The Role
STR is seeking a Recruiting Director to lead and evolve enterprise recruiting strategy in support of mission-critical defense and national security programs. This leader will oversee technical and non-technical recruiting operations while serving as a strategic advisor to executive leadership on workforce planning, talent market dynamics, organizational growth, and hiring scalability.
This role combines executive-level partnership, operational leadership, and selective hands-on engagement in critical hiring initiatives. The Director will lead a high-performing recruiting organization focused on attracting exceptional talent across advanced technology domains including cyber, software, systems engineering, RF, radar, sensors, analytics, AI/ML, and national security operations.
The ideal candidate brings deep experience scaling recruiting functions in highly competitive and regulated environments while balancing speed, quality, compliance, and candidate experience. Hybrid preferred in Woburn, MA or Arlington, VA. We are also open to remote candidates who are a strong fit for the role, with occasional travel to company locations.
What You’ll Do
Lead Enterprise Talent Acquisition Strategy
Develop and execute recruiting strategies aligned to STR’s long-term business objectives, growth priorities, and technical workforce needs. Partner closely with executive leadership to forecast talent demand and hiring capacity across divisions.
Build & Lead a High-Performing Recruiting Organization
Lead, develop, and scale a team of recruiters, recruiting managers, coordinators, and sourcing resources. Establish clear performance expectations, operational rigor, and a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Actively coach and mentor recruiters on advanced sourcing techniques, candidate engagement strategies, and closing high-value technical talent. Focus on upskilling the team to increase quality-of-hire and conversion rates.
Serve as a Strategic Business Partner
Act as a trusted advisor to division leadership and senior executives on labor market conditions, hiring strategy, organizational design implications, compensation competitiveness, and workforce planning risks.
Drive Technical Recruiting Excellence
- Oversee recruiting execution for highly specialized technical and cleared talent across the organization. Provide leadership on complex, mission-critical, or high-volume hiring initiatives while ensuring recruiting teams deliver strong candidate experience and hiring outcomes.
- Maintain a 'Player/Coach' mentality: while your primary focus is leadership and strategy, you will directly lead recruiting efforts for executive-level roles, mission-critical gaps, or during periods of rapid hiring surges.
Enhance Employer Brand & Talent Positioning
Strengthen STR’s visibility and reputation within highly competitive defense and technology talent markets. Partner with leadership, HR, and communications teams to develop differentiated talent attraction strategies and messaging.
Optimize Recruiting Operations & Analytics
Establish scalable recruiting processes, metrics, and reporting capabilities. Utilize data-driven insights to improve hiring velocity, pipeline health, diversity outreach, offer acceptance, and recruiting ROI. Lead the evolution of talent acquisition capabilities through the thoughtful integration of AI-enabled tools, automation, and data-driven recruiting practices. Evaluate and implement technologies that improve recruiter efficiency, sourcing effectiveness, candidate engagement, reporting insights, and operational scalability while maintaining compliance, data integrity, and a high-quality candidate experience.
Lead Recruiting Technology & Process Innovation
Drive continuous improvement across recruiting systems, workflows, and operational processes. Evaluate and implement enhancements to ATS functionality, sourcing tools, reporting capabilities, and candidate engagement strategies.
Ensure Compliance & Risk Management
Maintain recruiting compliance with OFCCP requirements, federal contractor obligations, employment regulations, and internal governance standards while supporting efficient and scalable hiring practices.
Support Executive & Strategic Hiring
Partner directly with executive leadership on senior-level and strategically critical hiring initiatives. Help shape competitive offer strategies and talent acquisition approaches for high-impact positions.
What You Bring
Education & Required Experience
- 15+ years of recruiting and talent acquisition experience, including significant leadership responsibility
- Demonstrated experience leading recruiting organizations in defense, aerospace, government contracting, national security, or advanced technology environments, including the nuances of cleared hiring and competitive counteroffers.
- Proven success recruiting highly specialized technical talent including cyber, RF, radar, software, systems engineering, AI/ML, analytics, and cleared personnel
- Experience leading recruiting teams through organizational growth, transformation, or scaling initiatives
- Demonstrated success operating in a player/coach leadership model, balancing strategic talent acquisition leadership with hands-on recruiting support during periods of organizational growth, hiring surges, or critical talent acquisition needs
- Strong executive presence with demonstrated ability to influence senior leaders and drive strategic talent discussions
- Experience evaluating, implementing, or optimizing AI-enabled recruiting technologies, workflow automation tools, or advanced talent analytics solutions
- Demonstrated ability to leverage technology, automation, and process innovation to improve recruiting effectiveness, scalability, and recruiter productivity
- Understanding of governance, compliance, and ethical considerations associated with AI use in talent acquisition and HR environments
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance, which requires U.S. citizenship
Pay Information
Full-Time Salary Range: $180,000-220,000
The salary range listed is based on external market data. Offers are based on factors, such as but not limited to, the candidate’s experience, education, training, key skills/critical skills, security clearances, and prevailing market and business conditions.
STR is a growing technology company with locations near Boston, MA, Arlington, VA, near Dayton, OH, Melbourne, FL, and Carlsbad, CA. We specialize in advanced research and development for defense, intelligence, and national security in: cyber; next generation sensors, radar, sonar, communications, and electronic warfare; and artificial intelligence algorithms and analytics to make sense of the complexity that is exploding around us.
STR is committed to creating a collaborative learning environment that supports deep technical understanding and recognizes the contributions and achievements of all team members. Our work is challenging, and we go home at night knowing that we pushed the envelope of technology and made the world safer.
STR is not just any company. Our people, culture, and attitude along with their unique set of skills, experiences, and perspectives put us on a trajectory to change the world. We can't do it alone, though - we need fellow trailblazers. If you are one, join our team and help to keep our society safe! Visit us at www.str.us for more info.
STR is an equal opportunity employer. We are fully dedicated to hiring the most qualified candidate regardless of race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy), marital status, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.
If you need a reasonable accommodation for any portion of the employment process, email us at [email protected] and provide your contact info.
Pursuant to applicable federal law and regulations, positions at STR require employees to obtain national security clearances and satisfy the requirements for compliance with export control and other applicable laws.
Skills Required
- 15+ years of recruiting and talent acquisition experience with significant leadership responsibility
- Experience leading recruiting organizations in defense, aerospace, government contracting, national security, or advanced technology environments
- Demonstrated experience with cleared hiring and nuances of recruiting cleared personnel
- Proven success recruiting highly specialized technical talent including cyber, RF, radar, software, systems engineering, AI/ML, and analytics
- Experience leading and scaling recruiting teams through growth or transformation initiatives
- Demonstrated player/coach leadership model balancing strategy and hands-on recruiting during surges
- Strong executive presence with ability to influence senior leaders
- Experience evaluating, implementing, or optimizing AI-enabled recruiting technologies, workflow automation, or advanced talent analytics
- Demonstrated ability to leverage technology, automation, and process innovation to improve recruiting effectiveness and scalability
- Understanding of governance, compliance, and ethical considerations for AI use in talent acquisition and HR
- Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. Government security clearance (requires U.S. citizenship)
What the Team is Saying
STR Compensation & Benefits Highlights
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Retirement Support — A 401(k) with company matching is included, signaling employer‑backed long‑term savings.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — An option to opt into company equity after four quarters is available, indicating accessible ownership opportunities tied to tenure.
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Flexible Benefits — Flexible schedules, a remote work program, and home‑office stipends or supplied equipment indicate adaptability in work setup.
STR Insights
What We Do
STR makes the world a safer place by developing technology and applying it to solve emerging national security challenges.
Why Work With Us
We believe in a people-first culture. Yes, we are scientists, engineers, and researchers, but first, we are people. Our environment is designed to foster innovation by encouraging our employees to work collaboratively on things they are passionate about. We also really like to have fun. We believe that working hard and playing hard go hand in hand.
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STR Offices
Hybrid Workspace
Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
