The Role
The Research Associate in Talent Acquisition supports global hiring efforts through market mapping, candidate screening, and collaboration with stakeholders to enhance the recruitment process.
Summary Generated by Built In
Who We Are
ghSMART is a premier leadership advisory firm trusted by CEOs, boards, and investors to solve their most critical leadership and talent decisions. For more than 30 years, we’ve partnered with many of the world’s most influential leaders and organizations to build winning leadership teams and amplify positive impact. Recognized for excellence, ghSMART consistently earns top rankings in industry surveys (e.g., Vault Consulting awards) and is featured in Forbes’ list of America’s Best Management Consulting Firms. Our culture is entrepreneurial and collaborative, with a strong focus on innovation and client success. Our team is made up of nearly 200 extraordinary individuals across the U.S., Europe, and APAC, who become trusted advisors to these leaders, helping amplify their positive impact on the world. We advise on the art and science of building winning leadership teams, doing meaningful work every day.
What You’ll Do
We are seeking a high-caliber Research Associate to support our global consultant hiring efforts. This is an in-house, search-caliber role that blends market mapping, talent intelligence, and insight generation with structured first-round candidate conversations. You will partner closely with the Talent Acquisition & People team, consultants, Partners, and Hiring Committees, serving as an internal “go-to” resource for relevant talent markets, role archetypes, or geographies. You will develop deep familiarity and calibration over time, serving as a source of continuity, insight, and perspective across multiple hiring efforts.
Success in this role requires intellectual curiosity, executive presence, and structured, insight-oriented thinking, along with the ability to synthesize large volumes of information into clear, decision-ready perspectives. You’ll be expected to exercise sound judgment and pattern recognition, collaborate effectively with senior stakeholders, and operate comfortably upstream in high-stakes hiring decisions, where rigor, discretion, and clarity of thinking materially influence outcomes.
Responsibilities
- Market Mapping & Talent Intelligence
- Conduct market mapping, organizational analysis, and competitive research to surface relevant talent, inform internal hiring strategy, and build long-term pipelines.
- Formulate and execute research-driven sourcing strategies to proactively identify, engage, and approach high-quality, diverse candidate pools across priority markets and roles.
- Develop deep familiarity with assigned talent markets and serve as a trusted internal expert and keeper of relevant information and resources.
- Ensure candidates are market-validated, systematically capturing and synthesizing insights gathered through research and candidate conversations.
- Candidate Assessment & Hiring Support
- Conduct structured first-round screening interviews with experienced candidates, assessing fit, trajectory, and judgment.
- Produce clear, insight-driven candidate summaries and research briefs to support internal hiring stakeholders and Hiring Committees.
- Support the full internal hiring lifecycle, from upfront role calibration and market research through candidate evaluation and decision support.
- Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing
- Work closely with consultants, Partners, and People-team colleagues to calibrate profiles, align on priorities, and refine hiring strategy.
- Effectively and clearly articulate ghSMART’s value proposition in candidate conversations, tailoring the message to what is most important to each candidate.
- Collaborate across regions to leverage global perspectives, share market insights, and maintain consistent assessment standards.
- Maintain high-quality, well-structured documentation and ensure rigorous capture of insights to build long-term institutional knowledge.
You Bring
- Bachelor’s degree from a respected institution required; advanced degree (MBA, MA, etc.) preferred but not required.
- Approximately 2–4 years of experience in executive search, in-house recruiting, consulting, or other research-intensive professional services roles.
- Demonstrated strength in primary and secondary research, market mapping, and insight synthesis.
- Preferred experience using LinkedIn Recruiter and other market intelligence, research, and contact-enrichment tools (e.g., ATS platforms such as Lever; ZoomInfo, Lusha, RocketReach, or similar).
- Excellent written and verbal communication, with the ability to engage senior internal stakeholders and experienced candidates with confidence and professionalism.
- Highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, global environment.
- Strong analytical skills, sound judgment, and discretion.
Why join ghSMART?
Meaningful Impact Everyday: We believe leadership is the greatest force for good. At ghSMART, whether you're guiding the world’s top leaders or helping power the firm from within, you play a vital role in solving our clients’ greatest challenge: building and developing talented, diverse teams that fuel lasting success. Together, we help leaders amplify their positive impact—on their organizations, their people, and the world.
Exceptional team, grounded in generosity: We have a team of extraordinary people united by excellence, humility, and a shared purpose. You’ll collaborate with brilliant colleagues who challenge and support you. Here, exceptional talent meets deep respect—where people show up with heart, and everyone has a place.
Freedom to Shape a Career with Purpose: You have the power to shape a career that aligns with your purpose—doing meaningful work that drives impact for the world’s top leaders. You’ll help solve challenges that matter while being supported by brilliant colleagues and trusted with the flexibility you need to recharge, perform at your best, and grow for the long term.
Have your voice and talents recognized. We are a flat organization that values proactivity and ability over bureaucracy and tenure. All our decisions and actions are guided by our Values and Credo - to help leaders amplify their positive impact on the world.
Learn why our consultants love working here.
We are ranked #1 or #2 in 10 Consulting categories by Vault. See what others think about working at ghSMART on Glassdoor.
Compensation
Certain US jurisdictions require ghSMART to include a reasonable estimate of the salary range for this role. We are built on a culture of freedom and flexibility, we operate fully remotely, and our team members balance deeply energizing, high intensity work, with flexible schedules to support life outside of work. Our compensation model reflects these values. Compensation for this role in the United States includes base salary, annual discretionary performance bonus, 401(k) plan with an annual employer contribution, and a comprehensive benefits package. You should reasonably expect a base salary of $95,000 - $105,000.
Please be advised that all emails will originate from the @ghsmart.com domain; any other domains are fraudulent, should be ignored, and deleted.
ghSMART is an Equal Opportunity Employer committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace across all of our global locations. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and ensure equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status. Our global policies and practices are designed to support an environment of respect and equity for all.
Top Skills
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The Company
What We Do
ghSMART is always hiring A-Players, for more information on current openings visit ghsmart.com/careers. Since our founding in 1995, our mission has always been to use our expertise in business and human behavior to help CEOs, boards, and investors build valuable organizations. Because we work with those who share our belief that leadership is the ultimate lever for positive change and value creation, we regularly serve the largest private equity firms, leading investment management firms, Fortune 500 companies, and highly respected non-profits. We are proud of the fact that, over the past decade, 97% of our clients have told us they are highly satisfied with our work. We bring a high touch and bespoke approach to every client engagement. We consistently exceed client expectations by leveraging: --Unmatched experience: We have executed over 21,000 assessments with over 550 organizations across every major industry; and in every major economic region of the world. As a result, we have the largest relevant database in existence on leadership performance. --Top caliber talent: We combine senior PhD psychologists with top 1% business talent from academy companies like McKinsey, Bain, Boston Consulting Group, GE, etc. --Robust, proprietary methods: We advise on high stakes people decisions using a rigorous, fact-based approach. Our research has been the basis for two bestselling books (Who: The A Method for Hiring and Power Score: Your Formula for Leadership Success) and a Harvard Business Review cover article (What Sets Successful CEOs Apart). --Independent perspective: Our clients appreciate our objective perspective due to our 100% employee-owned structure and our singular focus on leadership advisory. Leaders of the CEO Genome project: www.ceogenome.com
