Senior Manager

Job Description:

Responsibilities:

• Implement a clear global recruiting operating model with defined portfolio ownership, service expectations, decision rights, and consistent practices across executive, professional, and seasonal hiring.
• Increase proactive sourcing and pipeline development, creating a more deliberate and cost-effective mix of direct sourcing, internal talent, referrals, agencies, and external search partners.
• Further mature the established in-house executive recruiting function, strengthening long-term talent mapping, senior-level search execution, and the disciplined use of external firms for C-suite and specialized assignments.
• Establish a more proactive seasonal recruiting model that anticipates summer workforce needs earlier, builds sufficient recruiting capacity, and consistently delivers qualified hires across program locations.
• Improve Greenhouse adoption, workflow design, data quality, and reporting so leaders can reliably assess recruiting performance, hiring risks, source effectiveness, and quality of hire.
• Create stronger alignment among Recruiting, HR Business Partners, and Finance so anticipated hiring demand informs recruiting capacity, sourcing plans, talent pipelines, and location strategies earlier in the planning cycle.
• Introduce consistent hiring-manager tools and training that improve intake quality, structured interviewing, candidate calibration, and selection decisions.

Global Recruiting Strategy and Business Partnership

• Set and continuously evolve the global recruiting strategy, operating model, service standards, and annual priorities across executive, professional, and seasonal hiring.
• Build a deep understanding of WorldStrides’ business model, operating cycles, financial priorities, growth plans, and talent needs; use that knowledge to advise leaders rather than simply accept requisitions as presented.
• Challenge assumptions about role design, level, location, skills, timing, and sourcing approach. Help leaders determine whether a position should be filled as scoped and identify internal, external, contingent, or alternative talent solutions.
• Bring forward-looking labor-market and economic intelligence to the CHRO, Executive Leadership Team, HR leaders, and business leaders, including talent availability, competitor activity, compensation pressures, location dynamics, and emerging skill needs.
• Partner with HR Business Partners and Finance on workforce planning and demand forecasting, translating business plans into realistic recruiting capacity and talent-pipeline strategies.

Executive and Critical-Talent Recruiting

• Advise ELT members and senior leaders on Director-, VP-, and SVP-level hiring, including search strategy, market calibration, candidate assessment, stakeholder alignment, offer strategy, and close.
• Coach and support the Executive Recruiter on VP- and SVP-level searches, stepping in personally to lead when a search is especially senior, confidential, or business-critical.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for external executive search firms, negotiating scope, setting search governance, and holding firms accountable for quality, speed, candidate experience, and cost.
• Build long-term external talent maps and relationships for priority leadership roles, emerging capabilities, and succession needs, so searches don't start from zero.

Professional Recruiting and Internal Mobility

• Set strategy and quality standards for professional recruiting across corporate, technology, product, sales, and program delivery, coaching and holding the Professional Recruiter accountable for execution.
• Direct the design of proactive sourcing and pipeline strategies for recurring, difficult-to-fill, and future-critical roles, guiding the use of direct sourcing, market research, professional networks, targeted campaigns, and talent communities.
• Guide efforts to strengthen internal mobility, ensuring internal talent is identified, considered, and assessed consistently; partner with HR Business Partners and talent leaders to connect recruiting with succession and development strategies.
• Establish consistent intake, assessment, selection, offer, and closing practices that raise hiring quality while improving speed and predictability.

Seasonal and High-Volume Recruiting

• Provide strategic oversight for the seasonal recruiting function that staffs WorldStrides programs across the United States, with peak hiring for summer program delivery from June through August.
• Build an annual workforce and recruiting plan that starts well ahead of peak demand and aligns forecasted program volume, location needs, recruiter capacity, sourcing channels, onboarding timelines, and contingency plans.
• Balance scale and speed with a high selection bar, ensuring seasonal candidates have the qualifications, judgment, reliability, and service orientation required to support student programs.
• Partner with the seasonal recruiting leader, HR Governance & Culture, Legal, and HR Delivery to operationalize compliant processes related to work authorization, visas where applicable, background checks, required documentation, and jurisdiction-specific hiring practices.
• Evaluate seasonal sourcing channels and partnerships based on conversion, quality, retention, cost, and program outcomes – not simply application volume.

Recruiting Technology, Data, AI, and Process Integrity

• Serve as business product owner for Greenhouse, defining recruiting-system priorities, process requirements, governance standards, adoption expectations, data-quality controls, and reporting needs.
• Partner closely with HR Systems on integrations, APIs, enhancements, vendor decisions, testing, and implementation while retaining business ownership for the recruiting experience and roadmap.
• Stay current on recruiting technology, sourcing platforms, assessment tools, scheduling solutions, recruitment marketing tools, background-check platforms, and AI-enabled capabilities; recommend investments based on business value, risk, and measurable impact.
• Use AI and automation responsibly to improve talent research, sourcing, candidate communication, workflow efficiency, and analytics while preserving human judgment, fairness, privacy, and candidate trust.
• Establish practical controls to address candidate-authenticity and identity risks, including AI-enabled impersonation and fake candidates; evaluate process and technology solutions that strengthen verification without creating unnecessary friction for legitimate candidates.
• Build dashboards and decision tools that convert recruiting data into clear business insight, identify emerging risks, and support continuous improvement.

Hiring Quality, Capability Building, and Team Leadership

• Lead and develop a recruiting team spanning executive, professional, and seasonal hiring, including team members in the United States and Mérida, Mexico.
• Set clear goals, metrics, service expectations, and accountability across the team; manage capacity and priorities across recruiting portfolios and peak hiring periods.
• Coach recruiters to operate as talent advisors with strong sourcing, assessment, stakeholder-management, market-intelligence, and consultative-selling skills.
• Partner with Learning & Development to create hiring-manager training, structured interview tools, calibration guides, and practical resources that improve assessment quality and consistency.
• Define and monitor candidate and hiring-manager experience standards, addressing recurring friction points and ensuring communication is timely, respectful, and transparent.
• Translate recruiting policies and legal requirements into practical, scalable operating processes in partnership with the Senior Director, HR Governance & Culture; Legal; HR Business Partners; and local HR colleagues.

Vendor, Brand, and Financial Stewardship

• Manage recruiting agencies, executive search firms, technology vendors, and other external partners, including selection, contracts, performance standards, spend, and return on investment.
• Reduce avoidable agency and referral expense by strengthening direct sourcing and using paid channels where they create differentiated value.
• Partner with Communications, Marketing, and business leaders to strengthen WorldStrides’ talent story and market-specific recruiting messages for priority populations.
• Develop clear business cases for new recruiting investments or process changes, including expected cost, benefit, risk, and operational impact.

Qualifications:

• We are intentionally using a skills-based approach. No candidate is expected to have followed one specific career path or to be equally deep in every recruiting segment. The strongest candidates will demonstrate most of the following through the results they have delivered.
• Progressively responsible experience leading a complex talent acquisition portfolio, typically developed through approximately 8-10 years in corporate recruiting, executive search, recruitment consulting, or a combination of environments.
• Demonstrated people leadership, including setting direction, coaching experienced recruiters, managing performance, and leading through change.
• Meaningful executive search experience. Experience in a retained executive search firm or leading complex in-house executive searches is preferred; top-tier search-firm experience is particularly valuable.
• Evidence of building a recruiting strategy or operating model rather than only managing requisition delivery.
• Experience leading across multiple recruiting segments. Direct seasonal or high-volume expertise is valuable but not required when paired with strong leadership and the ability to hire and empower a highly capable specialist.
• Fluency with applicant tracking systems and recruiting analytics; deep Greenhouse experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience evaluating or implementing recruiting technology, AI-enabled tools, sourcing platforms, assessment solutions, or workflow automation.
• Experience working across multiple countries, in a globally distributed organization, or with regionally diverse talent markets is preferred but not required.
• Experience in a private-equity-backed, high-growth, seasonal, travel, education, hospitality, or operationally complex environment is a plus.
• Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education, professional experience, and demonstrated capability.
  Location and Travel
  This position must be based in the United States. Candidates located near one of WorldStrides’ primary U.S. offices in Vienna, Virginia; Charlottesville, Virginia; or Austin, Texas are preferred.

Work Perks:

• Comprehensive health benefits: medical, dental, vision, life, AD&D, accident, critical illness, disability insurance, FSA/HSA options with employer HSA contributions, and a generous 401(k) match.
• Generous paid time off including 11 paid company holidays, 25 PTO days the first year (prorated), 1 paid volunteer day, 4 mental health days, and bereavement
• Professional development support, including up to $5,250 annually for tuition reimbursement and up to $1,000 for certifications annually
• Opportunities for paid and discounted travel
• Flexible work schedule providing on-site, remote, and hybrid office opportunities
• Encouraged participation in a wide variety of Employee Resource Groups
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and wellness resources, including fitness centers at select locations
• Paid parental, caregiver, and disability leave
• Team Member Discount Program
• Engaging, collaborative, and fun work environment

Salary Range- $115,000 - $145,000

The salary range listed for this position represents WorldStrides’ good-faith estimate of the base compensation for the role at the time of posting. Actual compensation will be determined based on factors such as relevant experience, skills and qualifications, geographic location, internal equity, and market conditions. The range does not include other forms of compensation or benefits that may be offered as part of the total rewards package.