Contract Technical Recruiter

Position Summary: This contract position is responsible for driving and executing recruiting including, but not limited to, posting requisitions, sourcing passive candidates, screening candidates, scheduling interviews, offer creation and negotiations, pre-employment screening coordination and preparing the candidate for hire. The Contract Recruiter will leverage Ventura Foods' Employment Value Proposition to attract and engage candidates for open roles across various levels, while providing an excellent candidate and Hiring Manager experience. This position will work very closely with Hiring Manager and Human Resources and therefore will seek to build strong relationships with each client group they support. The Contract Recruiter will employ various sourcing methods, interview selection tools/processes and negotiation skills to ensure Ventura Foods' is hiring qualified, relevant, and diverse candidates that embody the Ventura Foods' culture - the Ventura Edge. Major Duties and Responsibilities: This role will also oversee relationships with external staffing agencies for IT roles, ensuring alignment with Ventura Foods hiring standards, service-level expectations, and budget guidelines. Oversee the end-to-end agency management process, including evaluating vendor capabilities, setting service expectations, and monitoring agency performance against KPIs (pipeline quality, time-to-fill, quality-of-hire, and candidate experience). Partner with and manage external recruiting agencies when appropriate, ensuring they understand role requirements, Employee Value Proposition, and Ventura Foods hiring expectations. Evaluate and direct agency partners on candidate submissions, performance expectations, and quality-of-hire metrics. Review applications and interview candidates to obtain work history, education, training/skills, and compensation needs; thoughtfully submit qualified candidates that meet not only the job requirements but also fit Ventura Foods' culture and values (the Ventura Edge). Ensure hiring with excellence by employing the Select behavioral interviewing process, conducting effective debriefs/assessments, discovery calls with candidates for alignment on compensation requirements to ensure successful offer acceptance and ultimate hire. Create an exceptional candidate, hiring manager and team member experience by identifying and anticipating candidate needs, following issues to closure and collaborating with key stakeholders and exceeding expectations. Actively manage external staffing firm relationships, including onboarding, performance monitoring, and ensuring cost-effective, high-quality talent delivery. Stay abreast of industry trends, total rewards benchmarks and job market attributes, as well as build a knowledge of business units' needs to assist with future openings. Analyze staffing/headcount trends and use the knowledge to suggest areas where headcount is needed or could decrease. Apply foundational knowledge of application development and delivery, cloud services, and engineering practices to improve communication with technical stakeholders and candidates. All other duties and projects, as assigned. Requirements: Bachelors degree required Experience managing external recruiting agencies and third-party staffing vendors strongly preferred. Demonstrated ability to assess agency effectiveness, and serve as the primary liaison for agency engagement. 2+ years experience required in recruiting for Information Technology related roles across multiple sites in the manufacturing, distribution or related industry Experience in sourcing talent in various channels: online, community based organizations, vocational technical centers, etc. is required Food industry experience a plus This role is remote, with a preference for candidates located in the Pacific Time Zone or local to Irvine, CA Knowledge & Skills: Strong vendor management skills, including the ability to evaluate, select, and lead external staffing partners. Ability to monitor performance and ensure alignment with organizational processes and goals. Experience tracking agency metrics and holding partners accountable to SLAs. Ability to effectively communicate and build relationships with a wide variety of professionals through a consultative approach Demonstrated skills in recruiting, assessing/interviewing and presenting talent to various levels in the organization High level of professionalism, sense of urgency, attention to detail, and demonstrated ability to work under pressure and multitask effectively Experience using a broad range of techniques to source, identify, and select qualified and relevant talent Some Proficient in direct sourcing skills; ability to leverage internal and external networks, and market knowledge, to identify, assess, cultivate and deliver the best talent Experience building and maintaining relationships with organizations to create future pipelines Innovative mindset to identify new and creative ways to source and attract talent. Independent, self-motivated, team player with excellent written and verbal communication skills Experience working with an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) required a plus. Proficient in Excel, MS Word and Outlook

Created: 2026-03-04