Director, Leadership Recruiting

Position Summary

Vaco by Highspring is seeking a strategic, results-driven Director of Leadership Recruiting to lead the identification, attraction, assessment, and hiring of top leadership talent for the Talent Solutions business. Reporting to the Chief People Officer and taking direction from the President and Executive Partners, this role is responsible for recruiting senior leaders, including Executive Partners, Managing Partners, and line-of-business leadership roles.

The ideal candidate brings deep experience in executive and leadership search, talent acquisition strategy, and internal talent partnership. This individual will serve as a trusted advisor to Vaco sales, recruiting, HR, and executive leadership, leading high-impact searches that strengthen the leadership bench, support growth, and ensure leaders hired into the business align with Vaco’s culture, performance expectations, values, and long-term business goals.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead full-cycle recruitment for leadership-level positions across the Talent Solutions organization, including Executive Partners, Managing Partners, and line-of-business leadership roles.
• Partner with the Chief People Officer, President, Executive Partners, HR leaders, and business leaders to align leadership recruiting priorities with workforce planning, succession planning, and business growth needs.
• Develop and execute a leadership recruiting strategy to attract high-performing talent from the talent solutions, workforce solutions, and professional services sectors.
• Build and maintain strong pipelines of passive leadership candidates for key and future hiring needs
• Conduct structured, consistent candidate evaluation focused on leadership capability, industry experience, business impact, cultural alignment, and potential for long-term success.
• Champion equitable and inclusive hiring practices by supporting diverse sourcing strategies, consistent interview processes, and objective candidate evaluation.
• Manage and drive leadership search processes from intake through offer negotiation, ensuring clear search strategy, stakeholder alignment, timely feedback, and smooth onboarding transitions.
• Advise hiring leaders on talent market trends, competitor intelligence, compensation benchmarks, and candidate availability
• Create a high-touch candidate experience for senior-level talent throughout the recruitment process
• Establish and maintain recruiting metrics and reporting related to leadership hiring, pipeline health, time-to-fill, quality of hire, stakeholder experience, and hiring outcomes.
• Maintain accurate search documentation, candidate data, and pipeline activity in the applicant tracking system and related recruiting tools to support transparency, reporting, and process discipline.
• Continuously improve leadership recruitment processes, assessment methods, and employer branding strategies to strengthen the company’s ability to attract top talent
• Support internal mobility and leadership succession efforts by ensuring internal candidates are considered through a fair, transparent, and consistent process when appropriate.
• Represent the organization externally through networking, industry associations, referrals, and targeted outreach to build awareness of leadership opportunities

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Human Resources, Organizational Development, or related field preferred
• 7+ years of recruiting experience, with significant experience hiring leadership talent in the talent solutions or workforce solutions industry
• 3+ years of experience in a senior, lead, or director-level recruiting role
• Proven success recruiting for management, director, VP, and executive-level positions
• Strong understanding of talent solutions company structures, including local market operations, recruiting delivery, and business development
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and serve as a trusted talent advisor
• Strong executive presence, communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills
• Experience building proactive talent pipelines for critical leadership roles
• Proficiency with ATS, CRM, LinkedIn Recruiter, and executive search tools
• Strong analytical and organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple high-priority searches and business relationships

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in retained search, executive search, or talent acquisition leadership
• Knowledge of succession planning and leadership assessment practices
• Established network of talent solutions industry leaders and operators
• Experience supporting multi-site talent solutions organizations

Core Competencies and Vaco Values Alignment

• Builds trust and credibility with senior leaders, candidates, and internal stakeholders through sound judgment, transparency, and follow-through.
• Demonstrates accountability for search outcomes, candidate experience, process quality, and business partnership.
• Attracts and assesses top leadership talent with a focus on business impact, cultural alignment, and long-term success.
• Operates with resilience, urgency, and adaptability in a fast-paced, relationship-driven business environment.
• Uses market insight, data, and decision quality to guide leadership hiring recommendations and improve recruiting effectiveness.

Travel: Approximately 10%