Attorney Recruiting and Professional Development Director

Cranfill Sumner LLP•Raleigh, NC

4d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director is a strategic, hands-on talent leader responsible for designing and executing the firm’s attorney recruiting, onboarding, and development programs. This role operates independently in a lean environment, balancing long-term planning with day-to-day execution to support practice growth, attorney engagement, and organizational consistency. This individual partners closely with firm leadership, attorney section leaders, and functional staff directors to anticipate talent needs, build structured processes, and deliver a meaningful attorney experience from first touch through ongoing development. The Senior Manager plays a critical role in aligning talent initiatives with firm strategy, partnering with leadership to understand evolving priorities, and translating those priorities into actionable recruiting and development programs that strengthen attorney performance, engagement, and long-term growth.

Requirements

7-10+ years of attorney recruiting, legal talent management, or professional services recruiting experience.
Demonstrated success leading lateral hiring, entry-level hiring, OCI, and Summer Associate Programs.
Strong understanding of attorney development needs across career stages.
Proven ability to build structured processes and operate independently.
Excellent communication, relationship-building, and project-management skills.
Bachelor’s degree required; JD or advanced degree preferred.
Proficiency with Microsoft 365, ATS platforms, and talent-related technologies.

Responsibilities

Ensure all recruiting and development efforts support the firm’s strategy, culture, and long-term priorities.
Partner with the Chief Strategy Officer, attorney section leaders, and staff directors to anticipate attorney staffing needs across offices and practices.
Develop scalable tools, workflows, and reporting that strengthen consistency as the firm grows.
Identify trends in the legal talent market and recommend proactive adjustments to strategy, recruiting channels, or development programming.
Lead full-cycle attorney recruiting, including intake, sourcing, screening, scheduling, interviews, debriefs, offer development, and closing.
Build and maintain equitable hiring processes—including rubrics, evaluation frameworks, interview training, and communication standards.
Strengthen the recruiting pipeline through relationships with agencies, law schools, career services offices, and alumni and professional networks.
Oversee all aspects of On-Campus Interviewing (OCI), including logistics, attorney engagement, interview planning, and follow-up.
Oversee all aspects of the Summer Associate Program, including orientation, work allocation, feedback processes, events, and conversion strategy.
Develop employer-brand aligned materials and messaging that reflect the firm’s values and attorney experience.
Maintain recruiting metrics related to time-to-fill, sourcing effectiveness, and candidate experience.
Design and deliver structured onboarding and integration processes for all newly hired attorneys.
Partner with practice and section leaders on work allocation visibility, integration milestones, and first-year development experiences.
Track early attorney engagement and performance trends; surface opportunities for coaching, support, or early intervention.
Lead standardization of onboarding resources, checklists, and integration touchpoints for attorneys.
Build and maintain an annual attorney development curriculum focused on core legal skills, business development, professional growth including communications, leadership, and business etiquette, and client-service excellence.
Ensure professional development aligns with practice group needs, attorney competencies, and firm strategy.
Strengthen the firm’s Business Development (BD) program by: Identifying complementary BD skill-building opportunities. Coordinating with BD program leaders to integrate training modules, speakers, or practice-specific content. Reinforcing BD expectations during onboarding and development touchpoints.
Support feedback and evaluation processes by organizing cycles, communicating expectations, and helping convert insights into development plans.
Maintain a firmwide library of professional development materials, guides, templates, and resources.
Implement and manage ATS and PD systems; develop dashboards and reports to drive informed decision-making.
Build and maintain SOPs, workflows, and templates that bring clarity and scalability to all attorney talent processes.
Collaborate cross-functionally with internal operations departments (e.g., HR, Finance, Operations, IT) and attorney section and practice groups to support operational alignment and shared initiatives.
Serve as a subject matter expert on attorney hiring, professional development, and market standards.
Manage external vendors, subscriptions, and service providers supporting recruiting and professional development.
Oversee the talent budget, ensuring responsible, strategic use of firm resources.