Talent Acquisition & Onboarding Director

World View•Irvine, CA

3d•$160,000 - $190,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Director, Talent Acquisition & Onboarding leads Ondas Sentinel’s end-to-end talent attraction and recruitment operations, from workforce demand intake through offer coordination and the initial onboarding handover. Reporting to the CPO within the People function, this leader partners with business and functional leaders to turn growth plans, program requirements, and capability gaps into executable hiring plans. The role establishes consistent processes for workforce demand intake, employer positioning, sourcing, recruitment operations, hiring manager discipline, candidate experience, selection governance, and offer delivery, while preserving the speed and flexibility needed in a growing defense technology environment. The position combines strategic leadership with direct execution. It calls for strong stakeholder influence, operational discipline, sound judgment, familiarity with technical and security-cleared hiring, and a commitment to a clear, respectful experience for candidates and hiring managers. The role is on-site at the Irvine, California hub (preferred) or Tucson, Arizona hub, with travel between Ondas Sentinel locations as business needs require.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, Organizational Psychology, Communications, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
10+ years of progressive talent acquisition experience, including significant experience leading recruitment operations, teams, and senior stakeholder relationships in a high-growth or complex environment.
Demonstrated success building structured workforce intake, requisition governance, sourcing, selection, offer, and onboarding handover processes.
Strong experience recruiting technical, engineering, manufacturing, operations, program, corporate, and leadership talent.
Proven ability to influence and hold senior hiring managers accountable while maintaining trusted, constructive partnerships.
Strong command of applicant tracking systems, recruiting analytics, process design, vendor management, and data-driven workforce reporting.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, executive presence, sound judgment, discretion, and ability to manage competing priorities with urgency and care.
Working knowledge of federal and state employment requirements relevant to recruiting, selection, candidate records, and equal employment opportunity.
Ability to work on-site at the Irvine, California hub, preferably, or Tucson, Arizona hub, and travel between Ondas Sentinel locations as business needs require.

Nice To Haves

Aerospace, defense, autonomous systems, or advanced technology experience.
Experience with U.S. Government contracting environments, security-cleared talent, International Traffic in Arms Regulations, export controls, and related hiring constraints.

Responsibilities

Own workforce demand intake and translate approved needs into hiring plans, capacity forecasts, service expectations, and sourcing priorities aligned with business growth, program milestones, budgets, and critical capability needs.
Shape Ondas Sentinel’s employer positioning and lead sourcing strategies for technical, engineering, manufacturing, operations, program, corporate, executive, and security-cleared talent.
Lead recruitment operations and governance, including requisition workflows, interview coordination, applicant tracking, agency management, documentation, reporting, and continuous improvement.
Set hiring manager expectations for role definition, interview readiness, timely feedback, structured assessment, decision quality, and candidate communication; constructively address delays or inconsistency.
Deliver a consistent, inclusive candidate experience from first contact through acceptance, and coordinate competitive, internally aligned offers with People, Compensation, Finance, and business leaders.
Own the transition from offer acceptance through onboarding, coordinating People Operations, Security, IT, Facilities, Payroll, and hiring managers to provide a consistent day-one and week-one experience.
Build dashboards and operating rhythms that show demand, pipeline health, hiring outcomes, manager responsiveness, and candidate experience.
Lead and scale the internal recruiting team and external partners while balancing quality, speed, cost, and capacity.
Ensure recruitment and onboarding practices comply with employment, equal opportunity, privacy, recordkeeping, government contracting, export control, and security requirements, escalating risks promptly.