Executive Director, Talent Acquisition

Kymera Therapeutics•Watertown, MA

13h

About The Position

Kymera is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the field of targeted protein degradation (TPD) to develop medicines that address critical health problems and have the potential to dramatically improve patients’ lives. Kymera is deploying TPD to address disease targets and pathways inaccessible with conventional therapeutics. Having advanced the first degrader into the clinic for immunological diseases, Kymera is focused on building an industry-leading pipeline of oral small molecule degraders to provide a new generation of convenient, highly effective therapies for patients with these conditions. Founded in 2016, Kymera has been recognized as one of Boston’s top workplaces for the past several years. The Executive Director, Talent Acquisition is a mission-critical hire - the person who will build and own Kymera's people engine through its most consequential growth phase yet. You'll work directly with our SVP, People & Culture to architect workforce strategy for a company actively crossing the chasm from clinical to commercial readiness. You'll own the full talent acquisition function - strategy and execution - leading a high-performing team that is already delivering results. Your mandate: make it more proactive, more strategic, and more tightly connected to where the business is going. The TA function has a very strong foundation, and your role will be to enable this team to continue to build a high- performing company with top talent. Assess where we can create efficiencies, build value-add initiatives to maximize impact and create strategies that align with our long term build.

Requirements

10+ years in talent acquisition, with 3+ years leading a TA function end-to-end
Full-cycle recruiting experience in biotech or pharma, genuine passion for work and a high bar for talent
Track record of proactively owning workforce planning, not just responding to requisitions, and translating business goals into talent strategy
Demonstrated experience building pipelines for senior clinical, scientific, and leadership profiles (MDs, late-stage experts, succession planning)
Experience building fit-for-purpose analytics, reporting cadences, and systems that drive better hiring decisions
Strong executive communicator who can influence without authority and operate credibly with C-suite stakeholders
Resilient self-starter who thrives in fast-paced, dynamic environments and looks at process and operations with a “right-sized” lens
Genuinely curious about AI and automation and what it can do for TA; eager to explore and experiment

Responsibilities

Take clear, firm ownership of workforce planning - bringing rigor and proactivity to when, how, and who Kymera hires to deliver on its business objectives. Partner closely with People Partners to ensure alignment, while making sure the planning intelligence and hiring strategy is driven by Talent Acquisition.
Own and lead the annual and rolling workforce planning process in close partnership with the SVP of People & Culture and senior business leaders
Create proactive pipelining strategies for Kymera's most critical and hard-to-fill roles, including Medical Directors, late-stage clinical profiles, and senior leadership succession, well before vacancies become urgent
Build forward-looking commercial hiring playbooks to ensure the team is positioned to move fast when commercialization demands it
Develop trust-based partnerships across all functions and levels; engage directly with leaders to anticipate talent needs rather than react to them
Manage, develop, and grow a strong, flexible TA team that scales to meet evolving hiring needs and organizational design requirements
Create the leadership layer that bridges the TA function and executive leadership
Evolve interview and assessment methodologies to support faster, more data-driven, and more equitable talent decisions
Drive an exceptional candidate experience as a genuine extension of Kymera's culture, embodying our values of Pioneer, Collaborate & Belong
Build the intelligence layer that makes TA a strategic asset to the business, not just a function that fills roles.
Establish an executive-ready analytics and reporting cadence: pipeline health, time-to-fill, capacity forecasts, offer acceptance, and demographic data
Optimize talent systems including ATS and workflow automation to enhance candidate management and process efficiency
Bring genuine curiosity to AI and automation tools; evaluate and pilot solutions that make the team meaningfully more effective
Partner with Communications and People + Culture on employer branding and external communications, ensuring Kymera's story reaches the right talent at the right moments
Launch co-op, internship, and student community programs in partnership with business leaders, building early-talent pipelines that match Kymera’s stage and trajectory