Talent Acquisition Specialist (Recruiter)

Description

Position at MTA Headquarters

This position is eligible for teleworking , which is currently one day per week. New hires are eligible to apply 30 days after their effective hire date.   

Opening:

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is North America's largest transportation network, serving a population of 15.3 million people across a 5,000-square-mile travel area surrounding New York City, Long Island, southeastern New York State, and Connecticut. The MTA network comprises the nation’s largest bus fleet and more subway and commuter rail cars than all other U.S. transit systems combined. MTA strives to provide a safe and reliable commute, excellent customer service, and rewarding opportunities.

Position Objective:

The Recruiter is responsible for sourcing, attracting, and hiring qualified candidates to meet the organization’s staffing needs. This role manages the end- to- end recruitment process, ensuring a positive candidate experience while partnering with hiring managers to deliver timely and effective talent solutions.

Responsibilities:

• Develops and executes a targeted sourcing strategy to identify qualified candidates. This includes leveraging multiple channels such as LinkedIn, job boards, applicant tracking system (ATS), referrals, and professional networks, while crafting personalized outreach to engage both active and passive talent. Candidates are tracked and managed in the ATS to ensure transparency and timely follow-up. These efforts result in strong, qualified pipelines that address critical hiring needs, reduce time-to-fill, and improve hiring manager satisfaction.
• Proactively builds and maintains pipelines across all agencies to address hiring needs. This includes multi-channel sourcing and ongoing management of talent pools segmented by skill. These practices strengthen qualified candidate pools and reduce sourcing time for repeat and high-demand roles. As a result, candidate pipelines are strengthened, and sourcing timelines for repeat roles are shortened.
• Leads structured intake sessions to translate business needs into clear, measurable role criteria and identify ideal candidate qualifications. This includes defining must-haves versus nice-to-haves, aligning on competencies and timelines, and coaching interview teams on structured evaluation. As a result, relevant candidates are identified, interview consistency improves, decisions are made faster, and failed searches are reduced.
• Assesses candidate fit against defined role criteria and organizational needs before presenting candidates to hiring managers. This includes resume review for core competencies, structured phone screens, and clear documentation in the ATS to support transparency and decision-making. As a result, candidate profiles are stronger, hiring manager interview time is reduced, and first-round pass-through rates improve.
• Responsible for preparing candidates for interview panels and ensuring hiring managers provide feedback post-interview. The Recruiter provides candidates with detailed logistics, role expectations, and coaching on behavioral and competency-based questions to boost confidence and performance. After interviews, they conduct debrief sessions, consolidate feedback, and document next steps in the ATS. These actions result in faster, more consistent decision-making and reduced time-to-hire while improving the overall candidate experience.
• Manages the offer process to ensure competitiveness, equity, and compliance. Partner with Compensation on salary ranges, secure approvals, and document decisions in ATS.
• Initiates and tracks background clearances and medical assessments where applicable. These efforts improve offer acceptance rates and maintain audit integrity.
• Monitors recruitment metrics, identifies bottlenecks, escalate challenges, and recommends process improvements. Maintain dashboards and analyze sourcing effectiveness to optimize hiring outcomes. Work cross-functionally with other teams within the People Department, Labor Relations, and Legal to ensure alignment and compliance throughout the process.
• Special projects and other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

Required Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

• Must have hands-on experience with full-cycle recruitment.
• Knowledge of various recruiting techniques with the ability to identify, attract, and source passive talent using different niche sites/channels such as LinkedIn, Indeed, and other social media.
• Knowledge and understanding of building talent pipelines across multiple candidate sourcing platforms.
• Ability to consult, manage, and influence a range of stakeholders while building and maintaining strong partnerships with hiring leaders.
• Must have proven ability to effectively “sell” an organization’s value proposition and benefits package.
• An understanding of staffing principles and employment and state labor laws.
• Excellent written communication skills to write effective job postings.
• Excellent interviewing, networking, interpersonal, communication, and customer service skills.
• Good understanding of HR databases, applicant tracking systems, and customer relationship management systems; proficiency in Jobvite is a plus.
• Must have excellent time management, multitasking, and organizational skills with the ability to prioritize competing demands.
• Experience partnering with agency leaders and business partners to drive the recruitment processes.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment. Strong work ethic and sense of integrity, trustworthiness, and confidentiality.
• Experience using various interview techniques and evaluation methods.
• Ability to create or generate ad-hoc recruitment reports upon request

Required Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in human resources or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience from an accredited college, may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Minimum 3 years related HR experience with a minimum of 1 year recruitment/talent acquisition experience

The  F ollowing is/are preferred:

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field. Attainment of or in the process of attaining specific functional licenses or certifications in the area of specialty, if applicable.
• Familiarity with the MTA’s policies and procedures.
• Familiarity with the MTA’s collective bargaining procedures.

Other Information

Pursuant to the New York State Public Officers Law & the MTA Code of Ethics, all employees who hold a policymaking position must file an Annual Statement of Financial

Disclosure (FDS) with the NYS Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (the “Commission”).

Equal Employment Opportunity

MTA and its subsidiary and affiliated agencies are Equal Opportunity Employers, including those concerning veteran status and individuals with disabilities.

The MTA encourages qualified applicants from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and abilities, including military service members, to apply.