Talent Acquisition Director

This is an exciting opportunity to join an organization during the early stages of an integration between two world-class events organizations (Emerald and Questex). In this role, you will lead the combined organization’s Talent Acquisition function, driving hiring strategies that attract exceptional talent across our events, media, sales, centers of excellence and corporate teams. You'll serve as a trusted advisor to leaders across the business, balancing strategic workforce planning with hands-on recruiting execution. You will lead a team of recruiters, optimize scalable hiring processes, leverage data to influence decisions, and ensure every candidate experiences the best of the organization’s culture and values. The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment and is passionate about building diverse, high-performing teams that drive business success. Key Responsibilities Talent Strategy & Workforce Planning Partner with business leaders to develop proactive hiring strategies aligned with the company’s growth objectives and evolving workforce needs. Serve as a strategic advisor on talent market trends, organizational design, and workforce planning initiatives. Build and maintain pipelines for critical, niche, and leadership roles, with a particular focus on high-impact revenue-generating positions. Develop innovative sourcing strategies that strengthen the organization’s ability to attract top talent in competitive markets. Recruiting Operations & Delivery Lead full-cycle recruiting efforts for key and executive-level positions, while overseeing recruiting delivery across the broader organization. Drive consistency and efficiency across the hiring process, ensuring timely execution and high-quality candidate experience. Manage requisition prioritization, pipeline health, hiring timelines, and offer strategy. Continuously optimize recruiting workflows, ATS utilization, and reporting capabilities to improve scalability and effectiveness. Ensure all hiring practices are compliant, equitable, and aligned with the company's commitment to inclusion and belonging. Team Leadership & Development Lead, coach, and develop a team of recruiters, fostering accountability, collaboration, and professional growth. Establish team goals, track performance metrics, and implement best practices to drive recruiting excellence. Create an inclusive, high-performing team culture. Champion continuous learning and development to elevate recruiting capabilities across the team. Business Partnership & Stakeholder Management Build strong relationships with hiring managers and senior leaders, serving as a trusted partner throughout the hiring process. Consult on organizational talent needs, job design, interview strategy, and compensation alignment. Train leaders and interview teams on structured interviewing, candidate assessment, and talent acquisition best practices. Use data and market intelligence to influence hiring decisions and improve business outcomes. Employer Brand & Candidate Experience Champion a world-class candidate experience that reflects the company's culture, values, and commitment to belonging. Strengthen the company's employer brand and talent marketing strategy. Leverage creative sourcing channels, including LinkedIn Recruiter, employee referrals, industry networks, events, and community partnerships. Position the organization as an employer of choice within the events, media, and B2B industries. Analytics & Continuous Improvement Track, analyze, and communicate recruiting metrics including time-to-fill, quality of hire, source effectiveness, diversity outcomes, and hiring manager satisfaction. Use data-driven insights to identify trends, inform strategy, and drive continuous improvement. Stay current on talent acquisition best practices, emerging technologies, and labor market trends. Lead recruiting projects and process enhancements that improve scalability, efficiency, and hiring outcomes. Qualifications Required 8-10+ years of recruiting experience including international hiring, including 4+ years leading or mentoring recruiting teams. Experience within B2B organizations, particularly in events, media, marketing services, SaaS, or adjacent industries. Proven success managing full-cycle recruiting across multiple functions and levels, including senior leadership searches. Strong experience recruiting sales and revenue-generating talent in a competitive environment. Demonstrated success building and scaling recruiting processes, programs, and teams. Experience supporting domestic and international hiring initiatives. Strong stakeholder management, consulting, and influencing skills. Data-driven approach with experience leveraging recruiting analytics and reporting to drive results. Experience with ATS platforms and recruiting technologies. Passion for creating equitable hiring practices and fostering inclusive teams. Preferred Employer branding, talent marketing, or recruitment marketing experience. Experience supporting organizations undergoing growth, transformation, or acquisition activity. Familiarity recruiting across sales, event operations, media, marketing, and corporate functions. Compensation & Benefits Target Compensation: $135,000 to $150,000 (bonus eligible) Please note that this range reflects a reasonable estimate of the target compensation for this position. This range may ultimately vary based on a candidate’s qualifications and may be higher where required by applicable law. We offer a competitive benefits package designed to strengthen our employees’ physical and mental health, including unlimited vacation for exempt employees, flexible working locations, 401(k) plan with a company match, medical/dental/vision coverage with inclusive provisions including transgender services and fertility benefits, parental and caregiver leave, dependent, commuter and FSA benefits, professional development programs like Toastmasters, and mental wellness tools. If you need accommodation in our application process or have questions about our posted salary range, please email our Talent Acquisition team at [email protected].