The Director of Talent Acquisition will lead the development and execution of a forward-thinking, data-driven recruitment strategy that supports AWH's ambitious growth across corporate, retail, and operations. This role is responsible for overseeing all facets of talent acquisition-including workforce planning, employer branding, DEI hiring strategies, recruitment operations, and vendor management-while managing a high-performing TA team and ensuring an exceptional candidate and hiring manager experience. As a key partner to the EVP, HR, C-Suite, and business leaders, the Director will align hiring strategies with evolving business priorities, foster strong internal partnerships, and champion a scalable, inclusive approach to attracting top talent.

Location: Remote with travel expectation approximately 30%. Strong preference to candidates located in AWH's states of operation: IL, MI, OH, PA, MD, MA, NJ.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and continually refine a comprehensive talent acquisition strategy aligned with AWH's growth goals and workforce planning needs across corporate, retail, and operations.
• Continuously evaluate external market trends, competitor strategies, and internal business needs to ensure the TA roadmap remains proactive and future-ready.
• Manage and mentor a team of TA professionals, ensuring high performance, streamlined processes, and a unified approach to candidate experience.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement through regular coaching, development plans, and performance metrics.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to the C-Suite and senior leaders by delivering data-driven insights and strategic talent recommendations to support organizational planning.
• Partner with HR, Finance, and department leaders on headcount forecasting, succession planning, and organizational design to align recruitment efforts with long-term business needs.
• Develop and manage the Talent Acquisition budget, ensuring effective allocation of resources across recruitment channels, tools, and initiatives to meet hiring goals within financial parameters.
• Build and maintain strong, consultative relationships with business leaders to deeply understand hiring needs, evolving talent requirements, and internal dynamics.
• Lead regular talent planning meetings with stakeholders to ensure alignment on job priorities, recruitment timelines, and evolving team structures.
• Lead employer branding initiatives and champion the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) to position AWH as a top employer in the cannabis and consumer goods industries.
• Collaborate with Marketing and Communications teams to create compelling content, campaigns, and candidate-facing materials that reflect AWH's culture and mission.
• Strategize and execute inclusive hiring practices that ensure diverse candidate pipelines, equitable selection processes, and measurable progress toward DEI hiring goals.
• Partner with external organizations to expand outreach and visibility to underrepresented talent communities.
• Leverage recruiting metrics and data to assess performance, identify trends, and continuously improve the effectiveness and efficiency of TA efforts.
• Produce regular dashboards and executive reports showcasing key hiring KPIs, pipeline health, time-to-fill, quality-of-hire, and DEI metric.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of third-party recruiting partners, tools, and platforms, and make strategic recommendations based on performance, ROI, and business needs.
• Leverage strong negotiation skills to manage contracts, service-level agreements, and vendor relationships, ensuring alignment with AWH's goals and budget.
• Standardize and optimize recruitment workflows, tools, and technologies to deliver a best-in-class candidate and hiring manager experience.
• Create scalable and consistent end-to-end processes that support high-volume, specialty, and temporary hiring while improving operational efficiency.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive temporary workforce strategy to support fluctuating business needs while ensuring alignment with long-term talent plans.
• Establish vendor partnerships, define engagement standards, and monitor performance and temp-to-perm conversion trends.
• Lead the planning and execution of recruiting events to increase brand visibility and pipeline volume across priority markets.
• Analyze event performance, recruiter productivity, and sourcing channel effectiveness
• Ensure all recruiting strategies, workflows, and procedures are documented and aligned across the organization.
• Maintain up-to-date SOPs and collaborate with HR and Compliance to ensure clarity, consistency, and scalability.
• Ensure adherence to all applicable labor laws, regulations, and internal compliance policies across all hiring processes.
• Regularly audit recruitment practices and provide training to TA staff and hiring teams on compliant, inclusive hiring behaviors.
• Perform other related duties and projects as assigned to support the evolving needs of the organization and the Talent function.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field; Master's degree or HR certifications (PHR, SPHR, SHRM-SCP) a plus.
• 10+ years of progressive talent acquisition experience, including 5+ years in a people leadership role. Experience in high-growth, multi-state retail and/or manufacturing-focused environments strongly preferred.
• Excellent leadership and people management skills, with the ability to inspire and motivate a diverse team. 
• Deep understanding of full-cycle recruitment, workforce planning, and strategic talent initiatives.
• Demonstrated ability to partner with executive leadership and influence and collaborate across all levels of an organization.
• Proven success in building inclusive recruiting strategies and scaling diverse talent pipelines.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to use data to drive decisions, align TA with business goals and report on outcomes.
• Experience implementing or optimizing ATS. recruitment technology platforms and overall recruitment strategies.
• Exceptional communication, organizational, and change management skills.
• Creative thinking and willingness to challenge the status quo to drive continuous improvement.
• Ability to travel up to 30%.

Work Environment

This position performs duties in an office setting. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

Physical Requirements

While performing the duties of this job, this position is regularly required to sit and regularly use hand(s) to handle, grasp, feel, and or touch. This position is occasionally required to stand, walk and reach with hands and arms. This position is required to speak and listen regularly.

Company Overview

Ascend Wellness Holdings (AWH) is a vertically integrated cannabis cultivator, processor and provisioning center operator with assets in Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania. We seek to foster a robust and inclusive cannabis industry through a premium, unmatched customer-focused retail experience. We are looking to build a world-class team that will help carry out our mission of helping to shape the future of cannabis as a leading healthcare solution. We are committed to improving the quality of our patient's lives by offering unrivaled quality, consistency and meticulously curated products that satisfy our customers unique, individual needs. When it comes to customer service experience, our dispensaries will set a new standard of excellence, emphasizing health and wellness by a highly knowledgeable team. A team that is committed to our values, our people, and our communities; we are looking for people who are inspired by our vision and stay dedicated to our mission as we continuously expand.