Talent Acquisition Business Partner

CHRISTINE NOVAK

Chicago, IL 206-***-**** *********.*.*****@*****.*** linkedin.com/in/christinenovak

TALENT ACQUISITION DIRECTOR

«Accomplished talent acquisition leader with 15+ years of success driving strategic recruitment and human resource strategies, facilitating workforce planning, and securing top talent and future leaders to fuel company growth and success.

«Trusted advisor and business partner with expertise in full life cycle recruitment, sourcing across multiple disciplines to satisfy employment needs while addressing rapidly evolving business circumstances.

«Experience building high performance teams, mentor, collaborator, and leader committed to continued development of best-in-class recruiting operations and prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring practices.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Talent Acquisition Leadership Strategic Planning & Execution Team Building & Mentorship Strategic Sourcing Strategies Vendor Management AI Integrations Player/Coach Negotiations Onboarding Compliance Candidate Experience

Data-Driven Decision-Making Process Development Operational Excellence Cross-Functional Collaboration

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

KRAUS HAMDANI AEROSPACE Sep 2024 - current

Director of Talent Acquisition

As the Talent Acquisition Director in a startup that thrives on innovation but needs robust processes and leadership, my skills shine in strategic talent management and building foundational HR structures.

I excel at identifying and attracting top talent, ensuring our recruitment processes align with the startup’s dynamic needs.

My leadership skills foster a collaborative team environment and drive a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.

With a strong focus on establishing efficient hiring processes and leveraging my analytical abilities, I contribute significantly to building a high-performing, scalable organization.

By effectively using AI tools, working with vendors, and implementing operational building blocks for success, I ensure that our talent acquisition strategies are both innovative and robust.

I oversee vendor management, ensuring that our partnerships support our talent acquisition goals and provide value.

I develop and enforce HR policies that align with our company’s values and regulatory requirements, promoting a fair and compliant workplace.

I advise on new tools and technologies for HR and talent acquisition, keeping our processes at the forefront of industry advancements.

My role as a player-coach allows me to lead by example, actively participating in recruitment while guiding my team to reach their full potential.

This structured approach ensures that KHA remains competitive in attracting and retaining top talent while continuously improving our processes and strategies.

BIOMERICS Jul 2024 – Dec 2024

North America Talent Acquisition Operations Lead

Standing Up Talent Acquisition

Spearheading the establishment of a comprehensive Talent Acquisition program at Biomerics, aimed at attracting, recruiting, and retaining top talent. While managing 50+ roles in parallel, I'm laying the groundwork for a structured approach to recruitment. In collaboration with the North America HR Lead, we are focusing on:

Defining Objectives: Clearly outlining the goals and objectives of the talent acquisition program, such as filling specific roles, enhancing diversity, and improving the overall quality of hires.

Developing a Strategy: Crafting a comprehensive plan that encompasses sourcing strategies, recruitment processes, and selection criteria.

Building a Team: Assembling a dedicated talent acquisition team, including recruiters, talent acquisition specialists, and hiring managers, to effectively execute the strategy.

Implementing Technology: Leveraging recruitment software and tools to streamline the hiring process, manage candidate data, and enhance communication with potential hires. Additionally, reevaluating vendor contracts to reduce costs and expenditures.

Creating a Talent Pipeline: Developing a pool of qualified candidates for future openings, ensuring a steady supply of talent while concurrently building out processes.

Operations Management: Overseeing the day-to-day operations of the talent acquisition function, ensuring that all recruitment activities are conducted efficiently and effectively.

Vendor Management: Establishing and maintaining strong relationships with external recruitment vendors and service providers to support our talent acquisition efforts.

Monitoring and Evaluation: Continuously assessing the effectiveness of the talent acquisition program through metrics and feedback, making necessary adjustments to improve outcomes.

This structured approach ensures that Biomerics remains competitive in attracting and retaining top talent while continuously improving our processes and strategies.

AVANADE Feb 2013 - Jul 2024

North America Talent Acquisition Lead 2022 - Jul 2024

Owned talent acquisition efforts, partnering with 60+ hiring managers across 9 technology business groups, operating functions, and Avanade X, focusing on director+ hiring in North America.

Served as a player-coach and trusted advisor, managing a team of 5 senior recruiters specializing in practice leadership, solution area leaders, business group leaders, architects, and delivery managers.

Achieved a 48% reduction in bench consultants by training 300+ individuals on internal resumes, skill profiles, and scheduling tools, enhancing operational efficiency and resource utilization in the business operations group.

Drove NA internal moves and external hires for leadership roles, contributing to the global operating model transformation.

Strengthened diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring by appointing a diversity lead in my team to track and monitor a robust talent pool, enhancing immediate access to qualified diversity candidates.

Secured 130+ team hires and 60+ individual hires, achieving 32% team employee referrals and 38% team diversity.

Talent Acquisition - Global Sales & Technology 2020 - 2022

Motivated, mentored, and led 5 senior recruiters to staff sales and technical talent on a global scale, ensuring alignment with the organization’s direction, vision, and strategy.

Partnered and strategized with key stakeholders and clients, including 60+ hiring managers, to build strong, innovative teams, emphasizing a white-glove experience for hiring managers and candidates.

Shaped and implemented comprehensive recruitment strategies to identify and source top talent, leveraging market/data analysis and networks to accelerate hiring efforts.

Delivered 30+ individual hires, 185 team hires, 40% team employee referrals, and 36% team diversity hires.

Talent Acquisition – North America TA Business Partner 2016 - 2020

Served as the lead in various capacities.

Interim Team Lead for North America

Served as Talent Acquisition Business Partner Delivery Manager for NE region (4 years), West region (2 years), SW region (6 months), and Analytics team (3 months). All while leading teams of 2-3 recruiters

Served as the CRM Talent Acquisition Team (2 years), leading a team of 3.

Career Advisor for 2 talent acquisition team members

Talent Acquisition Manager – North America Corporate Functions Lead 2014 - 2016

Led recruitment efforts for corporate functions, supporting aligned business units on all recruiting activities and initiatives.

Collaborated closely with business leaders to implement global recruiting programs and strategies aligned with the worldwide talent acquisition strategy.

Energized and led a team of 4 recruiters focused on internal ITS, Accenture hybrid cloud solutions, UC managed services, and all core services (marketing, FI, legal, TA, business operations, OL&D, HR tech, and delivery).

Tasked to reduce cost per hire and improve time to hire by restructuring the temporary workforce group. I successfully streamlined the team from 5 to 2 members and implemented a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) model to finish out the year and recommended the project be shut down within 2 years, which it did.

Talent Acquisition Manager - Managed Services Feb 2013 - 2014

Transitioned to oversee talent acquisition for Managed Services team following Avanade’s acquisition of Azaleos.

Served as the sole contact for recruiting activities and initiatives to meet the global service center hiring demands.

Partnered with business leaders to deploy global recruiting strategies while executing technical recruiting for managed services, infrastructure, and unified communications.

AZALEOS Sep 2010 - Feb 2013

Human Resources - Senior Corporate Tech Recruiter

Managed full life cycle recruitment and HR functions as the sole member of the department, including strategic initiatives, human capital, administration, and facilities management.

Sourced, hired, and onboarded 200+ new hires throughout tenure, serving as a strategic partner to hiring managers.

Identified talent, built robust pipelines, assessed applicants, interviewed candidates, and negotiated offers.

ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Sales & Recruiting Manager Parker Technical Solutions Sales & Recruiting Manager The Creative Group Affiliate Sales Manager ShopLocal, a Chicago Tribune Co. Sales Executive Burlington Free Press, a Gannett Co.

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Science in Business Management Plymouth State University

TECHNICAL ACUMEN

Microsoft Office Google Suite PowerBI SharePoint Taleo, Avature, iCIMS, Paylocity, GreenHouse

Asana Slack BoldSign, Docusign LinkedIn power-user

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