Talent Acquisition Specialist

The California Academy of Sciences is a renowned scientific and cultural institution located in San Francisco, dedicated to regenerating the natural world through science and collaboration. They are seeking a Talent Acquisition Specialist to support full-cycle recruiting for junior to mid-level roles, ensuring a smooth hiring process while contributing to a positive candidate experience.

Responsibilities

• Support full‑cycle recruiting for entry‑level and junior roles, including sourcing, screening, interview coordination, and offer support
• Partner with hiring managers to understand role requirements, timelines, and hiring needs
• Conduct initial candidate screens and coordinate interview feedback and debriefs
• Support equity‑minded, consistent, and inclusive hiring practices across searches
• Own interview scheduling across multiple stakeholders, ensuring a smooth and timely process for candidates and interviewers
• Serve as a primary point of contact for candidates, providing clear, warm, and timely communication throughout the process
• Post and manage job requisitions in the applicant tracking system (ATS)
• Maintain accurate and up‑to‑date candidate records, requisition statuses, and documentation
• Send candidate disposition emails and support reference checks and background check coordination
• Prepare and send offer materials in partnership with the Talent Acquisition Manager and People Operations
• Support onboarding logistics, including coordination with PACT colleagues for new hire setup and orientation
• Serve as a backup for facilitating new hire orientation sessions as needed, ensuring continuity during absences or periods of high volume
• Ensure a seamless handoff from recruiting to onboarding
• Track recruiting activity and maintain basic hiring metrics and reports
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, candidate experience, and consistency in recruiting processes
• Contribute to recruiting documentation, templates, and hiring manager resources
• Support special recruiting projects and initiatives as needed

Skills

• 1–3 years of experience in recruiting coordination, recruiting, human resources, or a related administrative role, required
• Experience supporting hiring processes, including scheduling, candidate communication, and administrative coordination
• Experience managing multiple requisitions, priorities, and deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Strong organizational skills with high attention to detail and follow-through
• Clear, professional written and verbal communication skills
• Service-oriented and candidate-focused approach
• Ability to handle sensitive information with discretion and confidentiality
• Collaborative and comfortable working with a wide range of stakeholders
• Curious, eager to learn, and open to feedback
• Proactive and solutions-oriented mindset
• Ability to balance structure and flexibility in a fast-paced environment
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in hiring
• Experience using an applicant tracking system (e.g., Greenhouse or similar)
• Exposure to candidate sourcing, screening, or interview coordination
• Experience supporting hiring in a mission-driven, nonprofit, or values-based organization
• Familiarity with Google Workspace or similar collaborative tools

Benefits

• The Academy offers a total compensation package that emphasizes both base salary and comprehensive benefits based on the hours per week worked.

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