Recruiter III- Engineering

Job description

Valdes Architecture & Engineering is seeking an experienced and highly motivated Recruiter III to join our Talent Acquisition team. This position plays an important role in identifying and attracting exceptional engineering, technical, and professional talent to support the continued growth of Valdes. The Recruiter III will manage full-cycle recruiting activities with a strong emphasis on strategic sourcing, passive candidate engagement, relationship building, and delivering an exceptional candidate experience. This individual will partner closely with hiring managers and company leadership to understand current and future talent needs, develop targeted recruiting strategies, and identify candidates whose technical capabilities, career goals, and values align with Valdes. The ideal candidate is a proactive relationship builder who enjoys finding hard-to-reach talent, understands how to develop long-term candidate pipelines, and can successfully recruit within a competitive engineering and professional services environment. This role requires strong communication skills, sound judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple high-priority searches simultaneously. ### Key Responsibilities - ### Talent Acquisition & Strategic Sourcing - Manage recruiting activities throughout the candidate lifecycle, including sourcing, candidate outreach, screening, interview coordination, offer support, and ongoing candidate communication - Proactively identify and engage passive candidates, particularly for specialized engineering, technical, and leadership positions - Develop creative sourcing strategies using LinkedIn, Indeed, professional associations, alumni networks, college recruiting platforms, industry organizations, and other recruiting resources - Build and maintain talent pipelines for current openings as well as anticipated future hiring needs - Maintain accurate and comprehensive candidate information within the Valdes applicant tracking system and candidate database - Develop effective outreach and follow-up strategies that strengthen candidate engagement and Valdes' employer brand - Maintain relationships with high-quality candidates even when an immediate opportunity is not available. ### Hiring Manager Partnership - Partner with hiring managers and company leadership to understand staffing priorities, position requirements, technical qualifications, and long-term workforce needs - Assist with candidate interviews and provide thoughtful recommendations throughout the selection process - Coordinate interview schedules and recruiting logistics to create an organized and professional experience for candidates and hiring teams ### Engineering & Industry Networking - Develop a strong understanding of the architecture, engineering, construction, infrastructure, and related professional services markets in which Valdes operates - Develop relationships with engineers and industry professionals who may become future candidates, referral sources, or advocates for Valdes - Monitor industry activity, including competitors, clients, market expansion, mergers, restructuring, and workforce reductions, to identify potential recruiting opportunities - Maintain awareness of emerging engineering disciplines, talent trends, and changing skill requirements within Valdes' markets ### College & Early Career Recruiting - Coordinate Valdes' participation in college career fairs, recruiting events, information sessions, and other campus engagement activities. - Identify opportunities to strengthen Valdes' presence at targeted universities and engineering programs. - Build ongoing pipelines of interns, entry-level engineers, and other early-career professionals. - Support the development of long-term university recruiting strategies that increase awareness of Valdes and our career opportunities. ### Candidate Experience & Employer Brand - Serve as a knowledgeable and engaging representative of Valdes throughout the recruiting process - Provide candidates with clear and timely communication regarding opportunities, interviews, expectations, and next steps - Develop trusted relationships with candidates by understanding their experience, career motivations, and long-term professional goals - Help communicate the Valdes employee value proposition, including our culture, project opportunities, professional development, and career growth - Identify opportunities to continuously improve the candidate and new-hire experience ### Recruiting Operations & Continuous Improvement - Maintain organized and accurate recruiting records, candidate activity, and pipeline information - Track recruiting activity and provide updates regarding candidate pipelines and difficult-to-fill positions - Identify opportunities to improve sourcing strategies, recruiting technology, processes, communication, and overall efficiency - Collaborate with other members of Talent Acquisition and Human Resources to support broader workforce initiatives - Handle candidate, employee, compensation, and other confidential information with a high degree of professionalism and discretion ### Qualifications: - Bachelor’s Degree in Business, Communications, Engineering, Psychology, or a related field - 3+ years of experience working in full-cycle Recruiting, Talent Acquisition, or Human Resources - Must have experience recruiting technical engineers and other specialized technical professionals - Experience using LinkedIn Recruiter for proactive sourcing and passive candidate engagement - Experience working with an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) such as Greenhouse, Lever, or a comparable recruiting platform. - Demonstrated ability to effectively manage candidate pipelines, requisitions, interview activity, and recruiting data within an ATS - Excellent verbal and written communication skills - Strong attention to detail, organization, and follow-through - Ability to create and maintain strong relationships with leadership and hiring managers across all levels of the organization. - Ability to independently initiate, prioritize, and follow through on assignments - Proficiency with Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint - Ability to manage multiple searches, priorities, and deadlines simultaneously in a fast-paced environment - Must possess exceptional interpersonal and organizational skills - Must be able to work in the US without sponsorship now or in the future ### Preferred - Experience working within professional services, consulting, engineering, architecture, construction, or another technical environment - Experience recruiting engineers, technical professionals, project managers, and senior-level leadership candidates - Experience sourcing and recruiting passive candidates for specialized and difficult-to-fill positions - Familiarity with engineering disciplines such as civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, transportation, municipal, water/wastewater, utilities, process, or related technical fields - Experience with college recruiting, career fairs, and university relationship development - Experience leveraging ATS reporting, recruiting analytics, and talent market intelligence to evaluate recruiting activity and improve sourcing strategies - Participation in engineering, recruiting, or other relevant professional associations ### What Success Looks Like A successful Recruiter III at Valdes is more than someone who fills open positions. This individual becomes not only an integral part of the Talent Acquisition team, but also a trusted talent advisor to hiring managers. In addition, they develop meaningful relationships throughout the engineering community, and creates pipelines of talent that support the company's long-term growth. Success in this role means understanding the business well enough to anticipate talent needs, knowing the market well enough to find candidates others may not reach, and building enough trust with candidates and hiring managers to create successful long-term matches. ### Why Valdes? At Valdes, you'll have the opportunity to recruit talented professionals who help design and deliver meaningful engineering and infrastructure projects. You'll work directly with technical leaders and company leadership while gaining exposure to a broad range of engineering disciplines, markets, and career paths. This position offers the opportunity to have a meaningful impact on the growth of the organization while continuing to develop your expertise in technical and engineering talent acquisition. You'll join a collaborative environment where initiative, relationship building, creativity, and continuous improvement are valued—and where Talent Acquisition plays an important role in shaping the future of the company.