycle recruitment sourcing, screening, stakeholder alignment, interviewing, and closing candidates.
• Background in a reputable internal talent team, a Tier 1 agency, a venture-backed startup, or a high-caliber corporate HR environment.
• Strong understanding of modern recruiting fundamentals, including structured interviewing, scorecards, competency-based assessments, and hiring manager alignment.
• Hands-on experience in at least one major recruiting specialty:
• Technical Recruiting (AI/ML, engineering, product)
• GTM & Sales Hiring
• G&A Recruitment (Finance, HR, Ops)
• Executive Search
• High-volume or campus recruiting
• International/remote hiring strategies
• Familiarity with modern Talent and PeopleOps tooling:
• ATS platforms (Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby)
• Sourcing tools & automation
• CRM and pipeline engagement systems
• Hiring analytics, dashboards, and funnel metrics
• Onboarding workflows and HRIS systems
• Experience building partnerships with hiring managers, advising on role design, and refining hiring processes.
• Strong research and sourcing capabilities beyond LinkedIn using advanced search methods, market mapping, and competitor analysis.
• Ability to manage candidate experience with professionalism, clarity, and speed.
• Experience in People Operations (policies, onboarding, retention, culture, performance cycles) is a strong plus.
• Candidates with a track record of high-quality placements, reduction of time-to-fill, process optimization, or scaling teams in fast-paced environments will stand out.

Why Work With Us?

• Leverage the relationships we've built with CHROs, Heads of Talent, and leadership across multiple industries.
• Work with recruiters who understand modern recruiting funnels, sourcing strategies, close mechanics, not outdated HR scripts.
• We prioritize your confidentiality and privacy throughout the recruitment process.
• No spamming.
• Support refining your resume specifically for the roles we shortlist you for.
• Direct communication channels bypass gate keepers and speak directly with hiring managers and decision-makers.
• Insight on compensation structures across companies, including performance-based bonuses, hybrid recruiter/PeopleOps roles, and internal vs. embedded tracks.

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