Talent Acquisition Specialist, Senior

LCG•Rockville, MD

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

LCG is seeking a Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist to independently lead and execute talent acquisition efforts supporting federal IT programs, corporate hiring, and new business opportunities. This is a full-time position requiring onsite presence four (4) days per week. This position will operate as a team of one within the Talent Acquisition function, serving as LCG's primary hands-on recruiting resource. The Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist will independently manage day-to-day recruiting activities while partnering closely with Human Resources, hiring managers, program leadership, and Business Development. The successful candidate must be comfortable owning the recruiting lifecycle, managing competing priorities, making sound recruiting recommendations, and driving requisitions forward with limited day-to-day oversight. The Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist will support both current hiring needs and future workforce requirements associated with federal proposals, recompetes, contract transitions, and new business opportunities. This includes reviewing Requests for Proposals (RFPs), Statements of Work (SOWs), Performance Work Statements (PWSs), and labor categories (LCATs) and translating contractual requirements into effective recruiting and staffing strategies. The ideal candidate is a highly resourceful, hands-on recruiter with experience in federal government contracting and IT talent acquisition who can independently build candidate pipelines, develop sourcing strategies, advise hiring managers, and use traditional and AI-enabled recruiting technologies to improve hiring outcomes.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
5+ years of progressive full-cycle recruiting or talent acquisition experience, with demonstrated responsibility for independently managing requisitions from intake through offer.
Demonstrated ability to work successfully as an independent recruiter or within a lean Talent Acquisition environment, taking ownership of recruiting priorities with limited day-to-day oversight.
Demonstrated experience recruiting IT and technical professionals, including software development, cloud, cybersecurity, infrastructure, data, AI/ML, DevSecOps, enterprise applications, or related technology disciplines.
Experience recruiting within the federal government contracting industry.
Experience reviewing and interpreting RFPs, SOWs, PWSs, labor categories, and contractual staffing requirements.
Experience supporting proposal, capture, or new business staffing efforts within a federal contracting environment.
Demonstrated ability to develop sourcing strategies and proactively identify and engage passive candidates for difficult-to-fill positions.
Experience partnering directly with hiring managers, program managers, technical leaders, Business Development, and senior leadership.
Strong understanding of full-cycle recruiting practices, candidate assessment, compensation discussions, and offer management.
Experience using Applicant Tracking Systems, LinkedIn Recruiter, resume databases, job boards, and other recruiting technologies.
Familiarity with AI-enabled recruiting, sourcing, research, or productivity tools and the ability to appropriately incorporate emerging technologies into recruiting workflows.
Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to effectively communicate with candidates, hiring managers, technical teams, and leadership.
Strong organizational, analytical, and time-management skills with the ability to independently manage multiple competing priorities and deadlines.
Working knowledge of applicable employment laws, EEO requirements, and recruiting compliance practices.
Ability to exercise sound judgment, operate with a high degree of accountability, and independently move recruiting initiatives from identification of need through successful hire.
Ability and willingness to work onsite four (4) days per week is required.

Nice To Haves

Experience recruiting for federal health agencies or other civilian federal agencies, including HHS, NIH, CMS, CDC, HRSA, VA, or similar organizations.
Previous experience serving as a sole recruiter, lead recruiter, or primary Talent Acquisition resource for an organization or business unit.
Experience supporting staffing for competitive federal proposals, recompetes, contract transitions, and incumbent capture efforts.
Experience recruiting candidates requiring Public Trust or other federal background investigations or security clearances.
Experience with workforce planning, talent mapping, compensation research, or competitive labor market analysis.
Advanced experience with LinkedIn Recruiter and sourcing techniques, including Boolean search and passive candidate engagement.
Experience using AI-based sourcing, resume analysis, recruiting automation, or talent intelligence platforms.
HR or recruiting certification such as PHR, SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, AIRS, or equivalent.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary Talent Acquisition resource and team-of-one recruiter, independently managing LCG's day-to-day recruiting activities and assigned hiring priorities.
Lead full-cycle recruiting for federal IT, technical, program management, corporate, and other assigned positions, including sourcing, screening, interviewing, candidate evaluation, offer coordination, and pre-employment activities.
Manage multiple requisitions simultaneously and independently prioritize recruiting activities based on business needs, contract requirements, proposal deadlines, and hiring urgency.
Partner with hiring managers and program leadership to conduct recruitment intake and kick-off meetings, define position requirements, establish recruiting priorities, and develop targeted sourcing strategies.
Review and analyze RFPs, RFQs, SOWs, PWSs, labor categories, and other solicitation materials to identify staffing requirements for new and existing federal contracts.
Partner with Business Development, Capture, and Proposal teams to develop staffing strategies for new business opportunities, recompetes, and proposal submissions.
Identify, engage, and recruit incumbent personnel and highly qualified candidates for key personnel, contingent hires, and proposal staffing requirements.
Develop and maintain proactive talent pipelines for high-demand and difficult-to-fill federal IT positions.
Source qualified candidates through LinkedIn Recruiter, job boards, professional networks, employee referrals, resume databases, social media, direct outreach, and other sourcing channels.
Utilize AI-enabled recruiting and sourcing technologies to improve candidate identification, resume analysis, market research, outreach, and recruiting efficiency while maintaining appropriate human review and judgment.
Evaluate candidate qualifications against job descriptions, contractual requirements, labor categories, education requirements, certifications, clearance requirements, and position-specific criteria.
Conduct comprehensive recruiter screens to assess technical qualifications, federal contracting experience, compensation expectations, work authorization, clearance eligibility, location and onsite requirements, and overall alignment with the position.
Serve as a trusted recruiting partner to hiring managers by providing guidance regarding candidate availability, compensation trends, competitive market conditions, sourcing challenges, and recommended recruiting strategies.
Maintain consistent communication with candidates throughout the recruiting and hiring process and provide a professional, responsive candidate experience.
Coordinate interviews, candidate feedback, compensation discussions, internal approvals, and offer processes with HR and hiring leadership.
Support workforce planning by identifying anticipated staffing requirements, talent gaps, recruiting risks, and pipeline needs across current and future federal programs.
Maintain accurate and timely candidate and requisition information within the Applicant Tracking System (ATS).
Track, analyze, and report recruiting metrics, including pipeline activity, source effectiveness, time-to-fill, candidate conversion, aging requisitions, and other key talent acquisition measures.
Ensure recruiting activities comply with applicable employment laws, federal contracting requirements, company policies, and Equal Employment Opportunity requirements.
Continuously evaluate and improve LCG's recruiting processes, sourcing strategies, technologies, workflows, and candidate experience.
Stay current on federal contracting, talent acquisition, artificial intelligence, recruiting technology, and IT labor market trends.