Senior Recruiter

Highwire•San Francisco, CA

1d•$80,000 - $105,000•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, this role partners with leaders to understand business needs, identify talent, and strengthen the agency’s ability to attract candidates for current and future opportunities. The Senior Recruiter serves as a trusted talent advisor to hiring leaders, using expertise in passive candidate sourcing, talent market research, and relationship building to translate business needs into effective recruiting strategies. The role develops relationships with qualified candidates beyond traditional applicant pools and helps Highwire proactively access talent. Success requires sound recruiting judgment, strong relationship-building skills, and the ability to adapt in a fast-paced agency environment where priorities may change. The role leads recruitment across agency and corporate functions, including PR, integrated communications, digital, creative, and corporate roles. It also leads sourcing and recruitment for the internship program, partners on recruiting process improvements, and maintains accurate recruiting data and metrics. Highwire offers remote and hybrid work options depending on the candidate’s location. Employees within commuting distance of the New York, NY or San Francisco, CA offices follow a hybrid schedule with three in-office days per week. Fully remote roles are available in the listed states and Washington, D.C.; candidates must reside in an eligible location at the time of hire. The salary range is $80,000 to $105,000, with the final offer based on factors including education, relevant experience, skills, prior training, internal equity, and local market data.

Requirements

At least 5 years of recruiting experience.
Deep sourcing expertise and a demonstrated ability to identify and engage high-quality passive candidates through targeted, research-driven strategies.
Experience building talent pipelines to support immediate hiring 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.
Full-cycle recruiting experience managing searches from intake through offer.
Strong negotiation skills and experience extending offers and balancing candidate expectations with salary bands and internal equity.
Commitment to delivering a thoughtful, engaging, and transparent candidate experience through timely communication and 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 influence hiring decisions and build trusted partnerships across teams and leadership levels.
Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment, adapt to changing priorities, and maintain organization and momentum.
Proactive, resourceful approach, with ownership of searches and the ability to anticipate hiring needs.
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.

Nice To Haves

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

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, cultivating candidate relationships before positions become available.
Use LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean search, talent mapping, referrals, networking, and other sourcing techniques to identify passive candidates.
Conduct talent market research and use insights about candidate availability, competition, and sourcing channels to assess pipeline health and refine strategies.
Serve as a trusted talent advisor to hiring leaders and develop an understanding of business objectives, team dynamics, and talent needs.
Translate business priorities into role requirements and recruiting strategies, advising on talent availability, candidate expectations, market trends, and competitive positioning.
Guide interview strategy, candidate assessment, and hiring decisions, and recommend alternative approaches when profiles or expectations need recalibration.
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 broader business goals.
Lead full-cycle recruitment across agency and corporate functions, managing searches 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.
Develop knowledge of Highwire’s compensation structure, salary bands, and benefits to communicate total rewards and candidate expectations.
Lead offer discussions and negotiations with hiring leaders and the Director of Talent Strategy, balancing candidate expectations with compensation guidelines and internal equity.
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 inform decisions and improvements.
Identify opportunities to streamline recruiting workflows and improve the candidate experience.
Collaborate with the People team on employer branding, job descriptions, and hiring communications, and support 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 relevant professional organizations to strengthen early-career pipelines.
Manage the intern recruitment process with hiring teams and develop sustainable pipelines for future agency needs.