Talent Acquisition Business Development

Andrew Cottam

Talent Acquisition/Recruitment

********@*****.*** • 925-***-**** • San Francisco Bay Area, CA • www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-cottam/ EXPERTISE

Talent Acquisition Strategy

Recruiter Enablement

Talent Management

Training & Development

Cross-Functional Leadership

Recruiting & Onboarding

DEI Hiring Initiatives

ATS/CRM Optimization

Vendor Management

Workforce Planning

High Volume Recruiting

Business Development

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• Start-Up Savvy Talent Leader: 18 years of experience building recruiting functions for the military, federal contractors, and high- growth startups. Led scale-ups from 50 to 200+ headcount, supporting national deployments and startup acceleration. Known for delivering hiring strategies that align with mission-critical goals.

• Scalable Systems Builder: Designed and implemented AI-enabled sourcing, structured interview frameworks, and performance tracking dashboards. Improved recruiter output by 25%, reduced time-to-hire by 20%, and increased diverse hiring by 25%.

• Workforce Planning Expert: Developed and launched the DoD Skill Bridge hiring pipeline. Successfully transitioned 200+ veterans into civilian technical roles through targeted sourcing and onboarding design.

• High Volume Recruitment: Spearheaded 10 staffing campaign projects over a 4-year period that placed over 2500 contractors across state and federal contracts, including Health and Human Services, federally funded state programs and Emergency Management Services resulting in over $30M dollars in revenue which showcased my direct impact on company growth and profitability.

• Military-to-Civilian Talent Champion: Extensive experience teaching, coaching and mentoring transitioning service members and their spouses and family members. Launched veteran-focused hiring programs and fostered inclusion across multiple sectors. EXPERIENCE

STARTUPS tech industry

MERIT verified identity app SAN FRANCISCO, CA (REMOTE) Talent Manager/Lead Dec 2019 - May 2025

• Scaled company headcount from 45 to 110+ in under 2 years across engineering, sales, product, and G&A roles, maintaining an average time-to-fill of 30 days and 95%+ offer acceptance rate.

• Spearheaded a GTM recruitment campaign and recruited 3 top salesmen across diverse industries that brought in over $40M in revenue and company growth across 3 different business pipelines.

• Built and managed a team of 6 recruiters (technical and non-technical); provided mentorship, training, and performance management.

• Partnered with executive leadership on headcount planning, compensation benchmarking, and hiring strategies •

• Implemented Lever ATS and automated reporting workflows, improving pipeline visibility and reducing administrative workload by 50%.

• Developed and launched an internal referral program, increasing internal employee candidate referrals by 30% and reducing sourcing costs by over 100K.

• Negotiated sourcing contracts (LinkedIn, Hired, Indeed), resulting in annual cost savings of $50K. MERIT verified identity app SAN FRANCISCO, CA (REMOTE) Director of Staffing Special Projects Dec 2019 – May 2025

• Generated over $30M dollars in revenue across 12 staffing campaigns that placed over 2500 contractors across state and federal deals which had a direct impact on company growth and profitability.

• Directed and led staffing teams that oversaw high-volume recruitment operations, and implemented data driven processes to enhance the hiring efficiency and onboarding process for quality and compliance.

• Led the development and execution of staffing strategies to align with organizational goals ensuring optimal workforce capacity and capability across all departments.

• Designed and implemented customized professional development processes for contractors, leading to improved retention and a less than 2% attrition rate across 12 different projects.

• Staffed a special project with a state partner during a hurricane effort at no cost to the company which generated $250K and over $3M for the state partner.

U.S. ARMY RECRUITING COMMAND military recruitment HUNTSVILLE, AL (ON-SITE) Talent Manager Dec 2017 –Dec 2019

• Oversaw operations for 6 recruiting stations (3 large, 3 small), leading a team of 45+ personnel across a multi-state region.

• Positioned the Orlando based healthcare recruiting firm as the #1 nationwide recruiting company by optimizing recruitment workflows, training senior acquisition managers and establishing a high-performance culture focused on quality and results.

• Trusted advisor to executive leadership, regularly submitting detailed reports to the CEO on all talent acquisition initiatives, policies and performance metrics.

• Improved mission readiness to 100% across all stations by standardizing training schedules, inspection protocols, and accountability measures.

• Enhanced inter-station collaboration, resulting in a 20% increase in referrals and cross-market placements across the battalion footprint.

U.S. ARMY RECRUITING COMMAND healthcare recruitment SAN FRANCISCO, CA (ON-SITE) Director of Talent Oct 2014 – Dec 2017

• Led a team of 10 recruiters, consistently achieving 120–150% of annual mission requirements for medical professional accessions.

• Recruited over 90 healthcare professionals across critical specialties (physicians, nurses, dentists) during a 3-year command, exceeding regional benchmarks.

• Increased station productivity by 45% by implementing performance tracking systems and targeted recruiter development plans.

• Reduced applicant processing time by 35% through streamlined documentation workflows and improved coordination with MEPS and medical credentialing teams.

• Maintained 100% compliance during all IG and internal audits by enforcing policy adherence and conducting monthly readiness inspections.

U.S. ARMY RECRUITING COMMAND military recruitment UKIAH, CA (ON-SITE) Director of Talent Jan 2012 – Oct 2014

• Led a team of 5+ recruiters, supporting daily operations and achieving 110–125% of monthly recruiting mission requirements.

• Mentored and developed 5 junior recruiters, resulting in 3 earning promotions ahead of peers and 2 receiving command-level recognition.

• Improved station contract production by 20% by refining lead generation strategies and introducing structured follow-up protocols.

• Reduced applicant attrition by 30% through hands-on coaching, applicant engagement tracking, and improved pre-accession preparation.

• Maintained 100% compliance across all enlistment records and applicant files during TRADOC and IG inspections. TECH STACK

PERFORMANCE & ENGAGEMENT

Lattice

DOD-SKILLBRIDGE

Co-created Merit Academy

PROJECT MANAGEMENT &

COLLABORATION

Asana, Jira, Google Suite

COMP & BENEFITS

Carta, Sequoia

COMPLIANCE

DocuSign, Drobox Sign,

KnowBe4

ATS & RECRUITING

Lever, Rippling

EDUCATION

BACHELOR OF ARTS, MANAGEMENT Post University

DEI/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY OFFICER U.S. Army

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