Director of Talent Acquisition

Director of Talent Acquisition

About SSA

Scientific Safety Alliance (SSA) exists to Accelerate Science. Delightfully. We provide mission-critical safety and compliance services to pharmaceutical, biotech, hospital and research organizations across the US, Puerto Rico, the UK and Europe. Since 2023 we have grown from $0 to $20M EBITDA with no outside equity (#175 on the Inc. 5000).

The Opportunity: Director of Talent

SSA has acquired 28 companies in three and a half years, and our ability to keep growing depends on finding, hiring, and keeping exceptional people. As our Director of Talent, you will oversee SSA's talent acquisition function and build our global talent attraction strategy across every branch in the United States, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, and Austria. You will lead our recruiting team and turn a decentralized, branch-by-branch approach to hiring into one scalable, global engine that brings in field service technicians, engineers, scientists, and corporate professionals at the speed our business demands.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who loves both strategy and execution. You will partner closely with branch leaders and the executive team to forecast hiring needs, build pipelines for hard-to-fill technical roles, build an employer brand that attracts top talent in every market where we operate, and give leaders the data they need to make good hiring decisions. You will also play a key part in our acquisition strategy, helping integrate newly acquired teams and planning the talent needed as each branch grows. If you want to build a best-in-class talent function at a fast-growing, employee-owned company, we want to talk to you.

How You Will Make an Impact

- Global talent attraction strategy: Design and execute SSA's global talent attraction strategy across the U.S., Puerto Rico, the U.K., and Austria, defining how and where we find talent in each market and aligning it with business growth, acquisitions, and branch-level forecasts.
- Talent acquisition oversight: Own SSA's full talent acquisition function, including recruiting operations, sourcing, hiring standards, and candidate experience, for every branch and corporate role.
- Team leadership: Lead, coach, and develop SSA's team of recruiters; set clear goals, manage priorities across branches, and build a high-performing, accountable culture.
- Branch partnership: Act as a strategic advisor to branch leaders and executives on workforce planning, role design, compensation positioning, and selection decisions.
- Technical and field hiring: Build sourcing channels and talent pipelines for hard-to-fill roles such as field service technicians, certification specialists, engineers, and laboratory professionals, including partnerships with technical schools, military transition programs, and industry networks.
- Process and systems: Standardize the end-to-end recruiting process, from requisition approval through offer; own SSA's applicant tracking system and recruiting technology, and hand new hires off seamlessly to the HR team for onboarding.
- Global employer brand: Build SSA's employer brand across all of our markets, including careers content, social presence, and candidate messaging, highlighting our employee ownership, culture, and mission to Accelerate Science. Delightfully.
- Metrics and reporting: Build talent dashboards covering time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, source effectiveness, offer acceptance, and new-hire retention, and use the data to improve results.
- M&A integration: Support due diligence and integration of acquired companies, including talent assessments, retention of key employees, and post-close hiring plans.
- Vendors and budget: Manage recruiting agencies, job boards, and talent acquisition budget to get the best return on every dollar spent.
- Compliance: Ensure hiring practices comply with employment laws in every country and state where we operate, including EEO, pay transparency, and background check requirements.

Deliverables & Outcomes

- A documented global talent attraction strategy, with clear sourcing plans for each country and role family.
- A single, documented recruiting process used consistently across all branches.
- A recognizable SSA employer brand that drives a growing share of direct applicants and referrals.
- Reduced time-to-fill, with clear targets set by role family (field, technical, corporate).
- Healthy pipelines in place for critical, hard-to-fill technical roles before openings occur.
- Strong offer acceptance rates and 90-day and first-year retention of new hires.
- Lower reliance on, and spend with, outside recruiting agencies.
- Monthly talent reporting delivered to branch and executive leadership.
- A recruiting team that is well-trained, accountable, and consistently meeting its goals.
- Acquired companies integrated with key talent retained and hiring plans in place.

What We’re Looking For

- 8+ years of talent acquisition experience, including 3+ years leading a recruiting team.
- Proven success building a talent attraction or employer branding strategy across multiple countries or regions.
- Proven success building or scaling a talent function in a high-growth, multi-location organization; experience in a private equity-backed or acquisitive company strongly preferred.
- Track record of hiring field service, skilled trades, technical, or scientific talent at volume.
- Experience with recruiting across multiple states and, ideally, internationally (U.K., EU, or Puerto Rico).
- Strong command of recruiting metrics, with the ability to turn data into action.
- Experience selecting, implementing, or managing an applicant tracking system and modern recruiting tools.
- Excellent influencing and communication skills, with credibility among executives, branch leaders, and candidates alike.
- A builder's mindset: comfortable creating structure where little exists and moving quickly.
- Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, or a related field preferred.

Benefits

- Equity ownership in SSA
- 401k Match
- 100% paid Medical Dental & Vision insurance
- Health insurance (100% for employee and family)
- Life insurance
- Generous Paid time off
- Parental leave