Technical Talent Acquisition Principal

Position Summary:

The Technical Talent Acquisition Principal is a senior individual contributor and trusted advisor responsible for attracting, assessing, and closing high-impact talent across Technology, Data & Analytics, Product, Cybersecurity, Infrastructure, Quality Engineering, and emerging technology disciplines. This role leads full-cycle recruiting for complex, specialized, and business-critical positions and brings strong technical recruiting expertise to role design, market strategy, candidate evaluation, and selection decisions.

Working in close partnership with technology leaders, People Business Partners, Compensation, and other stakeholders, the Principal translates workforce needs into practical recruiting strategies, builds durable talent pipelines, and improves the hiring experience. The role is expected to operate with a high degree of autonomy, use market and funnel data to guide decisions, and elevate recruiting practices across the team.

An in-person interview may be required during the hiring process

State specific pay scales for this role are as follows:

$83,670 to $161,815 (NJ, NY, WA, HI, AK, MD, CT, RI, MA)

$76,064 to $147,104 (NV, OR, AZ, CO, WY, TX, ND, MN, MO, IL, WI, FL, GA, MI, OH, VA, PA, DE, VT, NH, ME)

$68,457 to $132,394 (UT, ID, MT, NM, SD, NE, KS, OK, IA, AR, LA, MS, AL, TN, KY, IN, SC, NC, WV)

In CA: Typical hiring range is $110,468.25 to $135,016.75  

The expected base salary for this position will vary depending on a number of factors, including relevant experience, skills and location.

Essential Job Functions:

• Serve as a strategic recruiting consultant to technology, data, product, security, and other business leaders; clarify hiring objectives, challenge assumptions when appropriate, and recommend practical talent strategies.
• Lead full-cycle recruitment for complex and specialized roles, including intake, role calibration, market mapping, sourcing, screening, interview coordination, selection, offer strategy, closing, and onboarding handoff.
• Partner with hiring leaders and People Business Partners to define job scope, level, competencies, required and preferred qualifications, interview plans, scorecards, and job marketing language.
• Develop and execute proactive sourcing strategies for active and passive candidates using direct sourcing, talent communities, referrals, professional networks, niche platforms, university relationships, events, social channels, and appropriately managed search partners.
• Build and maintain high-quality, diverse pipelines for current and anticipated needs; develop talent maps and relationships that support recurring and hard-to-fill technical hiring demands.
• Apply sufficient technical fluency to understand and communicate the capabilities required for software engineering, cloud and platform engineering, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data engineering, analytics, AI/ML, product, and quality engineering roles.
• Design or refine structured candidate evaluation approaches, including recruiter screens, technical assessments, coding evaluations, interview panels, competency-based questions, and debrief practices, in partnership with subject-matter experts.
• Use recruiting technology, automation, and AI-enabled tools responsibly to improve sourcing efficiency, research, communication, workflow quality, and decision support while protecting candidate data and maintaining human judgment.
• Analyze labor-market conditions, competitor activity, compensation considerations, talent availability, and pipeline data to advise leaders on hiring feasibility, tradeoffs, timing, and recommended actions.
• Monitor recruiting-funnel health and communicate clear updates on pipeline quality, conversion points, aging, risks, diversity reach, candidate experience, and progress against hiring priorities.
• Advise on offer strategy and closing; partner with Compensation, People Business Partners, immigration counsel, and leadership as needed to support approvals, negotiations, and compliant hiring decisions.
• Maintain accurate, timely, and complete candidate and requisition information in iCIMS and other approved systems; use data consistently to support reporting, auditability, and operational excellence.
• Represent Mercury’s culture, purpose, and employee value proposition in candidate interactions and external forums; strengthen employer brand awareness within technical talent communities.
• Identify process gaps and lead continuous-improvement initiatives that enhance recruiter effectiveness, hiring-manager capability, assessment quality, compliance, speed, and candidate experience.
• Share expertise through peer mentoring, recruiting playbooks, knowledge transfer, and cross-functional projects; serve as a role model for consultative, inclusive, and data-informed recruiting practices.
• Maintain current knowledge of recruiting trends, technical skill evolution, employment practices, and applicable requirements; handle confidential information with discretion.

Education

Minimum: 

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field; equivalent combination of education and directly related experience may be considered.

Preferred: 

• PHR, SPHR, SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, AIRS, or other relevant recruiting/HR certification.

Experience

Minimum: 

• 8+ years of progressive, directly related experience in full-cycle recruiting, including significant experience recruiting for technical, data, product, cybersecurity, infrastructure, or other specialized roles.
• Demonstrated experience partnering directly with hiring managers and senior leaders in complex, fast-paced, or geographically distributed environments.
• Experience using applicant tracking systems, recruiting technology, sourcing platforms, and recruiting analytics or reporting tools.

Preferred:

• 10+ years of technical or specialized recruiting experience, including experience leading complex searches or recruiting programs.
• Experience recruiting within Property & Casualty insurance, financial services, regulated industries, or another environment with complex technology and data needs.

Skills & Abilities

• Expertise in sourcing, engaging, assessing, and closing technical and hard-to-find talent across multiple markets and skill sets.
• Ability to translate technical requirements into clear, inclusive, market-relevant job descriptions and candidate evaluation criteria.
• Strong consultative presence with the ability to influence senior stakeholders, facilitate calibration, challenge assumptions constructively, and build alignment across competing priorities.
• Strong knowledge of structured interviewing, technical assessment practices, candidate experience, fair hiring principles, and recruiting compliance expectations.
• Ability to use talent-market research, recruiting metrics, funnel analytics, and compensation insights to make recommendations and tell a clear story with data.
• Proficiency with iCIMS or a comparable ATS; LinkedIn or comparable sourcing tools; Microsoft Office or Google Workspace; and virtual collaboration platforms.
• Ability to use automation and AI-enabled recruiting tools responsibly, with appropriate attention to accuracy, bias mitigation, confidentiality, and human review.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-management skills.
• Strong organization, prioritization, time management, follow-through, and problem-solving skills with the ability to manage multiple concurrent searches and changing deadlines.
• Ability to operate independently, exercise sound judgment, adapt to evolving business needs, and maintain confidentiality.
• Commitment to inclusive recruiting practices and the ability to build relationships with diverse candidates and talent communities.
• May require limited travel for business meetings, recruiting events, conferences, or other talent-attraction activities.

Why choose a career at Mercury?

Join an amazing team that is consistently recognized for our achievements and culture, including our most recent Forbes award of being one of America’s Best Midsize Employers!

Why choose a career at Mercury? At Mercury, we have been guided by our purpose to help people reduce risk and overcome unexpected events for more than 60 years. We are one team with a common goal to help others. Our team will encourage you to grow, make time to have fun, and work together to make great things happen. We embrace the strengths and values of each team member and believe in diverse perspectives where everyone is included to serve customers from all walks of life. We care about our people, and we mean it.

Learn more about us here: https://www.mercuryinsurance.com/about/careers

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We offer many great benefits, including:

• Competitive compensation
• Flexibility to work from anywhere in the United States for most positions
• Paid time off (vacation time, sick time, 9 paid Company holidays, volunteer hours)
• Incentive bonus programs (potential for holiday bonus, referral bonus, and performance-based bonus)
• Medical, dental, vision, life, and pet insurance
• 401 (k) retirement savings plan with company match
• Engaging work environment
• Promotional opportunities
• Education assistance
• Professional and personal development opportunities
• Company recognition program
• Health and wellbeing resources, including free mental wellbeing therapy/coaching sessions, child and eldercare resources, and more

Mercury Insurance is an equal opportunity employer.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.