Talent Acquisition Director

This is an exciting opportunity to join an organization during the early stages of an integration between two world-class events organizations (Emerald and Questex).  In this role, you will lead the combined organization’s Talent Acquisition function, driving hiring strategies that attract exceptional talent across our events, media, sales, centers of excellence and corporate teams. You'll serve as a trusted advisor to leaders across the business, balancing strategic workforce planning with hands-on recruiting execution. You will lead a team of recruiters, optimize scalable hiring processes, leverage data to influence decisions, and ensure every candidate experiences the best of the organization’s culture and values.

The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced, growth-oriented environment and is passionate about building diverse, high-performing teams that drive business success.

Key Responsibilities

Talent Strategy & Workforce Planning

• Partner with business leaders to develop proactive hiring strategies aligned with the company’s growth objectives and evolving workforce needs.

• Serve as a strategic advisor on talent market trends, organizational design, and workforce planning initiatives.

• Build and maintain pipelines for critical, niche, and leadership roles, with a particular focus on high-impact revenue-generating positions.

• Develop innovative sourcing strategies that strengthen the organization’s ability to attract top talent in competitive markets.

Recruiting Operations & Delivery

• Lead full-cycle recruiting efforts for key and executive-level positions, while overseeing recruiting delivery across the broader organization.

• Drive consistency and efficiency across the hiring process, ensuring timely execution and high-quality candidate experience.

• Manage requisition prioritization, pipeline health, hiring timelines, and offer strategy.

• Continuously optimize recruiting workflows, ATS utilization, and reporting capabilities to improve scalability and effectiveness.

• Ensure all hiring practices are compliant, equitable, and aligned with the company's commitment to inclusion and belonging.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of recruiters, fostering accountability, collaboration, and professional growth.

• Establish team goals, track performance metrics, and implement best practices to drive recruiting excellence.

• Create an inclusive, high-performing team culture.

• Champion continuous learning and development to elevate recruiting capabilities across the team.

Business Partnership & Stakeholder Management

• Build strong relationships with hiring managers and senior leaders, serving as a trusted partner throughout the hiring process.

• Consult on organizational talent needs, job design, interview strategy, and compensation alignment.

• Train leaders and interview teams on structured interviewing, candidate assessment, and talent acquisition best practices.

• Use data and market intelligence to influence hiring decisions and improve business outcomes.

Employer Brand & Candidate Experience

• Champion a world-class candidate experience that reflects the company's culture, values, and commitment to belonging.

• Strengthen the company's employer brand and talent marketing strategy.

• Leverage creative sourcing channels, including LinkedIn Recruiter, employee referrals, industry networks, events, and community partnerships.

• Position the organization as an employer of choice within the events, media, and B2B industries.

Analytics & Continuous Improvement

• Track, analyze, and communicate recruiting metrics including time-to-fill, quality of hire, source effectiveness, diversity outcomes, and hiring manager satisfaction.

• Use data-driven insights to identify trends, inform strategy, and drive continuous improvement.

• Stay current on talent acquisition best practices, emerging technologies, and labor market trends.

• Lead recruiting projects and process enhancements that improve scalability, efficiency, and hiring outcomes.