The Sr. Partner, Talent Acquisition role is a strategic talent acquisition leader responsible for driving full-cycle recruitment from initial position creation and sourcing through offer negotiation and close. This role owns complex, up to executive-level and specialized searches across the enterprise, acting as a trusted advisor to hiring managers and senior leadership while partnering closely with HR Business Partners, Compensation, Legal, and leadership to deliver a seamless, equitable, and high-touch hiring experience. Success in this role requires deep consultative skill, sound judgment in high-stakes compensation conversations, and the ability to represent the DIRECTV employer brand at every touchpoint.
Key Responsibilities
Full-Cycle Recruitment & Search Strategy
- Own the entire recruiting lifecycle end-to-end — intake, sourcing, pipeline development, screening, interview coordination, offer construction, negotiation, and close — for executive, leadership, and highly specialized roles.
- Lead intake and calibration sessions with hiring managers to define role scope, must-have competencies, market realities, and search strategy before sourcing begins.
- Proactively source passive candidates through a diverse mix of channels, including job boards (LinkedIn Recruiter, industry-specific boards), Boolean and X-ray search techniques, established professional networks, alumni and industry associations, employee referrals, social media, and direct outreach/cold recruiting.
- Cultivate and maintain a personal network of industry contacts, subject matter experts, and past candidates to cultivate an "always-on" talent bench.
- Continuously nurture talent pipelines through proactive sourcing, market mapping, competitive intelligence, professional networking, and external agency/search firm partnerships where appropriate.
- Manage requisition workflow, job posting strategy, and candidate flow within Workday ATS/HRIS, ensuring accurate data, reporting, and pipeline visibility.
- Design and execute structured interview and assessment processes that ensure consistency, reduce bias, and support sound hiring decisions.
- Monitor and report weekly on requisition volumes and activity, pipeline health, time-to-fill, source effectiveness, and other critical metrics; adjust strategy proactively based on data.
Hiring Manager & Candidate Communication
- Serve as the primary strategic advisor and point of contact for hiring managers throughout the search, providing regular pipeline updates, market insights, and coaching on interview and selection best practices.
- Facilitate structured debriefs and decision-making conversations to drive timely, well-reasoned outcomes.
- Maintain transparent, timely, and high-touch communication with candidates at every stage, ensuring a consistent and positive experience regardless of outcome.
- Engage and nurture passive candidates over extended timelines through relationship-based, consultative outreach — building trust well before a role is ready to be filled.
- Manage sensitive or difficult conversations with poise — including declined offers, competing-offer situations, internal mobility conflicts, and rejection feedback — while protecting the company's brand and reputation.
- Act as a credible brand ambassador, articulating company mission, culture, and value proposition persuasively to passive and active candidates, including senior executives.
Cross-Functional HR Partnership
- Serve as a recognized leader within the Talent Acquisition team by modeling best practices, elevating peer performance, sharing expertise, and helping drive team priorities and positive outcomes without direct people-management responsibility.
- Partner closely with Compensation to structure competitive offers with a total compensation philosophy.
- Work with leadership on immigration/visa considerations.
- Coordinate with onboarding, operations, and background/reference check leads to ensure a smooth transition from offer acceptance to day one.
Complex Offer Management
- Lead compensation strategy discussions with hiring managers balancing internal equity, market data, budget considerations, and business urgency.
- Construct and present competitive, defensible offer packages, including negotiating base salary, sign-on bonuses, equity grants, relocation packages, and counteroffer/retention scenarios.
- Advise hiring managers and business leadership on compensation trade-offs, risk, and market positioning, providing data-backed recommendations rather than simply executing decisions.
- Skillfully manage multi-stakeholder negotiations where candidate expectations, internal constraints, and business needs must be reconciled quickly and diplomatically.
- Ensure all offers comply with pay equity guidelines, internal approval workflows, and regulatory requirements.
Qualifications
Required
- 5 – 7+ years of progressive experience in full-cycle recruiting, executive search, or talent acquisition, including direct ownership of leadership-level and specialized searches.
- Demonstrated success sourcing and closing passive candidates using job boards, Boolean search, professional networking platforms, industry associations, and referral networks.
- Demonstrated experience leading and closing complex compensation negotiations, including multifaceted bonus structures.
- Proven ability to build trusted, consultative relationships with senior hiring managers and executives, influencing decisions without direct authority.
- Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to tailor messaging for candidates, hiring managers, HR peers, and senior leadership.
- Strong project and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to run multiple concurrent searches under competing deadlines.
- Experience partnering cross-functionally on hiring strategy and offer execution.
- Sound judgment and discretion when handling confidential, sensitive, or high-visibility searches.
- Ability to operate independently, exercising strategic thinking balanced with disciplined execution.
Preferred
- Advanced proficiency with ATS and HRIS platforms; Workday experience strongly preferred.
- Hands-on experience with talent marketing channels — from programmatic job distribution and SEO/SEM to paid social and career site optimization — to drive candidate awareness and inbound pipeline.
- Established professional network and industry presence (e.g., active LinkedIn network, participation in industry groups/associations) that supports ongoing passive candidate engagement.
- Experience recruiting within media, entertainment, telecommunications, or technology industries.
- Familiarity with executive compensation structures.
- Experience mentoring within a broader TA team structure.
May require a background check due to job duties requiring routine access to DIRECTV and DIRECTV customer’s proprietary data. Qualified applicants with arrest and conviction will be considered for employment in accordance with local ordinances and state law.
This is a remote position that can be located anywhere in the United States, with the exception of Alaska. #LI-Remote
A career with us comes with big rewards
DIRECTV's compensation structure is designed to be market-competitive and fully supports efforts to attract and retain employees. It is the company's policy to offer pay that is competitive with other employers in the local market. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location.
The Base Salary range displayed below reflects the minimum and maximum target salary for each of DIRECTV's 4 (four) US Labor Market Zones. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training.
DIRECTV WAGE ZONES: $134,363 - $244,036
Low (N1): $134,363 - $201,595
Mid (N2): $141,435 - $212,205
High (N3): $155,579 - $233,426
Top (N4): $162,650 - $244,036
Click HERE to review information on some of the largest Designated Market Areas (DMAs). Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.
Please note that the salary ranges reflect base salary only and do not include bonus or benefits - when you consider all of these together, it represents a pretty impressive total compensation package.