Senior Talent Acquisition Operations Specialist
24 hours ago
Mukilteo
Job Description Karman Space & Defense is a leader in the rapid design, development, and production of critical, next-generation system solutions that align with the U.S. Department of War’s core mission priorities and meet our nation’s accelerating demand for access to space. Building on nearly 50 years of success, we deliver Payload & Protection Systems, Aero/Hydrodynamic Interstage Systems, and Propulsion & Launch Systems to more than 80 prime contractors supporting over 130 space and defense programs. The Senior Talent Acquisition Operations Specialist is responsible for leading complex TA operations work, improving recruiting programs and processes, and supporting data-driven decision-making across the Talent Acquisition function. The role operates with a high degree of independence and serves as a key operational partner to recruiters, TA leadership, HR partners, business stakeholders, vendors, schools, and candidates. The Senior TA Operations Specialist manages recurring and complex TA programs, including recruiting events, internship and early careers programs, TA analytics, ATS and recruiting systems support, process documentation, reporting, and workflow improvement. This role helps identify operational risks, improve process consistency, strengthen data quality, and create scalable tools that support recruiter effectiveness and candidate experience. This position requires U.S. person status under U.S. export control laws, including U.S. citizens and nationals, lawful permanent residents, refugees, and asylees. Responsibilities • Lead planning and execution for Talent Acquisition events, including career fairs, university recruiting events, hiring campaigns, interview days, manufacturing hiring events, and internal recruiting initiatives., • Manage internship and early careers program operations, including planning timelines, requisition tracking, candidate flow, interview coordination, offer support, onboarding handoff, program communications, intern experience activities, and program reporting., • Build, maintain, and improve TA dashboards, reports, and metrics related to requisition health, hiring progress, pipeline activity, source effectiveness, event outcomes, internship status, agency usage, and recruiting performance., • Serve as an advanced ATS and recruiting systems resource by supporting data quality, workflow troubleshooting, reporting accuracy, user support, process compliance, and system enhancement requests., • Develop and improve TA processes, standard operating procedures, templates, playbooks, recruiter tools, hiring manager resources, and program documentation., • Partner with recruiters, TA leadership, HR partners, and business stakeholders to identify process bottlenecks, reporting needs, program risks, and operational improvement opportunities., • Coordinate vendor, school, community, job board, background check, and recruiting technology relationships to support TA programs and operational execution., • Support TA project management, including systems updates, reporting improvements, process changes, event planning, recruiter enablement, stakeholder communications, and change management activities., • Provide operational guidance, training, and process support to recruiters, coordinators, hiring teams, or less experienced TA operations team members., • Use approved AI-enabled tools responsibly to support reporting narratives, analytics summaries, process documentation, event planning, workflow improvement, candidate communication templates, and operational efficiency while maintaining human review, privacy, and compliance standards. Required Qualifications • High school diploma or equivalent., • 5+ years of experience in Talent Acquisition operations, HR operations, recruiting coordination, program coordination, event management, analytics, systems support, or related business operations., • Demonstrated ability to independently manage multiple programs, projects, events, reporting cycles, stakeholders, and competing priorities., • Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to support candidates, hiring teams, vendors, schools, HR partners, and business stakeholders., • Experience using applicant tracking systems, HR systems, reporting tools, databases, or recruiting technology platforms., • Ability to collect, analyze, interpret, and present recruiting data to support decision-making and process improvement., • Proficiency with Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, Excel, PowerPoint, or similar productivity, documentation, and reporting tools., • Experience creating or maintaining process documentation, standard operating procedures, trackers, dashboards, training materials, or program resources., • Ability to handle confidential candidate, employee, and business information with discretion and sound judgment., • Strong problem-solving ability, attention to detail, customer service orientation, follow-through, and ability to operate in a fast-paced environment. Preferred Qualifications • Associate degree or bachelor's degree in human resources, business, communications, data analytics, organizational development, project management, or a related field., • Experience supporting TA operations in a technical, engineering, aerospace, defense, manufacturing, government contracting, or mission-focused environment., • Experience managing or supporting internship programs, early careers programs, university recruiting, high-volume hiring campaigns, career fairs, or enterprise recruiting events., • Experience with ATS platforms such as Greenhouse, Lever, or similar systems., • Experience building dashboards, recurring reports, or operational metrics using, Power BI, Tableau, Looker, or similar analytics tools., • Familiarity with recruiting metrics such as time to fill, time to hire, requisition aging, pipeline health, source effectiveness, candidate conversion, offer acceptance rate, and agency utilization., • Experience improving recruiting workflows, documenting SOPs, supporting system enhancements, creating training materials, or enabling recruiter adoption of new processes., • Familiarity with employment compliance, EEO/OFCCP requirements, candidate data privacy, structured hiring practices, and recruiting documentation standards., • Experience coordinating vendor relationships, school partnerships, job boards, sourcing tools, background check providers, or recruiting technology platforms., • Familiarity with responsible use of AI tools for TA analytics, reporting summaries, process documentation, event planning, workflow improvement, and recruiting operations productivity. Benefits • Medical, dental, and vision coverage, • 401(k), • Paid time off, • Tuition reimbursement, • Basic and supplemental life insurance, • Short‑ and long‑term disability coverage Karman Space and Defense is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other status protected by applicable law.