Director of Corporate Talent Acquisition

About us

KnitWell Group, a specialty retail operating company, comprises some of the most iconic brands in America – Ann Taylor, Chico's, Haven Well Within, Lane Bryant, LOFT, Soma, Talbots, White House Black Market. Individually, our brands are unique and strong. Together, we are powerful.

 

Our common thread is our commitment to create exceptional products, provide memorable experiences, and achieve superior results. Our associates are innovators who thrive through collaboration and are dedicated to excellence. At the heart of it all are the customers we serve. We are dedicated to creating fashion that not only looks good but also makes our customers feel good.

 

Director, Corporate Talent Acquisition -KnitWell

 

About the role  

The Director of Corporate Talent Acquisition leads corporate recruiting strategy for a multi-brand retail organization with approximately 40,000 associates across the U.S. and Canada. This role oversees corporate TA execution, builds scalable recruiting capabilities, and strengthens pipelines for executive leadership, merchandising, product, planning, design, marketing, digital, technology, finance, HR, and shared services.  

Leading TA Managers, Recruiters, and Recruiting Operations resources, this leader sets priorities, improves hiring quality and speed, and advises executives, HR Business Partners, and hiring leaders in a complex, matrixed environment with diverse brand identities, leadership teams, and shared corporate functions.  

 

The impact you can have 

Talent Acquisition Strategy & Team Leadership

 

• Develop and execute a corporate talent acquisition strategy aligned to business priorities, workforce plans, and future capability needs.  

• Lead, coach, and develop TA Managers, Recruiters, and Recruiting Operations associates across multiple brands and corporate functions.  

• Build a high-performing, engaged recruiting team by setting clear expectations, creating development paths, strengthening accountability, and addressing capability or performance gaps directly.  

• Provide ongoing coaching through regular talent reviews, performance management, career planning, stretch assignments, and leadership development to elevate individual and team performance.  

• Set recruiting priorities, operating standards, service models, capacity plans, performance expectations, and governance practices.  

• Translate workforce plans, succession gaps, organizational changes, and growth priorities into proactive recruiting and pipeline strategies. 

Executive Recruiting & Leadership Talent Acquisition

 

• Lead executive search strategy for Vice President, Senior Vice President, C-suite, and other critical leadership roles.  

• Advise executive leaders on search strategy, talent market conditions, candidate assessment, and offer approach.  

• Build external leadership talent maps and pipelines for critical business functions.  

• Deliver confidential, professional, and high-quality executive candidate experiences.  

Product, Merchandising & Specialized Talent Acquisition

 

• Create targeted recruiting strategies for competitive and business-critical functions, including merchandising, design, planning and allocation, marketing, digital commerce, data and analytics, and technology.  

• Build talent communities, external networks, and strategic pipelines before hiring demand materializes.  

• Provide market intelligence on talent availability, compensation trends, capability gaps, and competitive hiring activity.  

Recruiting Operations, Technology & Analytics

 

• Improve recruiting processes, workflows, service levels, and recruiter productivity.  

• Simplify recruiting through standardization, automation, and technology enablement.  

• Lead adoption and optimization of ATS, sourcing platforms, analytics, and responsible AI-enabled recruiting capabilities.  

• Maintain dashboards and reporting that show hiring performance, risks, and business impact.  

Talent Attraction, Candidate Experience & Partnerships

 

• Partner with Communications, Marketing, HR, Finance, Compensation, Total Rewards, and business leaders to support talent attraction, candidate engagement, and hiring decisions.  

• Ensure candidate-facing content reflects brand culture, career opportunities, and the employee value proposition in partnership with appropriate internal teams.  

• Drive a consistent, high-quality candidate experience from initial engagement through onboarding.  

• Provide counsel on talent availability, compensation competitiveness, organizational design implications, and recruiting strategies.  

 

You’ll bring to the role  

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.  

• 10+ years of progressive Talent Acquisition experience, including corporate recruiting leadership in a complex, matrixed, multi-brand organization.  

• 5+ years leading recruiting managers, recruiters, sourcers, recruiting operations, or related talent acquisition resources.  

• Demonstrated success with executive search, leadership hiring, proactive sourcing, and pipeline development.  

• Experience using recruiting data, market insights, and talent intelligence to advise senior leaders and improve hiring decisions.  

• Working knowledge of ATS, sourcing platforms, recruiting analytics, automation, and AI-enabled recruiting capabilities; Workday experience preferred.  

• Retail, fashion, apparel, consumer, or related industry experience preferred.  

• Experience supporting corporate hiring across multiple office locations and geographically dispersed stakeholders preferred.  

 

Benefits 

• You will be eligible to receive a merchandise discount at select KnitWell Group brands, subject to each brand’s discount policies. 

• Support for your individual development plus opportunities for career mobility within our family of brands.   

• A culture of giving back – local volunteer opportunities, annual donations and volunteer match to eligible nonprofit organizations, and philanthropic activities to support our communities. *   

• Medical, dental, vision insurance & 401(K). *  

• Employee Assistance Program (EAP). 

• Time off – paid time off & holidays. * 

• The target salary range for this role is: $160-$175K

 

*Any job offer will consider factors such your qualifications, relevant experience, and skills. Eligibility of certain benefits and associate programs are subject to employment type and role. 

• Remote: This position can work remotely. Occasional travel to a company office may be required.   

• Preferred base locations include proximity to one of the company’s four corporate offices across New York City, NY, Columbus, Ohio, Fort Myers, Florida, and Hingham,

 

Applicants to this position must be authorized to work for any employer in the US without sponsorship. We are not providing sponsorship for this position.

 

 

 

 

 

Location:

Corporate ascena – Remote

Position Type:

Regular/Full time

 

Equal Employment Opportunity

The Company is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applications from diverse candidates. Hiring decisions are based upon a candidate's qualifications as they relate to the requirements of the position under consideration and are made without regard to sex (including pregnancy), race, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, genetic information, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other category protected by applicable law. The Company is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for job applicants with disabilities. If you require an accommodation to perform the essential duties of the position you are seeking or to participate in the application process, please contact myHRSupport@knitwellgroup.com. The Company will make reasonable accommodations for otherwise qualified applicants or employees, unless such accommodations would impose an undue hardship on the operations of the Company’s business. The Company will not revoke or alter a job offer based on an applicant’s request for reasonable accommodation.