Director, Candidate Development (New York)

Director, Candidate Development – Interim Legal Talent

New York City and Los Angeles Offices | Hybrid (1-2 days in office)

The Opportunity:

Madden Talent Partners is partnering with Major, Lindsey & Africa (MLA) to identify a Director, Candidate Development for its growing Interim Legal Talent practice.

MLA is one of the world’s most recognized legal search and staffing firms. With an established presence across major legal markets in the United States and internationally, MLA partners with leading law firms and corporate legal departments on partner and associate search, retained leadership and board search, and interim legal talent solutions.

This is an exciting opportunity for a driven, relationship-oriented recruiting professional to build a long-term career within a highly respected global platform. The Director will focus on identifying, engaging and developing relationships with exceptional legal talent for sophisticated interim and contract assignments.

Working closely with experienced, client-facing Managing Directors, this person will gain meaningful exposure to the legal staffing market, complex client needs and the commercial side of the business. The role offers strong training and support, access to MLA’s extensive network and client relationships, and a clear path toward increased production, earning potential and broader client-facing responsibility.

Why Join MLA?

• Build your career with one of the most recognized brands in legal search and staffing
• Recruit attorneys and legal professionals for sophisticated interim and contract assignments
• Learn directly from experienced recruiters, Managing Directors and practice leaders
• Gain access to significant client demand and MLA’s extensive legal talent network
• Develop specialized expertise within the legal staffing market
• Collaborate with colleagues across offices and support opportunities beyond your immediate territory
• Grow your production and earning potential within a performance-driven compensation model
• Build toward broader client ownership, business development and a future full-desk role

What You Will Do

• Identify and engage attorneys and other legal professionals through LinkedIn Recruiter, Bullhorn, referrals, direct outreach and market research
• Build and maintain strong pipelines of active and passive candidates across priority legal practice areas
• Conduct thoughtful candidate interviews to assess experience, professional presence, motivation, availability and alignment with client requirements
• Develop compelling and accurate candidate summaries for internal and client-facing teams
• Manage candidate relationships throughout the recruiting process, including interview preparation, compensation discussions, follow-up and offer management
• Maintain regular communication with placed professionals throughout their assignments
• Capture market intelligence from candidate conversations and share relevant insights with recruiting and client-facing colleagues
• Manage multiple searches, candidate relationships and changing priorities with urgency and consistent follow-through
• Collaborate closely with experienced Managing Directors and recruiters across MLA’s broader platform

The Ideal Profile

MLA is looking for someone who is sharp, proactive and genuinely enjoys connecting with people. This person should bring positive energy, professional maturity and the ability to establish credibility with attorneys, candidates and internal stakeholders.

Relevant backgrounds may include:

• Legal recruiting or legal staffing experience
• Approximately one to three years of recruiting experience within legal, technology, finance, life sciences, engineering or another specialized staffing market
• Experience sourcing, interviewing and managing candidates in a high-activity recruiting environment
• An early-career attorney interested in transitioning into a relationship-driven legal recruiting career

What Matters Most

• Strong relationship-building and communication skills
• Professional maturity and the ability to engage sophisticated candidates
• Intellectual curiosity and an interest in learning the legal talent market
• A proactive approach and the ability to create momentum without waiting for direction
• Strong urgency, responsiveness and attention to follow-through
• Sound candidate judgment and the ability to assess experience beyond keywords
• Focus and resilience within a fast-moving, performance-oriented environment
• A collaborative mindset combined with motivation to achieve individual results
• Integrity, candor and a genuine commitment to continued learning

Education and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required
• A J.D. is valuable but not required
• Prior recruiting, staffing, sourcing, sales or other relationship-driven professional experience is preferred
• Experience within legal or another specialized staffing market is especially relevant

Major, Lindsey & Africa is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.