Position: Talent Acquisition Manager
Location: St Charles, IL
Type: Full-time
Why Join Us
- Opportunity to shape the future of talent acquisition.
- Work closely with executive leadership in a highly visible role.
- Lead a diverse recruiting portfolio that touches nearly every aspect of the organization.
- Influence real change in systems, processes, and culture.
I am looking for a strategic, people-focused Talent Acquisition Manager to lead and elevate our recruiting function. This role is not a recruiter position, but a leadership opportunity to shape talent acquisition strategy, optimize systems, and drive organizational alignment. You will manage a TA team responsible for filling a diverse portfolio of roles—from scientists to infrastructure professionals—and serve as a trusted partner to executive leadership.
The ideal candidate is a change agent with strong executive presence, able to read the room, influence stakeholders, and gain buy-in on new approaches. You will bring expertise in Workday optimization, sourcing strategies, and talent branding while fostering a culture of collaboration and accountability across HR, hiring managers, and leadership.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing Talent Acquisition team.
- Partner with HR and hiring managers to execute workforce planning and deliver best-in-class recruiting strategies across a wide range of roles.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to executives, influencing decisions and driving alignment through consultative, data-driven recommendations.
- Evaluate and optimize Workday recruiting workflows to increase efficiency, compliance, and user adoption.
- Champion the use of LinkedIn Recruiter and talent sourcing tools, ensuring innovative approaches to attract diverse talent.
- Collaborate with HR leadership to refine job requisition intake processes, ensuring consistent and effective engagement with hiring managers.
- Drive change management initiatives within TA, balancing new ideas with organizational culture and leadership priorities.
- Promote the organization's employer brand, ensuring a positive candidate experience and strong market presence.
QUALIFICATIONS
- 7+ years of progressive experience in Talent Acquisition, including at least 3 years in a leadership/management role.
- Bachelor's degree in human resources, business administration, or related discipline, an MBA is highly preferred
- Demonstrated success managing recruitment across a broad portfolio (scientific, technical, professional, and infrastructure roles).
- Strong track record as a change agent with the ability to influence executive leaders and gain buy-in.
- Expertise with Workday Recruiting (required); proven ability to assess, optimize, and improve system workflows.
- LinkedIn Recruiter power user; adept at leveraging sourcing tools and employer branding strategies.
- Strong communication and leadership presence, with the ability to “read the room” and adapt messaging to diverse audiences.
- Experience in large, complex, or matrixed organizations; background in corporate, consulting, or higher education strongly preferred.
Overview: Sterling Engineering / Staffing has a rich history of delivering top talent to our clients. We are a nationwide Staffing Firm that has been in business for over 56 years. With over 200 currently active clients, Sterling works within the Automation, Energy, Facilities, Information Technology, Food, Logistics / Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Packaging, Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals, Engineering and R&D industries.
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.