Senior Director, Talent Acquisition

Avantor•Radnor, PA

4d•$167,500 - $282,325•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Director, Talent Acquisition owns Avantor’s global talent acquisition function, including its strategy, operating model, metrics, and teams. The role leads recruiting across regions and business units, personally leads VP-and-above searches and selected high-value roles below VP, and connects recruiting outcomes to leadership bench strength, internal mobility, critical capabilities, and the company-wide Revival transformation. The role sets performance expectations and uses metrics to improve hiring quality, speed, cost, candidate experience, and compliance. It oversees recruiting operations, technology, analytics, assessment standards, vendor relationships, contingent workforce strategy, and the TA budget. The position partners with executive and business leaders, HR, Finance, Talent Management, and Total Rewards on workforce planning, hiring decisions, assessment, compensation, and talent outcomes. The role is based within same-day driving distance of both Radnor, Pennsylvania, and Bridgewater, New Jersey, with regular onsite work at those locations. Travel outside headquarters visits is estimated at up to 10%. Early morning or evening calls should be expected to work with Europe and AMEA teams.

Requirements

12 or more years of experience in talent acquisition.
At least 5 years leading managers or multi-region TA teams in a global, matrixed organization.
At least 5 years leading VP-and-above searches in a retained search firm or internal executive recruiting function.
Demonstrated experience setting and managing TA metrics and using data to improve performance, process quality, and hiring outcomes.
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Human Resources, Psychology, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
Executive presence, credibility, sound judgment, and discretion when advising ELT members and handling confidential matters.
Strong leadership and coaching skills, including leading leaders across regions and cultures and holding teams accountable.
Strong analytical skills, including setting metrics, interpreting recruiting and workforce data, and turning insights into action.
Strong process improvement and change management skills, including standardizing practices across regions and business units.
Deep knowledge of assessment and selection methods, including structured interviewing, skills-based hiring, and validated psychometric tools.
Strong vendor management and negotiation skills, including executive search, RPO, and contingent labor partners.
Working knowledge of executive compensation, equity, and offer structuring.
Ability to work onsite regularly at Radnor, PA, and Bridgewater, NJ; the role is based within same-day driving distance of both locations.
Ability to travel up to 10% outside headquarters visits and participate in early morning or evening calls with Europe and AMEA teams.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or MBA.
Experience in life sciences, healthcare, distribution, or another regulated or industrial environment at a company with $1 billion or more in revenue.
Experience leading talent acquisition through significant organizational change or a business turnaround.
Hogan certification (HPI, HDS, MVPI) or equivalent certification in validated assessment tools.
Experience implementing or optimizing an ATS and candidate CRM, such as Workday, Avature, or Invenias, and responsibly applying AI-enabled recruiting tools.
Experience managing search firm and RPO relationships, including fee negotiation, and building a record of cost avoidance.
Experience hiring across the Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific, with working knowledge of regional employment and data privacy requirements.
Experience building skills-based hiring or internal mobility programs.

Responsibilities

Set the global talent acquisition strategy and operating model across the Americas, Europe, and AMEA and across business units, balancing global standards with regional and business needs.
Lead, coach, and develop TA leaders and their teams; set goals, ensure accountability, and build succession plans and career paths within TA.
Partner with the ELT, business leaders, HR Business Partners, and Finance on workforce planning, hiring forecasts, TA budgets, and resource allocation.
Define targets for and monitor a TA scorecard covering recruiting speed, quality, cost, pipeline health, and slate quality.
Review TA results with regional and business unit leaders, diagnose gaps, drive corrective action, and report results, insights, and risks to leadership.
Use workforce and market data to inform business decisions and improve recruiting performance.
Review and improve end-to-end recruiting processes to increase quality, speed, candidate experience, and compliance across regions.
Oversee TA operations, including the applicant tracking system, candidate CRM, recruiting analytics, reporting, and shared service center support.
Set standards for AI and automation in recruiting, including human review of decisions, fairness monitoring, and safeguards against candidate fraud and identity misrepresentation.
Align TA priorities with talent management priorities, including succession plans, leadership bench strength, critical capabilities, and Revival transformation needs.
Build proactive external pipelines and market maps for critical and succession-sensitive roles and benchmark external talent against internal successors.
Promote an internal-first approach with Talent Management, including internal mobility, boomerang and alumni hiring, and referral programs.
Partner with Talent Management and Total Rewards on competency models and success profiles.
Set enterprise selection standards, including structured, competency- and skills-based interviewing, interview guides, scorecards, and hiring manager training.
Select, validate, and govern assessment tools, including Hogan assessments, ensuring consistent, fair, and legally compliant use.
Conduct or oversee executive assessments for external finalists and provide evidence-based hiring recommendations.
Measure and improve how well selection methods predict success using quality-of-hire data.
Personally lead full-cycle global searches for VP-and-above roles and selected high-value roles below VP, from role definition and market mapping through offer and close.
Advise the ELT and business leaders on executive talent markets, compensation expectations, and hiring decisions, using discretion for confidential and replacement searches.
Structure and negotiate complex executive offers with Total Rewards, including sign-on, equity, buyouts, and relocation.
Maintain the executive candidate CRM and alumni network in accordance with global data privacy requirements.
Manage search firm and contingent workforce partner portfolios, including sourcing, fee negotiation, contract terms, performance reviews, and renewal decisions.
Lead the contingent workforce strategy, coordinate it with permanent hiring plans, and track agency spend and cost avoidance.
Manage the TA budget and prioritize spending on high-impact sources and tools.

Benefits

Medical coverage
Dental coverage
Vision coverage
Wellness programs
Health savings accounts
Flexible spending accounts
401(k) plan with company match
Employee stock purchase program
11 paid holidays
18 PTO days accrued annually
Volunteer time off
6 weeks of 100% paid parental leave, except in states that offer paid family leave
Learning experiences to support career growth and success