Talent Acquisition Specialist

Talent Acquisition Specialist
On Behalf of a Skybox Capital Portfolio Company
Location: Chicago, IL, 4 Days in Office
Hours: Full-time | High-ownership role

About the Role

We are hiring a Talent Acquisition Specialist to act as a force-multiplier for leadership at a fast-growing Skybox Capital portfolio company.

This role owns the front door to the company. You will be responsible for designing, executing, and continuously improving the hiring engine — ensuring the right people are in the right seats, fast. You will run multiple searches in parallel, manage high-volume pipelines when required, and operate with clear standards, urgency, and accountability.

This is a role for someone who thrives under pressure, pushes back when necessary, and treats hiring as a mission-critical operating function — not a support role.

Your Core Contributions to the Team

Hiring Strategy & Intake Ownership
-Own intake sessions with hiring managers: clarify role outcomes, success metrics, non-negotiables, and tradeoffs.
-Translate ambiguous needs into clear, executable search strategies.
-Set expectations on timelines, candidate quality, and interview bandwidth — and enforce them.

Sourcing & Pipeline Execution
-Proactively source passive and active candidates across LinkedIn, ATS/CRM systems, referrals, and niche channels.
-Build and maintain always-on pipelines for recurring and high-impact roles.
-Pressure-test candidate quality early; do not advance marginal candidates.
-Own candidate momentum — no stalled processes, no dead pipelines.

Interview Process Management
-Design and run structured interview processes with defined stages, scorecards, and decision criteria.
-Schedule and manage interviews end-to-end; ensure fast turnaround and tight feedback loops.
-Conduct high-signal screens that assess capability, motivation, and fit.
-Run reference checks with rigor; surface risks clearly and early.

Offer Management & Closing
-Partner with leadership on compensation strategy and offer construction.
-Manage candidate expectations and close decisively.
-Anticipate objections and address risk of fallout before it happens.
-Maintain offer acceptance rates that reflect strong process and candidate alignment.

Candidate & Hiring Manager Experience
-Maintain a high-bar, high-respect candidate experience — clear communication, direct feedback, no ambiguity.
-Hold hiring managers accountable to timelines, feedback quality, and interview discipline.
-Act as a trusted advisor to leadership on talent market realities.
-Represent the winning team you are hiring for

Process, Data & Continuous Improvement
-Track and report recruiting KPIs (time-to-fill, pipeline conversion, offer acceptance).
-Identify bottlenecks and fix them — process, people, or priorities.
-Build and document recruiting SOPs that scale with the business.
-Continuously raise the bar on hiring quality and speed.

What Success Looks Like (KPIs)
-Time-to-Fill: Roles filled on or ahead of agreed timelines.
-Pipeline Health: 3–5 qualified candidates per priority role at all times.
-Quality of Hire: Strong hiring-manager satisfaction and post-hire performance.
-Offer Acceptance: ≥90% acceptance on extended offers.
-Process Discipline: Clear scorecards, timely feedback, zero “drift” in searches.

About You
Knowledge, Abilities, and Qualifications
2+ years of full-cycle recruiting or talent acquisition experience (agency, in-house, or both).
Proven ability to run multiple searches simultaneously without loss of quality.
Strong sourcing instincts and comfort reaching out cold to senior-level candidates.
Exceptional judgment and communication; comfortable pushing back when standards slip.
Data-driven, organized, and relentless about follow-through.
Experience recruiting in fast-growth, PE-backed, or founder-led environments strongly preferred.

The Standard
This role is high trust and high accountability. You will be measured on outcomes, not activity. The expectation is speed, precision, and ownership — with direct exposure to leadership and meaningful impact on the company’s trajectory.