Temporary Sourcing and Recruiting Specialist

Howard Hughes Medical Institute•Ashburn, VA

5d•$50 - $70•Hybrid

About The Position

HHMI is a science-focused organization that supports and advances science through various means, including basic biomedical research, educator empowerment, student inspiration, and the development of future scientists. The Headquarters, located in the greater Washington, DC metro area, has over 300 employees with diverse expertise. The Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, is a pioneering research center focused on fundamental life sciences questions, with integrated teams of biologists, computational scientists, and tool-builders. This role is for someone who views candidate discovery as a craft and can adeptly handle searches for diverse roles, from finance managers to molecular biologists. The People & Culture team supports a varied hiring portfolio across headquarters, Janelia, and HHMI's distributed Host Site network. This temporary role will cover the full recruiting lifecycle for six months, from sourcing passive candidates to the offer stage, focusing on building pipelines in often overlooked channels, conducting initial screens, and managing searches to completion. The position requires a high-variety, fast-moving portfolio, a strong sourcing methodology, and full-cycle track record. This role is part of the People Strategies team, collaborating with full-cycle recruiters and hiring managers across Janelia, HQ, and host sites, and will be a visible contributor from day one.

Requirements

A sourcer's instinct applied to full-cycle work, with the ability to find candidates others can't and move them through a process.
Experience spanning at least two of the following talent segments: corporate and professional, scientific and research, and technical.
Fluency in scientific hiring, including understanding researcher movement, online/in-person congregation, and how to earn their attention; experience sourcing lab-based and academic-adjacent roles.
Ability to write candidate messages that passive candidates reply to and explain why they work.
Ability to describe a sourcing process in meaningful detail, name non-obvious channels that have yielded results, and explain how to calibrate by search type.
Self-direction in an ambiguous environment, managing priorities without close supervision, communicating clearly when the picture changes, and taking initiative.
Proficiency in Workday Recruiting or a comparable ATS, with the ability to maintain accurate documentation throughout a search.
5 or more years of sourcing and/or full-cycle recruiting experience across more than one talent segment.

Nice To Haves

Experience sourcing within mission-driven, nonprofit, academic, or research institutions.
Familiarity with scientific communities including ABRCMS, SACNAS, Society for Neuroscience, or similar professional and affinity organizations.
Existing relationships with career services offices, research programs, or scientific professional communities relevant to HHMI's hiring portfolio.
Experience with LinkedIn Recruiter used as one tool among many, not as a primary sourcing strategy.

Responsibilities

Source across multiple talent segments simultaneously, building active candidate pipelines for corporate, scientific, and operational roles while adapting methods to each.
Go beyond LinkedIn by deploying research-specific channels such as preprint servers, publication databases, academic conference outreach, society member directories, lab alumni networks, GitHub, and niche boards.
Identify and engage passive candidates before a need is formally open, building genuine pipeline interest and relationships.
Carry selected requisitions through the full recruiting lifecycle: sourcing, outreach, screening, coordination, and offer stage.
Conduct initial screens to assess candidate interest, qualifications, and mission alignment.
Maintain accurate stage tracking in Workday, document outreach and channel performance, and keep hiring managers and recruiters updated on pipeline status.
Deliver real-time market observations that shape search strategy.
Manage multiple simultaneous searches across different functions and talent segments with clear communication when priorities shift.