Director of Talent Acquisition and Workforce Strategy

September 10, 2026
Pinehurst, NC, US

Overview

The Director of Talent Acquisition and Workforce Strategy is responsible for developing and executing an enterprise-wide talent acquisition and workforce strategy that ensures FirstHealth has the people, capabilities, and talent pipelines necessary to achieve its strategic and operational objectives.

This leader serves as a strategic partner to executive leadership and operational leaders, connecting workforce needs to business strategy, labor market dynamics, talent availability, and organizational priorities. The Director leads the full talent acquisition function while also establishing a forward-looking approach to workforce planning, talent forecasting, recruitment strategy, talent pipelines, and workforce analytics.

The position will play a critical role in strengthening FirstHealth's ability to attract, recruit, and retain high-quality talent while reducing reliance on contract labor, improving workforce productivity, and building sustainable talent pipelines for critical and hard-to-fill positions.

Responsibilities

Talent Acquisition Strategy

  • Develop and execute an enterprise talent acquisition strategy aligned with FirstHealth's strategic plan and workforce priorities.
  • Lead the development of proactive recruitment strategies for clinical, operational, technical, leadership, and other critical positions.
  • Establish talent pipelines for high-volume, high-demand, and hard-to-fill positions.
  • Develop innovative sourcing strategies utilizing direct sourcing, digital recruitment, talent communities, employee referrals, professional organizations, academic partnerships, and other channels.
  • Continuously evaluate recruitment effectiveness, cost, speed, quality, and candidate experience.
  • Establish recruitment standards, processes, metrics, and service expectations across the organization.
  • Partner with leaders to improve position design, job requirements, recruiting profiles, and selection practices.

Workforce Strategy and Planning

  • Lead the development of an enterprise workforce planning process that aligns projected workforce needs with FirstHealth's strategic and operational plans.
  • Analyze current and future workforce requirements based on volume, service-line growth, turnover, retirements, skills, productivity, and labor market conditions.
  • Identify workforce gaps and develop strategies to address current and future talent needs.
  • Partner with Finance, HR Business Partners, operational leaders, and other stakeholders to develop workforce forecasts and staffing plans.
  • Develop strategies to address critical talent shortages and emerging workforce challenges.
  • Evaluate opportunities to build, buy, borrow, automate, redesign, or redeploy talent to meet organizational needs.
  • Develop long-term talent pipeline strategies in partnership with schools, colleges, universities, residency programs, professional associations, and community organizations.

Contract Labor and Workforce Optimization

  • Partner with executive and operational leaders to reduce dependence on contract labor and develop sustainable internal talent pipelines.
  • Develop recruitment and conversion strategies for contract, temporary, agency, and other contingent workers.
  • Analyze contract labor trends and identify opportunities for permanent workforce conversion.
  • Establish metrics and accountability for reducing contract labor utilization while maintaining safe and effective staffing.
  • Partner with leaders to identify alternative workforce models, including internal float pools, flexible staffing, career pathways, cross-training, and other workforce solutions.

Talent Acquisition Operations

  • Lead and develop the Talent Acquisition team, establishing clear expectations, performance standards, goals, and accountability.
  • Oversee recruitment workflows from requisition approval through onboarding.
  • Ensure recruiting practices are efficient, compliant, equitable, and consistent.
  • Evaluate and optimize applicant tracking systems, recruitment technology, sourcing tools, assessment processes, and other talent acquisition resources.
  • Establish appropriate recruiter workloads, service levels, and performance metrics.
  • Develop and monitor recruitment budgets and vendor relationships.
  • Oversee relationships with external search firms, staffing agencies, recruitment partners, and other vendors.

Workforce Analytics and Reporting

  • Establish a comprehensive talent acquisition and workforce analytics dashboard for executive and operational leadership.
  • Monitor key metrics including time-to-fill, time-to-start, vacancy rates, turnover, offer acceptance, source effectiveness, cost-per-hire, recruiter productivity, and critical vacancy trends.
  • Utilize workforce data and labor market intelligence to identify trends, risks, and opportunities.
  • Translate workforce data into actionable recommendations for senior leadership.
  • Develop predictive approaches to workforce planning and talent needs as organizational capabilities mature.

Employer Brand and Candidate Experience

  • Strengthen FirstHealth's employer brand and employee value proposition to differentiate the organization in competitive talent markets.
  • Develop recruitment marketing strategies that communicate FirstHealth's culture, mission, career opportunities, and community impact.
  • Improve the candidate experience throughout the recruitment process.
  • Partner with Marketing and Communications to strengthen FirstHealth's presence in local, regional, and national talent markets.

Leadership and Partnership

  • Serve as a trusted advisor to executive leaders and operational leadership on workforce and talent matters.
  • Partner closely with HR Business Partners to translate workforce strategies into business-specific talent plans.
  • Collaborate with Learning and Development, Compensation, Employee Relations, Finance, and other HR functions to address workforce challenges.
  • Develop strong relationships with leaders throughout the organization and provide consultative workforce solutions.
  • Promote a culture of accountability, innovation, inclusion, and continuous improvement within Talent Acquisition.

Qualifications

Required

  • Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Healthcare Administration, or a related field.
  • Seven or more years of progressive experience in talent acquisition, workforce planning, human resources, or a related discipline.
  • Demonstrated experience leading talent acquisition teams and enterprise-level recruitment strategies.
  • Demonstrated experience developing workforce plans, talent pipelines, or labor strategies.
  • Strong understanding of healthcare talent markets and the unique workforce challenges facing healthcare organizations.
  • Demonstrated ability to use workforce and recruiting data to influence business decisions.
  • Strong leadership, communication, consulting, and relationship-building skills.

Preferred

  • Master's degree in Human Resources, Business, Healthcare Administration, or related field.
  • Experience leading Talent Acquisition and Workforce Strategy within a complex healthcare system.
  • Experience developing strategies to reduce contract labor and agency dependence.
  • Experience with applicant tracking systems, recruitment marketing platforms, workforce analytics, and HR technology.
  • Professional HR certification such as SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent.