Talent Acquisition Partner, Strategic Hiring (Executive Recruiter)

About Nava

Nava is a public benefit consultancy focused on simplifying and improving government services. Since 2015, federal, state, and local agencies have relied on Nava to help tackle complex technology modernization work. The company supports public-sector partners by combining human-centered design, modern engineering, and secure cloud infrastructure to create reliable digital services that better serve both the public and agency staff.

Role overview

Nava is hiring a senior recruiting partner to lead executive search and strategic hiring for some of the organization’s most critical roles. This position combines executive recruiting with forward-looking talent intelligence, helping the business identify, engage, and nurture strong candidates well before a formal opening exists. The role is well-suited to someone who can bring structure to ambiguous situations, adapt to changing priorities, and build durable relationships with executive and specialized talent.

Success in this role means building strong candidate pipelines ahead of demand, shortening hiring timelines for key roles, improving the quality of hires, and earning the confidence of senior leaders through proactive recruiting advice and market insight.

Key responsibilities

• Own the full recruitment lifecycle for executive, strategic, and other business-critical positions, from sourcing and screening through interviews, candidate coordination, and offer discussions.
• Act as the main recruiter for senior leadership and high-priority strategic hiring needs.
• Work closely with executives, practice leaders, and other hiring partners to clarify talent needs and shape hiring plans that support business goals.
• Develop and maintain long-term talent pipelines for future leadership and strategic hiring needs.
• Map talent across target companies, industries, and competitors to identify strong candidates, emerging skills, and market shifts.
• Engage passive executive and specialized candidates before requisitions are opened.
• Handle confidential leadership searches with discretion and strong candidate care.
• Provide compensation, competitor, availability, and market-risk insights to hiring teams.
• Advise leaders by turning market data into practical hiring recommendations.
• Build trust through clear communication, responsive partnership, and a high-touch executive search experience.
• Keep candidate, pipeline, and market information current in ATS and sourcing tools.
• Improve sourcing methods, executive hiring readiness, and pipeline strength over time.
• Support inclusive and equitable hiring practices that align with Nava’s values.

Required experience and qualifications

• Background in executive recruiting, strategic sourcing, or full-cycle recruiting in fast-moving, high-growth environments.
• Direct experience hiring for executive, leadership, strategic, or difficult-to-fill positions.
• Track record of building passive candidate pipelines and maintaining long-term relationships with specialized talent.
• Experience with talent mapping, market research, and competitive intelligence to shape hiring strategy.
• Ability to partner with senior stakeholders and influence decisions using strategic talent insight.
• At least 7 years of experience in executive recruiting, strategic sourcing, or end-to-end talent acquisition.
• Bachelor’s degree, or an equivalent mix of education, training, and professional experience.
• Strong executive search and candidate evaluation capabilities.
• Proficiency in research and sourcing methods, including Boolean search, Google X-Ray, LinkedIn, and talent intelligence tools.
• Experience working with ATS platforms such as Greenhouse.
• Capability in market mapping, compensation benchmarking, and talent segmentation.
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills.
• Strong organization, prioritization, and pipeline management abilities.

Preferred experience

• Exposure to executive search, talent intelligence, or workforce planning programs.
• Experience recruiting for niche, technical, or emerging roles.
• Prior work in consulting, government modernization, digital services, or mission-driven organizations.
• Experience advising leaders on long-term workforce planning and hiring strategy.
• Familiarity with executive search methods and talent intelligence frameworks.
• Working knowledge of sourcing automation, talent intelligence, or CRM tools.
• Advanced stakeholder management and executive influence skills.

Work arrangement and travel

This is a remote-first position. Travel may be required up to 75% or more, depending on executive recruiting needs, industry events, market mapping, stakeholder collaboration, and strategic talent engagement.

Compensation

The expected salary range for this role is USD 125,000 to USD 135,000 per year.

Other requirements

• Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States.
• Candidates must be able to meet any additional requirements tied to the government contracts assigned to them.
• Work authorization must not require current or future visa sponsorship.
• The role may involve a government background check or security clearance, depending on the contract.

Location eligibility

Fully remote work is available only to candidates residing in Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, or Wisconsin. Applicants outside these states are not eligible for consideration. The role also requires working from the contiguous United States.

Additional information

This position is not represented by Nava United. Nava participates in E-Verify and will submit Form I-9 information to the federal government upon hire to confirm work authorization. Candidates may request reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process by contacting the recruiting team.

Equal employment opportunity

Nava provides equal employment opportunity and does not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on race, gender or gender identity/expression, color, creed, religion, age, national origin, ethnicity, disability, veteran or military status, sex, sexual orientation, reproductive health autonomy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, domestic violence victim status, marital status, citizenship status, or any other protected characteristic. This applies to employees, applicants, contractors, and temporary workers.