Early Talent Operations & Programs Lead

Role overview

This role owns the planning and day-to-day execution of early career development initiatives and the operational side of early talent recruiting. Acting as the main operational partner for the Early Talent function, it helps deliver university recruiting programs, candidate experience activities, employer branding efforts, recruiting events, and internship and rotational program operations without disruption.

The position works closely with the Senior Manager of Early Talent Recruiting and Development Programs, recruiters, hiring managers, business leaders, marketing partners, and outside vendors to keep early talent programs running smoothly and to improve processes over time.

Key responsibilities

• Coordinate the operational planning and delivery of enterprise-wide early career recruiting and development programs.
• Create and maintain yearly recruiting schedules and program timelines, including project plans, key milestones, and communication touchpoints.
• Track and manage monthly and annual operating budgets, including recruiting spend and program-related costs.
• Support the operational design and execution of early talent programs from initial planning through post-program review.
• Run in-person and virtual workshops, seminars, and training sessions for early talent programs, including content development and measurement of engagement and effectiveness.
• Work with stakeholders and subject matter experts to improve program quality and better prepare participants.
• Arrange logistics such as venues, travel, catering, technology, and materials for early talent programs.
• Manage pre-boarding and onboarding logistics for Belk U Summit, the summer internship program, and the twice-yearly retail development programs.
• Handle end-to-end interview logistics, including Super Days, industry conferences, and regional career fairs.
• Support campus events by coordinating venues, travel, catering, technology, registration, university communications, and event materials.
• Maintain recruiting documents, interview guides, scorecards, and operational playbooks aligned with enterprise and role-specific capabilities.
• Partner with internal teams to build recruiting collateral, presentation decks, digital assets, and event marketing materials.
• Coordinate university marketing campaigns and campus engagement plans.

Preferred qualifications

• At least 3 years of experience in university recruiting, early careers, internship programs, or talent development.
• Strong background in project and program coordination.
• Experience handling complex recruiting events and operational details.
• Working knowledge of recruiting platforms such as Workday, Handshake, Yello, or comparable CRM tools.
• Experience using Microsoft Power Platform, SharePoint, Excel, Power BI, or similar reporting and productivity tools.
• Excellent organization, communication, and stakeholder coordination skills.
• Ability to manage multiple enterprise-level initiatives in a fast-moving environment.

Additional information

This position is described as an operational backbone for the Early Talent team, with responsibility for keeping recruiting, programming, communications, and event execution aligned across multiple stakeholders and channels.