16 Roles and Responsibilities for Your Talent Acquisition Dream Team

Building an effective talent acquisition function requires a careful orchestration of people, processes, and technology. Not only do leaders have to ensure the people who report to them are empowered to do their best work, but they must also gather the buy-in and cooperation of people across the business. The work becomes so much easier when each person knows the responsibilities of their hiring role.

A high-performing TA team will work harmoniously to define job requirements, source and screen candidates efficiently, and conduct interviews that net quality hires. It will be supported by technology that promotes efficiency and leverages data that facilitates continuous improvement. To help you get started, we gathered the most common roles and their responsibilities.

Overview of Talent Acquisition Team Roles and Responsibilities

The list below offers a high-level overview of the roles within TA, the business, and external partners. Some of the roles may overlap depending on the size of your team. 

1. Recruiters: identify and screen best-fit candidates, nurture candidate relationships, assist with defining job requirements, and provide useful marketplace intelligence when needed.
2. Recruiting Coordinator: Schedule interviews, ensure interviewers are prepared, greet candidates, manage travel arrangements, prepare offer letters, and handle background checks.
3. Sourcing Specialists: Identify and connect with potential candidates found on social media networks, online platforms, and databases.
4. Employer Brand Manager: Promote employer value proposition through the career site, social media, and other channels to attract a range of candidates and seniority levels.
5. Recruiting Managers: Advocate for recruiters’ day-to-day experience, review and contextualize metrics, and ensure systems are configured effectively.
6. IT / TA Operations Manager: Provide implementation and integration support, ensure data integrity and security, and make ongoing configuration changes. Read this post for an in-depth look at this role.
7. Data Analyst: Query data to gather actionable insights that tell a story and assist with stakeholder education.
8. Director/Head of Talent Acquisition: Oversee recruiting, sourcing, and employer brand and reporting on activities. Recommend new strategies, processes, and technology. Participate in strategic talent planning with business leaders.  
9. Business Leaders: Communicate business goals and market concerns. Support talent acquisition change initiatives.
10. HR Business Partners: Connect TA data with internal talent data and use it to inform succession planning and retention strategies. Consult on skills and connect with learning and development when needed.
11. Hiring Managers: Interview candidates and make hiring selections. Adapt behaviors and expectations based on data, change initiatives, and system requirements. 
12. Legal: Ensure compliance in data collection and deletion regarding candidate data. Consult on processes to minimize bias.
13. Mentors: Provide coaching and advice to leaders and team members. Help contexualize activities and support leaders in stakeholder management and change initiatives. 
14. Technology Vendors: Offer implementation support, training, and consultation in partnership for long-term success.
15. Consultants (optional): Recommend technology solutions and process redesign. Assist with implementations and change management.
16. Recruitment Process Outsourcing (optional): End-to-end support by experts for companies with adequate budget that do not want to build internal resources.

The makeup of a TA dream team will be unique for every business. Knowing where you need support and where you need to make alliances will help your team flourish to create better hiring outcomes. 

When it’s time to partner with vendors, we’d love to share with you how the SmartRecruiters team offers ongoing customer support long after implementation. We also keep hiring teams up-to-date with recruiting best practices in the SmartRecruiters University and customer community and offer a marketplace of more than 600 trusted partners to build your recruiting tech stack. Get in touch with us to learn more.