Job Description Summary:

Faegre Drinker, an AmLaw 60 firm with offices in more than 20 US markets, seeks an experienced recruiting professional to serve in a new firmwide role as Director of Lateral Associate Recruiting. Our team is highly collaborative, and this role will work closely with the Senior Director of Recruiting, Chief People Officer, practice group leaders, and others to develop and execute innovative strategies and share guidance on how to build a robust lateral pipeline and manage associate recruiting in a way that aligns with the firm’s objectives and growth projections. A successful candidate will have outstanding interpersonal skills, excellent communication skills, strong organizational abilities, and sound judgment and will help enhance our approach to the market, candidate sourcing, internal reporting, and analysis of trends. This role requires a considerable knowledge of hiring and recruiting practices and the ability to build strong partnerships both inside and outside the firm.

The Director will oversee a team of recruiting professionals and provide strategic support to the Senior Director on various recruiting projects and initiatives. The Director will also serve as a recruiting expert, responsible for the day-to-day management of lateral recruiting infrastructure, processes, and projects to ensure the department is set up to compete for talent effectively and efficiently.

We are seeking candidates who are passionate about recruiting and have demonstrated capabilities in the lateral recruiting space and who are looking to expand their expertise at a growing firm eager to embrace creative ideas. The location of this position is flexible within many of our US offices.

Job Description:

What you would do:

• Develop and execute innovative strategies to further enhance the acquisition of lateral talent with a focus on sourcing tactics, technology use, candidate pipeline management, diversifying the candidate pool, and improving the candidate experience.
• Provide direction to and oversee a team of recruiters responsible for full life-cycle recruitment for the firm’s fourteen practice groups.
• Facilitate strategic decision-making throughout the hiring process and implement scalable structures and processes for recruiting.
• Partner closely with practice group leaders and practice group directors to determine needs, sourcing tactics, interview approach, due diligence, and offer strategies. 
• Maintain or further develop important collaborations between legal recruiting and other key operation functions, including but not limited to Strategic Growth, Practice Management, DEI, Client Development and Marketing, Professional Development and Innovation.
• Using strong relationships with external recruitment agencies and others in the legal industry, work to raise the firm’s capabilities and profile in the market; collect market intelligence, conduct research and report relevant findings on market trends, recruiting opportunities, and Firm recruiting performance as it relates to lateral hiring.
• Conduct direct candidate outreach in markets to reach the best talent and effectively describe the Firm’s career value proposition. Utilize industry data and recruiting technology to source and collect top tier candidates, create and maintain a candidate pipeline and perform practice group specific hiring market research.
• Participate actively in professional organizations, including the National Association for Law Placement (NALP), city groups and other appropriate legal associations.
• Work collaboratively with the Practice Management team to monitor and engage in associate onboarding to ensure each hire makes a smooth transition into the firm.

What is expected:

• Ability to effectively manage multiple assignments/projects at a time to successfully meet client needs, sometimes on accelerate schedules and with reprioritizing projects.
• Ability to problem-solve.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively in a virtual environment.
• Ability to concentrate on tasks, make decisions and work calmly and effectively in a high-pressure, deadline-orientated environment.
• Demonstrated ability to use good judgment in taking initiative while asking for direction or clarification and consulting others, as appropriate.
• Willingness to be flexible with time and adjust to a changing work environment.
• Ability to build and maintain positive relationships, both internally and externally, while maintaining a client service orientation.
• Ability to use sound judgment and discretion in dealing with highly confidential information.
• Ability to maintain regular attendance and work regularly scheduled hours.
• Demonstrate ability to work independently, organize and accurately prioritize work, be detail-oriented, understand when urgency is required and use good judgment in varied situations.
• Ability to work effectively with co-workers in a team-oriented, collaborative environment.

What we offer:

• Flexible working environment for work-life success
• Opportunity to participate in firm-sponsored volunteer events
• Wellness programming with personalized content and activities
• Professional environment and the opportunity to work with experts at the top of their fields
• Variety of health plan options, as well as dental, vision and 401(k) plans
• Generous paid time off

What is required:

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent years of experience
• At least ten years of experience working in a recruiting capacity with increased responsibility in a law firm, professional services firm, legal search firm or closely related industry with a strong experience in driving a firm’s strategies to attract, assess, and hire superior legal talent.
• Working knowledge of NALP recruiting principles, NALSC Code of Ethics and other ethical recruiting obligations in the market.
• Strong managerial skills, including project management skills.  This includes managing projects to scale and being able to successfully manage multiple projects simultaneously to completion with limited precedence and minimal guidance.
• Strong experience working within various recruiting programs and applicant tracking systems.
• Proven experience with creating/updating recruiting branding strategies on a large scale; this includes creating various marketing/promotional materials to align with recruitment strategies.
• Demonstrated experience with assessing various processes related to recruiting, recommending and implementing updates to same.
• Proven experience with analyzing data and metrics and having knowledge with how to utilize same to drive strategic decision making.
• High proficiency in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Excel).

Apply now if you are ready to join the Faegre Drinker team!

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP participates in the federal government's E-Verify program. With all new hires, we provide the Social Security Administration and, when applicable, the US Department of Homeland Security with information from each new employee's Form I-9 to confirm work authorization.

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, national origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, veteran or military status, or any other characteristic made unlawful by applicable federal, state or local laws. Equal employment opportunity will be extended to all persons in all aspects of employment, including retirement, hiring, training, promotion, transfer, compensation, benefits, discipline and termination.

To apply click Director of Lateral Associate Recruiting