Talent Acquisition Director

About the role

As the Talent Acquisition Director, you will lead RailPros' enterprise talent acquisition strategy to attract, hire, and retain exceptional talent that supports the company's growth and operational objectives. This role oversees recruiting strategy, workforce planning, employer branding, recruiting operations, talent pipeline development, and candidate experience across all business functions. You will collaborate with executive leadership, hiring managers, and Human Resources to develop scalable recruiting programs, improve hiring effectiveness, and build a high-performing recruitment function. This role champions RailPros' Pillars of Service Excellence by embedding a Culture of Caring, Sharing, Progress, and Innovation throughout the recruiting process and candidate experience.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an enterprise talent acquisition strategy aligned with business objectives and workforce plans.
• Partner with executive leadership to forecast hiring needs and develop proactive recruiting solutions.
• Establish recruiting priorities, service levels, and hiring strategies across all business units.
• Develop recruiting metrics and dashboards to measure hiring effectiveness, quality of hire, time-to-fill, and recruiting ROI.
• Ensure compliance with employment laws and hiring best practices.
• Lead all aspects of enterprise recruiting operations from workforce planning through onboarding.
• Optimize recruiting workflows, interview processes, and hiring practices to improve efficiency and candidate experience.
• Oversee applicant tracking systems, recruiting technology, and vendor relationships.
• Develop standardized hiring practices and interview methodologies across the organization.
• Ensure consistent, high-quality recruiting support for field, corporate, technical, and leadership positions.
• Build sustainable talent pipelines for technical, operational, engineering, and leadership roles.
• Develop innovative sourcing strategies utilizing direct sourcing, employee referrals, social recruiting, universities, military transition programs, and industry partnerships.
• Strengthen RailPros' employer brand to position the organization as an employer of choice.
• Expand diversity of candidate sourcing strategies while ensuring equal employment opportunity and inclusive hiring practices.
• Partner with HR and business leaders to anticipate future workforce requirements.
• Analyze labor market trends and recruiting data to inform hiring strategies.
• Support strategic workforce planning initiatives aligned with business growth.
• Identify opportunities to improve hiring capacity and recruiting scalability.
• Lead, coach, and develop the Talent Acquisition team.
• Build strong partnerships with executives, operational leaders, and hiring managers.
• Serve as a trusted advisor on recruiting strategies, market trends, and talent availability.
• Foster accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement across the recruiting function.
• Promote RailPros' Culture of Caring, Sharing, Progress, and Innovation throughout the hiring process.
• Partner with HR leadership to develop and maintain a market-competitive compensation strategy that supports attraction, retention, and internal equity objectives.
• Conduct regular market pricing analyses and provide recommendations for salary structures, pay ranges, geographic differentials, and compensation adjustments.
• Develop, implement, and maintain a formal job grading and leveling framework to ensure consistency in position classification and career progression opportunities.
• Evaluate new and existing positions to determine appropriate job grades, compensation ranges, and organizational alignment.
• Partner with business leaders and HR to review compensation recommendations for promotions, transfers, organizational restructuring, and new role creation.
• Monitor and analyze internal pay equity and salary compression issues, providing recommendations to maintain fair and equitable compensation practices.
• Ensure compensation programs comply with applicable federal, state, and local regulations, including pay transparency and equal pay requirements.
• Maintain job descriptions, job families, and salary grade structures to support organizational growth and workforce planning initiatives.
• Contribute to a positive, inclusive, and respectful workplace culture, free from behaviors that undermine morale, productivity, or organizational values.
• Uphold the organization’s standards of integrity, accountability, and respect in all duties and interactions.
• Adhere to all company policies, procedures, and applicable laws and regulations.
• Perform other duties as assigned or required to meet the business needs.

Schedule

• Approximately 20-30% travel may be required based on business needs.
• Travel may include RailPros’ locations, recruiting events, career fairs, universities, conferences, and meetings with business leaders or external partners.
• Occasional overnight and air travel may be required.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, or related field required.
• 8–10+ years of progressive Talent Acquisition leadership experience.
• Demonstrated success developing enterprise recruiting strategies and workforce planning initiatives.
• Experience implementing recruiting technologies, ATS platforms, and talent analytics.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to influence senior leaders.
• Experience managing recruiting teams in multi-location environments.

Skills

• Deep knowledge of talent acquisition strategy, recruiting operations, workforce planning, and employment branding.
• Strong understanding of labor market trends and recruiting best practices.
• Expertise in sourcing strategies, candidate experience, recruiting analytics, and process optimization.
• Excellent leadership, communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to align hiring strategies to operational priorities.
• Ability to analyze recruiting metrics and translate data into actionable business decisions.
• Proficiency with ATS, HRIS, CRM, recruiting automation, and workforce analytics platforms.

Preferred Qualifications

• Professional certification such as SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, PHR, or comparable HR/Talent Acquisition credential.
• Experience with compensation benchmarking, job architecture, salary structures, and pay equity analysis.
• Experience leading recruitment transformation, process improvement, or implementation of ATS/CRM and recruiting technology solutions.
• Demonstrated experience using recruiting analytics and workforce data to influence business decisions and improve hiring outcomes.

Benefits

• Comprehensive Health Insurance: Includes medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Additional Coverage Plans: Accident plan, critical illness plan, and hospital indemnity with employee to family coverage.
• Legal Shield, ID Shield, Pet Insurance: Added protection for you and your pets.
• Life & Disability Insurance: Employer provided coverage with additional voluntary options available.
• Retirement Savings: 401(k) plan with employer match includes pre- and post-deduction options.
• Paid Time Off (PTO): With carryover each year.
• Paid Holidays: For full-time employees.
• Wellness Programs: Access to wellness initiatives and resources.
• Discount Programs: Exclusive discounts on products and services.
• Company Merchandise Allowance: Company-funded allowance for our online store.
• Health Savings Accounts (HSA): With employer match.
• Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA): Employer funded.
• Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA): For dependent care expenses.
• Employee Assistance Programs (EAP): Support for personal and professional challenges.
• Professional Development: Opportunities for training and career growth.
• Balanced Work Environment: A culture that respects boundaries so employees can recharge and bring their best selves to work.
• Tuition Reimbursement: Support for continued education or professional development.
• Professional & Career Growth: Through mentorship, continuous training, career path partnerships, goal setting, and succession planning.
• Culture & Recognition: Employee spotlights, annual Service Excellence Awards, alignment committee, philanthropy opportunities, company events, monthly new hire calls, monthly newsletters, feedback surveys, and quarterly town halls.

About Us

RailPros is the premier provider of engineering and diversified safety services to America's rail and transit industry. Driven by a passion for our people, clients, and communities, we are committed to solving our customers' challenges and earning their trust through teamwork, continuous improvement, and service excellence. As a people-first organization, we prioritize the safety, well-being, and growth of our employees, fostering a culture of caring and support. We believe that when our people thrive, our company thrives. Our mission is to enhance mobility, safety, and quality of life for residents, passengers, and partner companies. We do more than just provide services; we are constantly innovating and staying informed of industry developments to help our customers succeed. Join us in our shared goal of keeping America moving and ensuring customer satisfaction in an environment where your contributions are valued and your growth is encouraged.