Chief or Director of Talent Acquisition

Description

The Chief or Director of Talent Acquisition is a strategic leader responsible for developing and executing firmwide initiatives that attract exceptional legal and professional staff talent. This role will work closely with the Managing Partners, Practice Group and Firm Leaders, Recruiting Team, Senior Talent Advisor, and other key stakeholders. The Chief or Director of Talent Acquisition oversees recruiting across the Firm’s nationwide offices.

This role serves as a key advisor to Firm leadership on talent strategy and is responsible for ensuring that recruiting initiatives are aligned with the Firm’s business objectives, culture, growth strategy, and long-term talent needs.

Duties and Responsibilities

Attorney Recruiting & Talent Acquisition

• Develop and execute a comprehensive, firmwide attorney and professional staff recruiting strategy, encompassing all levels of attorneys ranging from law students to managing partners.
• Partner with Firm and Practice Group Leaders to identify current and future attorney talent needs and develop targeted recruiting strategies to address those needs.
• Coordinate and liaise with the Senior Talent Advisor on strategic partner recruiting initiatives.
• Oversee the full recruiting lifecycle for attorneys and professional staff, including workforce planning, sourcing, interviewing, offer development, onboarding, and integration.
• Develop innovative strategies to attract and retain high-caliber attorneys and legal professionals in competitive markets.
• Establish and maintain relationships with law schools, career services offices, professional associations, and other talent sources.
• Monitor recruiting metrics, market trends, compensation data, and competitive intelligence to inform recruiting strategy and decision-making.
• Partner with marketing and communications teams to strengthen the Firm’s employer brand and market presence.
• Ensure consistent, high-quality candidate experiences across all Firm offices and recruiting channels.
• Advance lateral partner integration in collaboration with the Senior Talent Advisor, who oversees the lateral partner integration process.

Firmwide Talent Strategy

• Serve as a trusted advisor to Firm leadership on attorney and professional staff talent, recruiting, and succession matters.
• Develop and analyze talent metrics and dashboards to identify trends, opportunities, and potential risks, including software tools.
• Establish consistent recruiting practices while allowing for appropriate differences among offices and practice groups.
• Partner with People Operations on talent management, performance management, compensation, and succession planning, as appropriate.
• Help foster a culture of continuous learning, professional growth, collaboration, and accountability.
• Stay current on developments in the legal talent market, including recruiting trends, law school demographics, associate expectations, career mobility, and emerging approaches to attorney and professional staff recruiting.

Leadership & Team Management

• Lead, mentor, and develop recruiting professionals located across the Firm’s offices.
• Establish clear goals, priorities, performance expectations, and accountability measures for the team.
• Promote collaboration and consistency across geographic markets while maintaining strong relationships with local office leadership.
• Manage external recruiting vendors, consultants, and other strategic partners.
• Develop and manage the department budget and allocate resources in accordance with Firm priorities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or relevant professional certification preferred.
• Law firm experience required and seven-plus years of experience leading full-cycle attorney recruiting within a law firm or comparable professional services organization.
• Demonstrated success developing and executing firmwide/companywide talent strategies across multiple offices or geographic markets.
• Strong understanding of the legal industry, attorney career progression, law firm culture, and the competitive attorney talent market.
• Proven ability to build trusted relationships with senior attorneys, Firm leadership, and business professionals.
• Experience leading and developing a high-performing team.
• Strong leadership, communication, influencing, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to operate effectively at all levels of an organization.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex, high-visibility initiatives in a fast-paced professional environment.
• Strong analytical and strategic planning capabilities, with the ability to translate talent data into actionable recommendations.
• Excellent judgment, discretion, organizational skills, and the ability to handle confidential and sensitive information.

This job description reflects management’s assignment of essential functions; it does not prescribe or restrict the tasks that may be assigned.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Kahana Feld provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.

Job Type

Full-Time, Exempt

Supervisory Responsibilities

The Firmwide Recruiting Manager and the recruiting team.

Work Location

Hybrid

Work Schedule

8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Monday-Friday. Occasional weekends and holiday work may be required.

Salary Range

$200,000 to $350,000

Physical Requirements

Primarily sedentary work. Exerting up to 40 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects. Repetitive motion. Substantial movements (motions) of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers. The worker is required to have close visual acuity to perform activities such as preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading. Work is performed in an office environment and requires the ability to operate standard office equipment and keyboards. Must have the ability to walk short distances and/or drive a vehicle to deliver and pick up materials. Work can be performed with or without accommodation.

Travel

5-10% domestic travel by ground and/or air, dependent on Firm needs.