Recruiting Manager

The Recruiting Manager is responsible for managing the firm's recruiting function, with a primary focus on lateral attorney recruitment and additional responsibility for administrative and professional staff recruiting. This position will oversee the full recruiting lifecycle—from identification of an approved hiring need through candidate sourcing, interviewing, selection, offer acceptance, and transition to onboarding—while ensuring an organized, responsive, and professional experience for candidates and firm leadership.

Working closely with the Managing Partners, Practice Group Leaders, and other hiring managers, the Recruiting Manager will translate staffing needs into effective recruiting strategies, develop candidate pipelines, manage relationships with external recruiters, coordinate all recruiting activities and administration, and provide leadership with visibility into recruiting activity and market conditions.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Attorney Recruiting & Search Management

• Manage the full lifecycle of lateral attorney recruiting from approved hiring need through accepted offer.
• Partner with the Managing Partners, Practice Group Leaders, and hiring attorneys to understand staffing needs, position requirements, experience levels, and desired candidate profiles.
• Develop an appropriate recruiting approach for each open position based on seniority, practice area, market conditions, and urgency.
• Draft and maintain job descriptions and postings in collaboration with HR and firm leadership.
• Identify and develop qualified candidate pipelines through direct sourcing, professional networks, referrals, external recruiters, job postings, and other appropriate channels.
• Review candidate submissions and resumes and conduct initial candidate screening.
• Present qualified candidates to hiring attorneys with relevant background and recruiting context.
• Manage multiple concurrent searches and maintain appropriate momentum throughout each recruiting process.
• Proactively follow up with hiring teams to prevent unnecessary delays in candidate review and decision-making.
• Coordinate conflicts, background checks, references, and other pre-employment requirements with the appropriate internal resources.

Candidate Management & Experience

• Serve as the primary point of contact for candidates throughout the recruiting process.
• Develop strong relationships with prospective candidates and maintain consistent, professional, and timely communication.
• Conduct initial candidate conversations to evaluate experience, career objectives, compensation expectations, availability, and alignment with the opportunity.
• Prepare candidates for the firm's interview process and provide appropriate information regarding the firm, position, and expectations.
• Maintain candidate engagement throughout the interview and decision-making process.
• Gather candidate feedback following interviews and communicate relevant information to hiring teams.
• Ensure candidates receive timely communication regarding next steps and hiring decisions.
• Maintain relationships with strong prospective candidates who may be appropriate for future opportunities.
• Ensure the candidate experience reflects the firm's professionalism, responsiveness, culture, and values.

Recruiting Administration & Coordination

Own and coordinate all administrative aspects of the recruiting process, including but not limited to:

• Schedule candidate interviews involving attorneys, firm leadership, and administrative team members across multiple calendars and time zones.
• Prepare and distribute interview schedules, videoconference information, candidate resumes, biographies, and other interview materials.
• Send candidate confirmations, reminders, follow-up communications, and other recruiting correspondence.
• Maintain recruiting calendars and ensure deadlines, interviews, and follow-up activities are appropriately tracked.
• Create and maintain candidate files and recruiting documentation.
• Maintain accurate candidate status information within applicable recruiting systems, spreadsheets, and trackers.
• Post approved positions to appropriate job boards, professional organizations, and other recruiting channels.
• Coordinate background checks, reference checks, conflicts reviews, and other pre-employment processes.
• Prepare draft offer letters and other recruiting documentation following appropriate approvals.
• Maintain recruiting agency agreements, candidate ownership information, fee documentation, and related records.
• Coordinate recruiting-related invoices and expenses with Finance.
• Maintain organized and confidential recruiting records in accordance with firm practices and applicable requirements.
• Provide regular status updates and follow-up regarding outstanding recruiting activities.

Interview & Selection Process

• Develop appropriate interview processes based on the position and level of hire.
• Identify appropriate interview participants in consultation with hiring attorneys and firm leadership.
• Coordinate all interview logistics and ensure participants receive necessary information in advance.
• Develop or maintain candidate evaluation tools and interview guidance.
• Establish processes for timely collection and documentation of interviewer feedback.
• Facilitate post-interview discussions and help hiring teams evaluate candidate strengths, concerns, and overall fit.
• Identify unnecessary delays or inefficiencies in the interview process and recommend improvements.
• Support leadership in maintaining consistent and equitable candidate evaluation practices.
• Coordinate follow-up interviews and additional candidate diligence as needed.

External Recruiter & Search Firm Management

• Manage the firm's relationships with external legal recruiters and search firms.
• Develop and maintain a network of recruiting partners with expertise in the firm's practice areas.
• Determine when external recruiter support is appropriate for individual searches in consultation with leadership.
• Communicate position requirements and candidate expectations clearly to recruiters.
• Review and appropriately route recruiter submissions.
• Monitor recruiter responsiveness, candidate quality, placement success, and overall performance.
• Maintain recruiting agreements, fee structures, candidate ownership records, and related documentation.
• Coordinate with Finance regarding placement fees and recruiting expenses.
• Identify opportunities to reduce unnecessary reliance on external recruiters through direct sourcing and internal candidate development.
• Serve as the firm's primary point of contact for recruiter relationships and candidate submissions.

Direct Sourcing & Talent Pipeline Development

• Develop proactive sourcing strategies for priority and difficult-to-fill positions.
• Identify prospective candidates through professional networks, LinkedIn, industry organizations, referrals, legal directories, and other appropriate resources.
• Conduct direct outreach to prospective lateral candidates.
• Develop and maintain relationships with candidates who may not be ready to make an immediate move.
• Build talent pipelines for practice areas and positions in which the firm anticipates recurring hiring needs.
• Track prospective candidates and maintain appropriate follow-up.
• Develop referral strategies and other methods for expanding the firm's access to qualified talent.

Offer Management & Pre-Hire Transition

• Coordinate the offer process in partnership with HR, Finance, and appropriate firm leadership.
• Gather candidate compensation expectations and other information necessary to support offer decisions.
• Prepare offer documentation following appropriate internal approvals.
• Present and discuss offers with candidates as directed.
• Manage candidate questions and negotiations in consultation with the appropriate decision-makers.
• Coordinate reference checks, background checks, conflicts clearance, and other contingencies.
• Maintain regular communication with candidates between offer acceptance and start date.
• Coordinate a clear and timely handoff to Human Resources and Firm Operations for onboarding.
• Ensure all recruiting documentation is complete before closing the search.

Final compensation decisions, employment terms, and hiring approvals remain with the firm's designated leadership.

Administrative & Professional Staff Recruiting

• Manage recruiting for administrative and professional staff positions as assigned.
• Partner with COO and other relevant department leaders to identify position requirements, qualifications, and candidate profiles.
• Develop sourcing strategies appropriate to the position.
• Screen candidates and manage interview processes.
• Coordinate all associated scheduling, communication, documentation, and follow-up.
• Manage external agencies when appropriate.
• Support offer preparation and candidate transition into onboarding.
• Ensure a consistent and professional candidate experience across attorney and non-attorney recruiting.

Recruiting Operations & Process Improvement

• Develop and maintain standardized recruiting workflows, procedures, templates, checklists, and documentation.
• Establish clear recruiting processes from hiring authorization through onboarding handoff.
• Identify opportunities to streamline, standardize, or automate recurring recruiting activities.
• Evaluate recruiting technology and tools and recommend improvements as appropriate.
• Maintain appropriate recruiting calendars and annual planning resources.
• Develop resources and guidance for attorneys participating in interviews.
• Establish appropriate service expectations for candidate and hiring-manager communication.
• Periodically evaluate the effectiveness of recruiting processes and recommend improvements.
• Partner with Human Resources and Firm Operations to ensure seamless transitions from recruiting into onboarding and employment.

Recruiting Metrics, Budget & Reporting

• Develop and maintain recruiting reports and dashboards for firm leadership.
• Track key recruiting metrics, including open positions, candidate pipeline, time-to-fill, candidate source, external recruiter utilization, recruiting fees, offer acceptance rates, and hiring volume.
• Monitor recruiting expenditures and maintain visibility into search-firm fees, advertising, candidate travel, and other recruiting costs.
• Assist with development of the annual recruiting budget.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
• Approximately 5–8+ years of progressive recruiting experience, preferably including substantial attorney or legal recruiting experience.
• Demonstrated experience independently managing multiple searches simultaneously.
• Experience recruiting lateral attorneys strongly preferred.
• Experience working in a law firm or professional services environment strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with legal recruiters, search firms, attorney compensation structures, and the lateral attorney market preferred.
• Experience working directly with partners, executives, or senior-level hiring managers.
• Demonstrated experience with candidate sourcing and pipeline development.
• Experience with applicant tracking systems, recruiting technology, LinkedIn Recruiter, or comparable sourcing tools preferred.
• Experience supervising or mentoring recruiting or administrative staff is preferred but not required.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office and related business technology.

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Strong recruiting judgment and candidate assessment skills.
• Exceptional relationship-building abilities.
• Credibility and professionalism when working with attorneys and senior leadership.
• Strong candidate sourcing and networking capabilities.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills.
• Exceptional organization and attention to detail.
• Willingness and ability to perform both strategic and administrative work.
• High degree of responsiveness and follow-through.
• Ability to independently manage multiple searches and competing priorities.
• Sound judgment and discretion with confidential information.
• Data-informed decision-making.
• Strong sense of urgency balanced with thoughtful candidate evaluation.
• Collaborative and service-oriented approach.
• Ability to build processes and eventually lead and develop a team.
• Comfort operating in a fast-paced and evolving organization.

Benefits

• Health, dental, vision, Rx, long-term disability, short-term disability, and life insurance.
• PTO and paid holidays.
• 401(k) with annual employer contribution.
• We are a fully remote law firm, allowing each employee to work from the comfort of their home.

Who We Are

Clean Energy Counsel is a mission-driven law firm that is committed to advancing clean energy and sustainability.  We have a dynamic practice that is thriving, and our clients include industry-leading project developers, investors, lenders, suppliers, and service providers.  Our team is comprised of industry veterans with experience in BigLaw and in-house, who have dedicated their careers to advancing the energy transition and promoting a sustainable future.

Our deep-rooted commitment to Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging drives our ability to build diverse teams and develop inclusive work environments.

Come As You Are!

CEC is committed to providing equal employment opportunities without consideration of race, color, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, political activity or affiliation, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, sex or gender, or any other basis protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.