Senior Director, Talent Acquisition

Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals•Lexington, MA

9d•$250,000 - $267,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Director, Talent Acquisition is responsible for helping develop, implement, and continuously improve processes that attract top-tier talent, build strong and diverse talent pipelines, and support Kiniksa’s continued growth. Reporting to the VP of HR, this position oversees all aspects of talent acquisition partners closely with leadership to align hiring initiatives with workforce plans, organizational priorities, and business goals. This role will balance strategy and execution, bringing a strong candidate experience mindset to every stage of the recruitment lifecycle. Additionally, this position will oversee, coach, and develop the talent acquisition team while helping scale recruiting capabilities across the organization. This role is based in our Lexington, MA office and requires employees to be onsite five days per week.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in human resources, business administration, life sciences, or a related field
12+ years of progressive talent acquisition experience, preferably with 2+ years of experience as the leader of the TA function within the biotech or pharmaceutical industry
Full-cycle recruitment experience with a passion for recruiting and establishing high standards for attracting top talent; experience supporting a commercial environment is required
Critical thinker with a demonstrated ability to collaborate with executive leadership and hiring teams, make thoughtful recommendations, challenge constructively, and drive alignment
Demonstrated experience developing fit-for-purpose processes, analytics, and platforms that help streamline workflows, improve time to hire, enhance quality of hire, and ensure a diverse slate of high-quality talent
Strong people leadership skills with experience coaching, developing and motivating recruiting professionals in a fast-paced environment
Excellent communicator and influencer with the ability to flex style, build trust, manage competing priorities, and drive solutions across all levels of the organization
Strong judgment, discretion, and professionalism when managing confidential searches, sensitive organizational information, and senior stakeholder relationships
Self-starter able to drive work forward within a fast-paced, dynamic, and high-growth environment with a track record of execution and a startup mindset: adaptable, proactive, resourceful, and ready to roll up your sleeves

Nice To Haves

Proven ability to design and scale enterprise-wide global recruiting strategies aligned with workforce planning, business growth, and organizational priorities in a high-growth commercial stage life sciences environment
Trusted advisor to senior leadership, translating business needs into data-driven hiring strategies while driving alignment, managing competing priorities, and delivering market-informed insights
Expertise in optimizing end-to-end recruitment processes, building diverse talent pipelines, and delivering a best-in-class candidate and hiring manager experience
Strong people leader with a track record of coaching high-performing TA teams, leveraging analytics and recruiting technologies to improve efficiency, quality of hire, and organizational scalability

Responsibilities

Help develop, implement, and evolve a comprehensive, scalable talent acquisition strategy aligned with Kiniksa’s mission, growth objectives, and near- and long-term workforce plans
Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders, HR Business Partners, and hiring managers by translating business priorities into effective recruiting strategies, hiring plans, and market-informed recommendations
Oversee and continuously improve the full recruitment lifecycle, from intake and sourcing through screening, interviewing, offer management, closing, and onboarding
Drive a high-quality candidate and hiring manager experience that reflects Kiniksa’s values and commitment to timely and transparent communication
Build proactive pipelines for critical and hard-to-fill roles, including leadership, commercial, scientific, clinical, technical, and corporate functions, using targeted sourcing, referrals, market mapping, events, and external partnerships
Partner closely with functional leaders, HR Business Partners, and hiring managers to understand current and future talent needs and deliver outstanding candidates who meet both capability and culture expectations
Partner closely with the broader HR team, including HR Business Partners, HR Operations, and Total Rewards, to ensure recruiting, offer, onboarding, compensation, and talent processes are coordinated and effective
Oversee a structured, consistent interview and assessment process, including interview plans, candidate debriefs, and selection processes that support quality hiring decisions
Use recruiting analytics, dashboards, and key performance indicators to monitor pipeline health, time to fill, quality of slate, offer acceptance, source effectiveness, process bottlenecks, and overall recruiting effectiveness
Identify opportunities to improve recruiting systems, tools, workflows, vendor partnerships, and processes to increase efficiency, scalability, consistency, and compliance
Partner with HR and business leaders on employer brand initiatives, talent market insights, recruitment messaging, and external outreach that help position Kiniksa as an employer of choice
Develop and lead the talent acquisition team by setting priorities, clarifying roles and expectations, providing coaching and feedback, building capabilities, and fostering a collaborative, high-performance team environment
Remain hands-on in leading candidate searches, particularly for critical and senior-level roles, ensuring high-quality execution
Stay current on recruiting trends, talent market dynamics, competitive intelligence, and best practices in life sciences talent acquisition
Other duties as assigned