Talent Acquisition and Employee Engagement Manager

Description

The company uses the science of reading, neuroscience and AI to help students become stronger readers. Independent efficacy research from universities and state education agencies backs its results. More than 2,500 school districts and state agencies use it, with over 5 million students worldwide.

The product continuously measures each student's reading skills and helps teachers plan lessons that match their district's curriculum and the materials they already use, so instruction can be differentiated with one-on-one practice.

You would join a mission-focused team of reading scientists, AI engineers, educators and business builders working toward proficient reading for every child.

Responsibilities

• You own how the company attracts, hires, retains and supports strong people. That means building a hiring process that scales with growth and a retention plan that keeps good people.
• You report to the Chief Operating Officer and work closely with the executive team and hiring managers in engineering, AI and data science, product, learning science, sales, marketing and customer success.
• You lead a small group of contract recruiters and manage vendor relationships.
• Set and run the full recruiting strategy, from workforce planning through offer and close.
• Build candidate pipelines for hard-to-fill roles, mainly AI and ML engineering, speech and data science, learning science and enterprise sales.
• Build a structured, fair interview process with role scorecards, AI proficiency checks, interviewer training and consistent evaluation criteria.
• Run Predictive Index assessments: agree job targets with hiring managers, administer behavioral and cognitive tests, and use the results in hiring and team development.
• Grow the employer brand so educators, researchers and technologists see the company as a place for meaningful work.
• Give every candidate a fast, respectful and transparent experience, whether or not they join.
• Manage the ATS, sourcing tools and recruiting budget, and oversee agencies and job boards for cost and quality.
• Make hiring more inclusive by widening talent pools and reducing bias at each stage.
• Build the retention strategy: learn why people stay or leave, and act on both.
• Run annual and pulse culture surveys, share results openly and work with leaders on action plans.
• Own onboarding so new hires and contractors are productive and connected in their first 90 days.
• Work with managers on career paths, growth conversations, recognition and internal moves.
• Flag critical talent at risk of leaving early and work with leaders on retention plans.
• Advise on pay, benefits and culture initiatives that affect retention, together with Total Rewards and Finance.
• Design recognition programs that celebrate wins, milestones and company values.
• Run stay and exit interviews and turn what you learn into concrete programs.
• Manage the full contractor and freelancer lifecycle, from sourcing and agreements to onboarding and offboarding, with Finance and Legal.
• Make sure contractors are classified correctly and keep an accurate roster of active engagements.
• Plan company offsites and team gatherings that build connection and alignment across a remote-first team.
• Run development programs covering career paths, manager training, workshops and learning budgets.
• Report people metrics to leadership, including time to fill, offer acceptance, quality of hire, regretted attrition and engagement.
• Spot trends in recruiting and engagement data and recommend changes.
• Keep recruiting compliant with EEO, pay transparency and hiring laws in every state where the company hires.

Requirements

• 5+ years in recruiting, talent acquisition or people programs for the Manager level, or 7+ years for Senior Manager.
• Experience hiring at a growing technology company, ideally in SaaS, AI or edtech.
• A track record recruiting technical roles (engineering, ML, data science) and go-to-market roles.
• Experience coordinating recruiters, and direct people management for Senior Manager.
• Hands-on work in an ATS and running behavioral assessments such as the Predictive Index.
• Hands-on experience running engagement, recognition, onboarding or retention programs.
• Experience running culture surveys, performance review cycles and offsites, and managing employer brand on platforms such as Glassdoor.
• Comfort with people data: you build reports, read trends and turn numbers into clear recommendations.
• Working knowledge of U.S. employment law and multi-state compliance.
• Clear, confident communication with hiring managers and leaders, and strong organization across many searches and programs.
• Traits that matter: systems thinking, attention to detail and data accuracy, proactive problem solving, explaining technical ideas to non-technical people, continuous learning, and a focus on end-user impact.
• Preferred: experience in K-12 education, edtech or a mission-driven organization.
• Preferred: experience recruiting bilingual English/Spanish talent.
• Preferred: familiarity with modern ATS and HRIS platforms such as Greenhouse, Lever, Workday or Rippling.
• Preferred: Predictive Index certification, or SHRM-CP/SCP, PHR/SPHR or a similar certification.

Conditions

Full-time role.

Remote-first team.

The posted base salary range is the minimum and maximum the company reasonably expects to pay. Actual pay depends on location, job-related skills, experience and relevant education or training, and ranges vary by role, level and location.

Equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on any basis protected by law.

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Medical, dental and vision coverage
• 401(k) with company matching
• Flexible time off
• Stock options
• Support literacy development for PreK-7 students across the country
• Work at the frontier of AI-enabled customer success
• Your work feeds directly into revenue and shapes how millions of students are served
• Help build and scale automation infrastructure as the company and team grow
• Join a small, focused team where individual contributions are visible
• Help children around the world reach their full potential