Senior Talent Acquisition Partner - Operations

About the role

The Senior Talent Acquisition (TA) Partner works closely with hiring managers, talent leaders, and HR Business Partners to understand staffing needs and develop, implement, and refine a comprehensive recruitment strategy for Operations Leadership, Contract Logistics, International Freight Forwarding, and Brokerage functions.

Responsibilities

• Partner with assigned hiring managers and business partners to assess current and future staffing needs and develop recruitment strategies.
• Facilitate recruitment strategy/intake meetings and candidate debrief meetings with hiring teams to ensure focused searches and efficient, compliant interview processes.
• Publish job postings via the company’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and leading job boards to generate inbound applicants.
• Proactively source and engage passive candidates, past applicants, and prospects via resume databases and social media to develop deeper candidate pipelines.
• Conduct in‑depth research and market‑intelligence initiatives focused on competitors and industry trends to identify top talent and develop strategic hiring recommendations.
• Represent the company at career fairs, professional conferences, community networking events, and targeted colleges and universities, as needed.
• Pre‑qualify resumes, conduct phone/video interviews, and present qualified applicants to assigned hiring managers for further consideration.
• Manage candidates throughout the hiring process, developing strong candidate relationships to ensure a positive candidate experience.
• Conduct structured interviews and evaluate candidates’ leadership capabilities, cultural fit, and potential impact on Forward Air.
• Deliver frequent communication, provide feedback, and deliver insights to assist hiring managers in the selection process while focusing on a positive candidate experience.
• Actively contribute to continuous‑improvement processes and assist with projects as requested.
• Maintain or exceed established KPIs, including time‑to‑fill, hiring target goals, quality‑of‑hire metrics, and hiring manager satisfaction scores.
• Extend verbal and written offer packages of varying levels of complexity.
• Facilitate the pre‑boarding process, including background check/drug screen initiation and adjudication, Form I‑9 verification, and pre‑hire paperwork completion.
• Perform all other duties as assigned to meet evolving business needs.

Requirements

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in human resources, business administration, marketing, or a related field required; recruiting/HR industry certifications (e.g., AIRs) preferred.
• Experience: 7+ years in an internal talent acquisition program and/or third‑party staffing agency/search firm; proven experience leading VP‑level and senior searches; global or Americas‑focused experience (U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America) preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to proactively source, pre‑qualify, and interview candidates using platforms such as Indeed, LinkedIn Recruiter, CareerBuilder, Monster, ZipRecruiter, Handshake, etc.
• Expertise in building and leveraging strong business relationships with internal and external clients.
• Strong skills in behavioral interviewing and assessing leadership capabilities.
• Ability to identify and influence leaders to prioritize culture‑add attributes and long‑term talent potential.
• Proven negotiation and closing skills for complex senior‑level offers, including employment agreement terms and equity packages.
• Technical: Experience with leading ATS and HRIS technologies (e.g., Oracle Recruiting and HCM Cloud) highly preferred; proficient with Windows PCs, Microsoft O365 (Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint), and web‑conferencing tools (Teams, Zoom, Webex).
• Environment: Ability to commute to and work in a 100% on‑site setting with flexibility to travel for meetings, events, and client engagements.
• Demonstrated discretion and confidentiality in handling sensitive information.