Summary
The Director, Talent Acquisition and Operational Learning serves as a strategic talent leader responsible for building sustainable talent pipelines and developing critical capabilities that enable business performance at Universal Studios Hollywood. This role integrates workforce planning, hiring, onboarding, and operational learning to ensure the organization has the right talent, with the right skills, at the right time.
Culture
Beyond smarts and experience we look for exceptional talent. We’re very collaborative, so we want you to know our expectations up front: quick learner, be a thought partner, work smart and stay connected. We’re a team supporting a thriving guest focused business, so you treat your colleagues as a whole and have a strong ownership attitude towards your scope of oversight! Be prepared to work and be challenged while having fun.
Responsibilities:
- Provide strategic leadership to the team in the development and execution of recruitment strategies for seasonal and full-time destination dedicated role.
- Coaches leaders and team members to operate as strategic talent advisors, not transactional partners
- Establish innovative sourcing strategies to attract top talent candidates and support business skill gaps.
- Foster a culture of inclusivity through strategic partnerships with internal leaders and external community organizations and/or agencies that focus on identifying exceptional talent
- Serve as business owner of applicant tracking system (Smart Recruiters) to ensure the ongoing problem resolution, improvement, data integrity and optimization of the system
- Conduct ongoing analysis of the Talent Acquisition function to determine how recruitment processes and protocols may be streamlined, new talent pools can be developed, and department resources can be most effectively deployed
- Own and evolve a destination‑level workforce and hiring strategy aligned to seasonal demand, labor market conditions, and long‑term capability needs
- Partner with Finance and Operations on forecasting, labor planning, and hiring prioritization
- Establish and monitor TA success metrics (e.g., time‑to‑fill, quality of hire, retention, candidate experience) and drive continuous improvement
- Serve as an advisor and strategic liaison to Hiring Managers and HR, providing guidance and direction related to all Staffing programs in support of strategic business goals and needs
- Partner with HRBPs and business leaders to link learning investments to performance, readiness, and succession
- Leverage data (engagement, performance, attrition) to prioritize learning strategies and measure impact
- Collaborate with center of excellence on the development and execution of UDX performance and development feedback tools.
- Design talent pathways that connect hiring, onboarding, development, and internal mobility
- Partner with HR and leaders to strengthen promotion readiness and bench strength for critical roles
- Lead the Team Member Engagement strategies and consult with organizational leaders on results interpretation and action planning. Partner with UDX on the design and execution of engagement surveys and ad hoc employee research.
- Partners with Comcast/NBCUniversal in the integration and delivery of core corporate programs. Facilitates USH nomination process for corporate programs and serves as learning lead supporting NBCU Talent Lab.
- Build guest service delivery strategy and annual tactics based on company metrics/measures to support increased improvement. Supports both global guest service initiatives as well as functional support.
- Drive destination focused internship and recruitment programs intended to create a pool of talented candidates for entry to mid-management professional positions throughout the organization.
- Delivers key business activities, including internal leadership meetings and team events/off sites
- Develops and manages external vendor/partner relationships resulting in high-quality, cost-effective learning solutions.
- Builds and maintains strong client, and subject matter expert relationships to gather ongoing needs assessment information and build curriculum content and OD solutions.
- Provide regular reporting to HR and Executive team on the status of staffing activities and performance.
- Other duties as assigned.