Technical Recruiting Lead - Contract

Job Description:

Technical Recruiting Lead (Player-Coach)

Rakuten International oversees 7 businesses with over 4,000 employees globally. The brand is recognized for its leadership and innovation in e-commerce, digital content, advertising, entertainment and communications, bringing the joy of discovery and access to more than 1 billion members across the world. Our teams deliver on the company’s mission to delight merchants and customers through innovation, optimism, and teamwork.

Job Summary
Our Talent Acquisition team is lean and high-impact, operating in a fast-paced environment where adaptability and a hands-on approach are key to our success. We value collaboration, autonomy, and the ability to make a significant impact. We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Technical Recruiting Lead to join this team.

This is a critical "player-coach" role where you will simultaneously oversee end-to-end recruiting for high-priority technical roles while leading, mentoring, and developing a small team of technical recruiters. You will be instrumental in scaling our technical recruiting efforts, optimizing our processes, and ensuring we attract and hire top-tier AI/ML, engineering, and product talent in a competitive market. You will have broad scope and direct influence on our talent strategy and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead full-cycle recruitment for key, high-priority technical positions, acting as a role model for the team.
• Develop and execute effective sourcing strategies to identify and engage top technical talent.
• Screen candidates, manage the interview process, and skillfully negotiate and close offers.
• Track candidate activity and provide data-driven updates to hiring managers and stakeholders.
• Own and continuously enhance the candidate experience from initial contact through onboarding.
• Gather detailed requirements and develop strategic hiring plans aligned with business needs.
• Lead, mentor, and coach a small team of technical recruiters, fostering a high-performance and collaborative culture.
• Provide guidance on sourcing techniques, candidate assessment, negotiation strategies, and stakeholder management.
• Support the professional development of team members.
• Drive structure and consistency across the technical hiring process, including job descriptions, interview plans, and assessment rubrics.
• Partner closely with Recruiting Operations to optimize use of our Applicant Tracking System (Workday) and other recruiting tools.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency and scalability in our end-to-end recruiting processes.
• Use data and metrics to analyze recruiting performance, identify bottlenecks, and inform strategies.
• Stay informed on market trends and act as a subject matter expert on technical talent acquisition.
• Advise business leaders and hiring managers on talent market dynamics, compensation trends, and effective hiring strategies.
• Lead the development and implementation of new recruiting initiatives and programs.
• Ensure operational compliance and guide stakeholders on process changes.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience managing full-cycle recruiting processes in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong understanding of technical roles, technologies, and what motivates technical professionals.
• Experience using data and metrics to drive decisions and report on recruiting performance.
• Proven ability to build strong relationships and influence hiring managers and stakeholders at all levels.
• Experience working in a lean or rapidly scaling startup environment.
• Experience optimizing ATS and other recruiting technologies.
• Extensive working knowledge and experience with Workday Recruiter
• Familiarity with various sourcing tools and techniques beyond LinkedIn Recruiter.
• A true "player-coach" mentality – eager to both execute hands-on and lead/develop a team.
• Highly proactive, resourceful, and comfortable working with ambiguity.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Passion for delivering an exceptional candidate experience.
• Ability to adapt quickly to changing priorities and business needs.
• Experience working in a matrixed organization is preferred

Minimum Requirements

• 10+ years of technical recruiting experience, with a proven track record of hiring engineering, product, or design talent.
• 2+ years of experience leading, managing, or mentoring a team of recruiters.
• Bachelor’s degree required

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