Early Career Program Manager

CRB•Kansas City, MO

About The Position

The Early Career Program Manager is a key member of CRB's Talent Acquisition team, responsible for building out and scaling CRB's intern and early career program. This role is the connective tissue between students, business leaders, hiring managers, and university relationships — ensuring that every early career hire receives an exceptional, consistent, and meaningful experience from offer acceptance through their first year at CRB. This position requires a proactive communicator who thrives on relationship-building, is comfortable engaging with executive leadership and students alike, and brings disciplined program management to a fast-moving, people-focused environment. Reporting to the Talent Acquisition Manager, this role will mentor a Recruiter, providing support on tactical recruiting responsibilities such as intern and new grad phone screens, sourcing, and candidate pipeline coordination, while also partnering on training and cross-functional projects. The successful candidate will play a central role in shaping CRB's early careers pipeline as a primary DEI lever and long-term workforce development strategy, ensuring early career initiatives are aligned to broader Talent Acquisition goals, metrics, and regional hiring strategies.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Communications, Education, or a related field.
Experience building or scaling university relations programs and maintaining multi-school recruiting partnerships.
Familiarity with DEI recruiting strategies and partnerships with organizations such as SWE, NSBE, SHPE, or NOMAS.
Highly organized with strong project management skills — able to manage multiple concurrent priorities, deadlines, and workstreams.
Demonstrated ability to manage multiple stakeholders across levels, from students to senior executives, with professionalism and clarity.

Nice To Haves

Experience managing internship or rotational programs at a professional services, engineering, architecture, or construction firm.
3+ years of experience in early careers talent acquisition, university recruiting, and program management.
Experience with applicant tracking systems; proficiency with SmartRecruiters, LinkedIn Recruiter, or similar platforms preferred.
Strong written and verbal communication skills with experience developing stakeholder-facing program updates, reports, and presentations.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary point of contact for all Early Careers program communication, including students, interns, hiring managers, and business leaders across CRB's offices.
Build and maintain trusted relationships with ELT sponsors and regional leaders to secure participation, resources, and support for intern cohorts and new grad placements.
Develop and execute proactive communication plans for intern cohorts, covering program marketing, pre-arrival preparation, milestone updates, and post-program feedback.
Partner closely with Talent Acquisition and People Operations on onboarding teams to align program timelines, offer processes, and start-date logistics.
Facilitate regular program touchpoints and updates with key stakeholders, including ELT leadership briefings, manager and mentor training sessions, and intern satisfaction check-ins.
Champion the voice of early career talent internally — surfacing themes from intern feedback, return-offer outcomes, and new grad experience data to inform program improvements and stakeholder decisions.
Deploy an end-to-end process of CRB's internship program and New Grad hiring pipeline, from campus recruiting and candidate coordination through onboarding and conversion tracking.
Mentor and guide a Recruiter by providing day-to-day support on tactical responsibilities such as intern and new grad phone screening, sourcing, and candidate flow management; train and collaborate with the Recruiter on early career projects and ensure efforts are aligned to broader Talent Acquisition goals, funnel health metrics, and regional hiring strategies.
Design and maintain scalable program playbooks, training materials, onboarding schedules, and structured intern experiences that reflect CRB's culture and core values.
Coordinate intern cohort logistics across multiple offices, including placement planning, housing resources, kickoff events, mentor/manager pairing, and summer programming.
Track and report on key program metrics including intern-to-new grad conversion rates (targeting 70%+), return offer rates, hiring manager satisfaction, and DEI pipeline representation.
Lead development of the Early ID / Bridge Program to engage high school and early-college students in CRB's talent pipeline, including office shadowing, tours, and engagement activities.
Manage and evolve CRB's Core Schools strategy, selecting and cultivating partnerships with universities aligned to CRB's key disciplines, office locations, and DEI goals.
Build and maintain relationships with campus career centers, student organizations (including SWE, NSBE, SHPE, and NOMAS), and academic faculty to grow CRB's presence and candidate pipeline.
In partnership with the Recruiter, coordinate the attendance and facilitation of career fairs, on-campus info sessions, and virtual recruiting events, representing CRB's employer brand with professionalism and enthusiasm.
Explore Co-op partnerships and potential trade school relationships.
Manage candidate pipelines through SmartRecruiters (ATS), ensuring timely communication and disposition of all early career applicants.
Align Early Careers programming with CRB's DEI Council priorities, ensuring the program serves as a meaningful access point for underrepresented talent pools.
Provide regular reporting to HR leadership and ELT on early career program performance, pipeline health, and DEI impact metrics.