Associate Talent Acquisition Partner - Early Careers

September 25, 2026
Schertz, TX, US

Position Summary

As an Associate, Talent Acquisition Partner for Early Careers, you will serve as the dedicated early careers partner to the Austin (ATX), San Antonio (SATX), and Houston (HOU) divisions, working closely with hiring managers, division leadership, and HR Business Partners to attract and hire intern and new college graduate talent. Reporting to the Head of Early Careers and working as part of Southland’s enterprise Early Careers team, you will apply best practices, playbooks, and programs within your divisions and adapt them with your business partners where local market and campus dynamics warrant. You will coordinate campus activity and interview events, guide hiring managers and candidates through the process, and help deliver an internship experience compelling enough that participants return to Southland and recommend us to their peers.

Position Details

Recruiting Execution

  • Lead the recruiting process for intern, co-op, and new college graduate roles across your divisions — organizing recruiting events, interview coordination, selection support, offer, and onboarding — in close partnership with hiring managers.
  • Work with your division partners to sustain pipeline continuity year-round rather than only during peak season, maintaining candidate engagement between touchpoints.
  • Maintain requisitions, candidate records, and pipeline activity in the ATS and CRM with accuracy and discipline.
  • Deliver a candidate experience that reflects Southland's culture — responsive, personal, and transparent at every step.

Stakeholder Partnership

  • Serve as the dedicated early careers partner to hiring managers, division leadership, and HR Business Partners, earning trust through consistency and follow-through.
  • Execute each division's campus recruiting plan in coordination with the enterprise team and division stakeholders, keeping hiring managers engaged in the schools and events that matter most to their pipeline.
  • Advise hiring managers on interviewing early talent, supervising interns, and the expectations students carry into today's job market.
  • Keep stakeholders informed on pipeline health, event outcomes, and hiring progress; raise risks early with recommended options.

Campus & Community Engagement

  • Cultivate relationships with target campuses in your markets — career centers, faculty, and student organizations — partner with campus champions to set recruiting events calendars that match hiring goals.
  • In partnership with division representatives, facilitate hiring events, career fairs, info sessions, classroom visits, jobsite tours, and early talent conferences.
  • Represent Southland on campus and at early career events as an approachable and credible voice for our work and our people.
  • Share best practices and market intelligence with the enterprise team, including competitor activity, student expectations, and program feedback that should inform enterprise strategy.

Interview Events & Selection

  • Plan and execute division interview events, including scheduling, interviewer preparation, logistics, candidate communication, and follow-through on decisions.
  • Coordinate interview panels and support a consistent, structured evaluation approach across your divisions.
  • Maintain momentum from interview event to offer, coordinating offer logistics with HR and compensation partners.
  • Lead communication campaign to keep in touch with candidates between offer accept and their internship or start, giving candidates a clear view of what a career at Southland offers.

Internship Program Delivery

  • Partner with hiring managers and division leadership to shape the intern experience — project assignments, mentor pairing, orientation, and onboarding.
  • Coordinate the program calendar, including speaker series, learning sessions, jobsite visits, project showcases, and networking events.
  • Manage program logistics including housing, travel, equipment, start and end dates, and compliance requirements, in coordination with the appropriate internal teams.
  • Maintain regular check-ins with interns and their managers throughout the program, addressing concerns before they escalate.
  • Support intern-to-full-time conversion through consistent engagement, candid feedback, and clearly communicated next steps.

Enterprise Alignment & Continuous Improvement

  • Apply enterprise early careers standards, tools, and playbooks within your divisions, adapting with your business partners for market and campus nuance while staying connected to the enterprise approach.
  • Contribute to the enterprise team's shared work — process improvements, recruiting materials, and best practice sharing across divisions.
  • Track and share core metrics with division and enterprise partners: pipeline activity, event return on investment, offer acceptance, conversion, and program feedback.
  • Provide candid perspective on what is working and what is not. Your proximity to the front line directly informs how the enterprise program evolves.
  • Expected travel: up to 30%, concentrated in the fall and spring campus recruiting seasons.

Qualifications

  • 2-4 years of recruiting or talent acquisition experience; coordinator experience with demonstrated readiness to run full-cycle recruiting will be considered.
  • Bachelor's degree preferred.
  • Exposure to campus recruiting, internship programs, or high-volume interview events is a strong plus.
  • Industry experience in engineering, construction, or the skilled trades is a plus but not required; genuine interest in learning our business is essential.
  • Authentic interest in developing early-career talent, with the patience and approachability to make candidates feel welcome.
  • Highly organized and detail-oriented, able to manage concurrent timelines, events, and logistics without loss of accuracy.
  • Strong communicator who is credible with senior business leaders and equally at ease with a first-year student at a career fair.
  • Self-directed and accountable, able to work within enterprise structure while managing day-to-day execution for your divisions.
  • Proficiency with ATS and CRM platforms, Microsoft Office, and virtual event tools, with the aptitude to learn new technology quickly.
  • Ability to travel to campuses, jobsites, and division offices during peak recruiting seasons.

Benefits

As a 100% employee-owned company, we offer a comprehensive benefits package for you and your family:

  • 401(k) plan with 50% company match (no cap) and immediate 100% vesting
  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance (100% paid for employee)
  • Annual bonus program based upon performance, achievement, and company profitability
  • Term life, AD&D insurance, and voluntary life insurance
  • Disability income protection insurance
  • Pre-tax flexible spending plans (health and dependent care)
  • Paid parental leave
  • Paid holidays, vacation, and personal time
  • Training/professional development opportunities and company-paid memberships for professional associations and licenses
  • Wellness benefits

About Southland Industries

As one of the nation’s largest MEP companies, Southland Industries is built on the foundation of great people. Since 1949, we have put our people first, enabling growth, professional achievement, and innovation. If you want to join a fast-paced environment where you’re engaged, challenged, and valued, apply now to join our dynamic team.

To learn more about careers at Southland, explore our career opportunities, follow us on social media, and check out our website.

Southland Industries and all its subsidiaries are an Equal Opportunity Employerand prohibits discrimination and harassment of any kind. We are committed to the principle of equal employment opportunity for all employees and to providing our employees with a safe work environment free of discrimination and harassment. All employment decisions at Southland Industries are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, gender, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, medical condition, marital status, family care or medical leave status, veteran status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Southland Industries will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics.

Contingent Employment: All employment offers are contingent upon successful drug tests, background checks, and professional reference checks. Roles that include driving as an essential job duty will be required to have a successful Motor Vehicle Record check (MVR). We are not able to offer sponsorship of employment at this time.

External Agency Announcement: Its Southland Industries' policy not to accept candidate submissions from recruiting agencies without an active and authorized work order. Candidate ownership can only be established after a bona fide work order is issued by a member of the Southland Industries Talent Acquisition team and the candidate is appropriately submitted through our Applicant Tracking System (ATS).