Talent, Culture & Engagement Specialist

The Kennedy Collective Inc • Trumbull, CT

7h • Hybrid

About The Position

The Kennedy Collective is a Connecticut-based nonprofit organization serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD), veterans, and individuals facing barriers to employment. TKC operates high-volume recruitment for direct support professionals across multiple programs and locations, requiring innovative talent strategies and strong culture-building efforts. The Talent, Culture & Engagement Specialist is accountable for recruitment, candidate pipeline management, orientation/onboarding strategy, employee engagement initiatives, and culture-building efforts. This role partners with Training Specialist to align new hire curriculum with mission values and with Senior Manager HR Operations on compliance requirements. This role ensures all new hires receive onboarding communication about compliance requirements including certification deadlines.

Requirements

• 4-6+ years recruiting or talent acquisition experience
• Experience recruiting for high-volume, direct support roles
• ATS proficiency (experience with recruiting platforms)
• Strong communication and engagement skills

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field
• Nonprofit or human services recruiting background
• Experience with recognition programs and employee engagement initiatives
• Familiarity with DDS or compliance requirements in human services

Responsibilities

• Own recruitment and talent pipeline: Drive DSP and program staff recruitment; build candidate pipeline; manage ATS; coordinate with hiring managers; lead recruiting metrics.
• Own onboarding and orientation strategy: Design new hire orientation; ensure curriculum alignment with mission/values and compliance requirements; track onboarding completion; gather new hire feedback.
• Own employee engagement strategy: Design and execute engagement initiatives (recognition, events, communication); measure engagement; identify retention drivers.
• Own culture and organizational development: Lead culture initiatives; support leadership development; coordinate organization-wide communications about mission and values.
• Own new hire follow-up and compliance check-ins: Conduct new hire check-ins at 30, 60, 90 days; identify early flight risks; escalate retention concerns to Senior HR Generalist and management; ensure compliance certification awareness.
• Coordinate recruiting and engagement logistics with HR Coordinator.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: Associate degree