Director, Talent Acquisition North America

Fortrea•Durham, CA

About The Position

At Fortrea, Talent Acquisition is more than filling positions. We build the workforce strategies that enable business growth, accelerate operational performance, and strengthen our competitive advantage. We are seeking a high-impact Director, Talent Acquisition North America to lead recruitment strategy and execution across one of our largest regions. This role combines operational leadership, strategic workforce planning, talent intelligence, and executive partnership to ensure Fortrea attracts, develops, and deploys the talent needed to achieve our business objectives. You will partner closely with senior business leaders, HR Business Partners, Finance, and Talent Strategy teams to transform talent acquisition from a transactional function into a strategic business capability.

Requirements

Significant experience leading Talent Acquisition teams in a complex, matrixed environment.
Experience partnering with senior executives and business leaders on workforce and talent strategies.
Demonstrated success leading high-volume, professional, clinical, corporate, or specialized hiring functions.
Strong experience utilizing metrics, analytics, and workforce insights to influence decision making.
Proven capability leading organizational change, large-scale talent initiatives, or transformation programs.

Nice To Haves

Experience within Life Sciences, CRO, Healthcare, Biopharma, Consulting, or Professional Services environments.
Experience with workforce planning, talent intelligence, and skills-based hiring methodologies.
Experience leading geographically dispersed teams.
Familiarity with AI-enabled recruiting technologies and talent marketplace solutions.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute regional talent acquisition strategies aligned to business priorities, growth plans, and workforce forecasts.
Partner directly with executive and operational leaders to anticipate talent requirements and create proactive hiring solutions.
Translate business strategy into scalable talent acquisition plans that balance speed, quality, productivity, and cost.
Utilize labor market intelligence, workforce analytics, hiring trends, and talent insights to influence hiring decisions.
Partner with business leaders on workforce planning, location strategy, organizational design, and skills-based talent planning.
Help leaders make informed decisions regarding build versus buy talent strategies.
Lead, coach, and develop a team of recruiters, sourcers, and talent acquisition professionals across North America.
Establish a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and customer excellence.
Create clear performance expectations and development pathways for recruiters and leaders.
Provide strategic oversight for senior and critical hiring initiatives.
Ensure robust succession-oriented talent pipelines are established for key business areas.
Partner with executive stakeholders to define talent strategies for high-impact leadership positions.
Champion the adoption of recruitment technologies, talent intelligence platforms, AI-enabled sourcing tools, and automation.
Continuously improve recruitment processes to increase efficiency, enhance candidate experience, and reduce manual administrative work.
Use data and predictive insights to improve hiring outcomes and recruiter productivity.
Partner with Talent Strategy and HR teams to increase internal movement and career progression opportunities.
Promote skills-based hiring and internal talent marketplaces to maximize organizational capability.
Support strategic initiatives that improve workforce agility and talent retention.
Monitor hiring performance, workforce trends, recruiter productivity, and service delivery metrics.
Lead quarterly business reviews with senior stakeholders to assess progress, risks, and talent priorities.
Manage recruitment partner relationships and ensure cost-effective utilization of external search firms and agencies.