Talent Acquisition Specialist

The Talent Acquisition Specialist role in Florham Park, NJ (hybrid) at Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. focuses on guiding full-cycle recruitment across designated business areas and delivering an outstanding candidate experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end recruitment for the assigned business areas, overseeing the process from intake to offer and onboarding transition.
• Collaborate with hiring managers and business leaders to design recruitment strategies aligned with workforce plans and business objectives, offering guidance on talent market trends, candidate availability, compensation benchmarks, and competitive hiring practices.
• Create and execute innovative sourcing and recruitment marketing programs to build diverse talent pipelines, engage active and passive candidates, and attract top talent for current and future needs.
• Deliver an exceptional candidate experience through proactive communication, relationship management, and a streamlined recruitment process.
• Run intake sessions and coach hiring managers through interview planning, candidate evaluation, selection decisions, and recruitment best practices to support consistent outcomes.
• Manage relationships with external recruiting partners, staffing agencies, job boards, and sourcing vendors to maximize recruiting effectiveness and ROI.
• Utilize recruiting metrics, hiring analytics, and market intelligence to evaluate performance, identify opportunities, and drive continuous improvement.
• Partner with Compensation and business leaders to develop competitive offer recommendations aligned with market conditions and internal equity.
• Maintain accurate candidate records and recruiting activity within the ATS while ensuring compliance with employment laws, recruitment policies, and candidate data privacy requirements.
• Additional responsibilities as required.

Requirements

• Minimum of 3 years of full-cycle recruiting experience in a corporate, agency, or high-volume talent acquisition environment.
• Proven success sourcing, attracting, assessing, and hiring talent across a variety of functions and levels, with strong knowledge of recruiting best practices, sourcing methodologies, and candidate evaluation techniques.
• Strong consulting, communication, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to partner effectively with hiring managers and business leaders to develop recruitment strategies and influence hiring decisions.
• Knowledge of employment-related hiring regulations, including pay transparency requirements and recruitment compliance standards.
• Proficiency with applicant tracking systems (ATS), LinkedIn Recruiter, sourcing platforms, AI-powered recruiting tools, and other talent acquisition technologies.
• Ability to leverage recruiting metrics, market intelligence, and talent insights to drive hiring decisions and continuous process improvement.
• Experience managing external recruiting vendors, staffing partners, and job board relationships.
• Familiarity with employer branding, recruitment marketing, and candidate engagement strategies.
• Highly organized, self-motivated, and adaptable, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment while delivering an exceptional candidate and hiring manager experience.

Technologies

• LinkedIn Recruiter
• Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
• AI-powered recruiting tools
• Sourcing platforms

Benefits

• Medical plans
• Dental plans
• Vision plans
• 401k with annual discretionary match
• Life insurance
• Commuter benefits
• Paid time off with paid holidays
• Broad range of other benefits

OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION

At Barnes & Noble Education we empower everyone. Our mission is to support students, faculty and schools, serving as a catalyst to meet the evolving needs of the education system and a new generation of students. That starts with fostering an environment for our employees where diversity and individuality is celebrated.