Talent Specialist at Indigo Books & Music — NeverHard

Job Description The Talent Specialist plays a crucial role in supporting Indigo’s Talent Acquisition function by performing tasks such as recruitment coordination, systems support, and full-cycle recruitment for designated Home Office positions. This role focuses on delivering a strong candidate experience by managing interview coordination, reporting, onboarding, employer branding, candidate communication, and providing support for SmartRecruiters. Under the guidance of the Talent Acquisition Manager, the Talent Specialist also assists hiring managers, store leaders, and internal users. This includes addressing system inquiries, troubleshooting process issues, and offering practical guidance on Talent Acquisition tools and workflows. KEY PERFORMANCE METRICS Candidate and hiring manager satisfaction scores Time to find, time to fill, and time to hire for assigned Home Office roles Recruitment file completeness and accuracy rate Candidate communication and follow-up timeliness rate Interview scheduling accuracy and completion timelines SmartRecruiters data integrity and reporting accuracy rate SmartRecruiters user inquiry and process issue resolution timelines Onboarding completion rate and new hire experience feedback Recruitment campaign, employer branding, and talent attraction conversion outcomes KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES Functional Independently manage assigned Home Office recruitment activities, including intake, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, candidate communication, interview coordination, hiring manager partnership, offer support, and onboarding hand-off. Support hiring managers throughout the recruitment process by providing guidance on candidate assessment, feedback collection, selection decisions, and next steps. Monitor recruitment activity, pipeline health, candidate status, requisition aging, onboarding progress, and process risks; escalate issues with recommended solutions. Create, maintain, and run recruitment reports in SmartRecruiters or other systems, ensuring records and files are accurate, complete, compliant, and up to date. Provide SmartRecruiters support to hiring managers, store leaders, and internal users, including system navigation, troubleshooting, process guidance, and issue resolution. Support recruitment advertising, employer branding, career fairs, employment events, diversity-related initiatives, candidate experience improvements, and updates to internal Talent or Diversity pages. Coordinate surveys, presentations, research, reporting, HR inbox inquiries, and other Talent Acquisition projects or administrative initiatives as assigned. People Build strong, collaborative relationships with the Talent Acquisition Manager, hiring managers, store leaders, HR partners, and internal teams. Collaborate with others to drive flexible, iterative, and practical solutions. Provide timely, professional, and candidate-focused communication throughout the recruitment process. Share technical knowledge with others and seek to learn from those with deeper expertise. Help others understand the impact of their efforts on candidate experience, hiring outcomes, and business needs. Proactively engage cross-functional partners to support effective hiring and onboarding outcomes. Encourage others to share their point of view and remain open to feedback. Support hiring managers by providing clear process guidance, timely updates, and accurate recruitment information. Represent Indigo’s employment brand in a positive, inclusive, and professional way. Cultural Model Indigo’s beliefs and convey a positive image in everything you do. Demonstrate care, professionalism, and accountability in every interaction. Celebrate diversity of thought and approach work with an open mindset. Support fair, inclusive, structured, and consistent recruitment practices. Take an active role in fostering a culture of learning, curiosity, and improvement. Embrace, champion, and influence change within the team and organization. Use a candidate-first mindset while balancing business needs, process requirements, and hiring timelines. Contribute to a high-performing Talent Acquisition culture by being proactive, collaborative, solutions-focused, and service-oriented. SCOPE Reports to: Talent Acquisition Manager Manager once Removed (MOR): Director, Human Resources KEY RELATIONSHIPS Internal: Store Operations and Store Leadership Home Office / DC / Field Human Resources Hiring Managers Marketing and Creative Team Total Rewards External: External candidates Job board and LinkedIn candidates Recruitment vendors or agency partners, as required Career fair and employment event partners Community, campus, and employment partners SmartRecruiters and recruitment platform partners