Senior Recruiter

Highwire • Chicago, WA

15h • $80,000 - $95,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Highwire is seeking a Senior Recruiter to lead full-cycle recruitment, develop proactive sourcing strategies, and build long-term talent pipelines across agency and corporate functions. As a member of the People team, the recruiter will partner with leaders to understand business needs, identify talent, and strengthen the agency’s ability to attract candidates for current and future opportunities.

The role serves as a trusted talent advisor to hiring leaders and builds relationships with qualified candidates beyond traditional applicant pools. It requires expertise in passive-candidate sourcing, talent market research, and relationship building, as well as the ability to translate business needs into recruiting strategies and adapt in a fast-paced agency environment.

The Senior Recruiter leads searches from kickoff through offer across PR, integrated communications, digital, creative, and corporate functions; maintains candidate, search, and pipeline data; tracks recruiting metrics; and supports recruiting process improvements, employer branding, inclusive hiring, and the agency’s internship program. The position is remote or hybrid depending on location. Candidates near the New York or San Francisco offices follow a hybrid schedule with three in-office days per week. Fully remote hiring is limited to the states and Washington, D.C. listed in the posting.

The salary range is $80,000 to $95,000. The final offer depends on factors including education, relevant experience, skills, training, internal equity, and local market data. The role includes a competitive benefits package.

Requirements

• At least 5 years of recruiting experience.
• Deep expertise in identifying and engaging high-quality passive candidates through targeted, research-driven sourcing strategies.
• Experience building talent pipelines that support immediate hiring needs and long-term workforce planning.
• Ability to build credibility with senior leaders, understand business needs, and translate them into recruiting strategies.
• Ability to research talent markets and advise hiring teams on candidate availability, competitive dynamics, candidate profiles, and expectations.
• Experience managing full-cycle searches from intake through offer while balancing candidate experience, hiring-team partnership, and recruiting outcomes.
• Strong negotiation skills and experience extending offers, navigating compensation discussions, and balancing candidate expectations with salary bands and internal equity.
• Commitment to delivering a thoughtful, engaging, and transparent candidate experience through timely communication and consistent follow-through.
• Comfort using recruiting metrics and pipeline insights to evaluate effectiveness, identify challenges, and adjust strategies.
• Strong relationship-building and communication skills, including the ability to engage candidates, influence hiring decisions, and build trusted partnerships across teams and leadership levels.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment where priorities and hiring needs change quickly, while staying organized and maintaining momentum.
• Proactive, resourceful approach; ownership of searches, anticipation of hiring needs, and willingness to explore new ways to identify and attract talent.
• Commitment to inclusive hiring, including broadening talent networks and creating equitable candidate experiences.
• Experience with applicant tracking systems, LinkedIn Recruiter, and advanced search techniques.
• Proficiency in Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel for pipeline tracking, reporting, and recruiting data management.
• At the time of hire, residence in one of the listed eligible states or Washington, D.C., if applying for a fully remote role.

Nice To Haves

• Recruiting experience in PR, communications, marketing, creative, digital, agency, or professional services environments.
• Experience with Greenhouse.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute proactive sourcing strategies across PR, communications, marketing, digital, creative, and corporate functions.
• Build and maintain talent pipelines for current, anticipated, hard-to-fill, and recurring roles, developing relationships with qualified candidates before positions become available.
• Use LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean search, talent mapping, referrals, networking, and other methods to identify passive candidates.
• Research talent markets, candidate availability, competitive landscapes, and sourcing channels; use findings to assess pipeline health and refine strategies.
• Advise hiring leaders on business objectives, team dynamics, talent needs, candidate availability, market trends, expectations, and competitive positioning.
• Translate business priorities into role requirements and recruiting strategies; guide interview strategy, candidate assessment, and hiring decisions.
• Maintain regular communication with hiring managers, including weekly updates on search progress, pipeline activity, candidate feedback, and next steps.
• Partner with the Director of Talent Strategy to anticipate hiring needs and align recruiting priorities with business goals.
• Lead full-cycle recruitment across agency and corporate functions from kickoff through offer.
• Identify and assess talent through sourcing, networking, referrals, and inbound applicants while maintaining search momentum and hiring-team alignment.
• Deliver a thoughtful candidate experience through timely communication, transparency, engagement, and follow-through.
• Communicate Highwire’s compensation structure, salary bands, and benefits to candidates and set expectations about total rewards.
• Lead offer discussions and negotiations with hiring leaders and the Director of Talent Strategy, balancing candidate expectations with compensation guidelines and internal equity and working to close candidates.
• Partner with the Director of Talent Strategy to improve recruiting practices, sourcing approaches, and scalable processes.
• Maintain accurate candidate, search, and pipeline information in Greenhouse and supporting trackers.
• Track recruiting metrics, including pipeline development, sourcing effectiveness, time to fill, and candidate conversion, and use insights to improve decisions and processes.
• Identify opportunities to streamline recruiting workflows and improve the candidate experience.
• Collaborate with the People team on employer branding, job descriptions, hiring communications, and inclusive hiring through broader sourcing channels and diverse talent networks.
• Lead sourcing and recruitment for the agency’s internship program.
• Build relationships with universities, career centers, and professional organizations to strengthen early-career pipelines.
• Manage intern recruitment with hiring teams, coordinate the candidate experience, and develop sustainable pipelines for future agency needs.

Benefits

• Competitive salary with merit-based opportunities for growth.
• Flexible hybrid work model tailored to schedule and lifestyle.
• Generous vacation policy, including extended summer and winter breaks.
• Early Friday log-off through the Empower Hours program.
• 401(k) plan with employer matching.
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage, plus FSA options.
• Paid parental leave.
• Commuter benefits.
• Annual Growth Mindset stipend for books, events, or learning experiences.
• Monthly technology reimbursement.
• Wellness benefit program for mental and physical health.
• 501c3 donation matching program.
• Mentorship and ongoing professional development opportunities.
• Monthly recognition and team celebrations.
• Employee referral and new business referral bonuses.
• Quarterly Highwire events and team gatherings.
• Dog-friendly office environment.
• Supportive, inclusive, and collaborative workplace.
• Competitive benefits package and additional perks designed to support well-being and growth.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed