Director of College Recruitment & Early Career Partnerships
Arthur J. Gallagher · Louisville · $60–$90/hr (stated in the posting)
Signature HealthCARE is a family-based healthcare company offering integrated services across multiple states. Our continuum of care includes skilled nursing, rehabilitation, assisted and memory care, and home-based services supported by innovative technologies like telehealth and Care.ai-enabled solutions.
We are committed to advancing person-directed care and quality outcomes. Many of our facilities continue to receive high performance ratings and accreditations. As an award-winning organization recognized over the years by national outlets such as U.S. News & World Report, we take pride in fostering compassionate care environments and being an employer of choice in the healthcare industry.
Overview
Signature HealthCARE is looking for a Director College Recruitment & Early Career Partnerships based at our Corporate Office in Louisville, KY
The Director, College Recruitment & Early Career Partnerships is a senior individual contributor responsible for designing, executing, and continuously improving the organization's campus recruiting and early career talent strategy. This role owns the full lifecycle of university relations — from building institutional partnerships and employer brand presence on campus to converting interns and new graduates into high-performing full-time hires.
- While this position does not have direct reports, it carries significant strategic ownership and cross-functional influence, partnering closely with business leaders, hiring managers, HR, and external academic institutions to build a sustainable pipeline of early career talent.
How you Will make a difference
Strategy & Program Ownership
- Design and own the enterprise-wide college recruitment and early career talent strategy, aligned to workforce planning and business growth goals.
- Establish and deliver annual hiring targets for intern, co-op, and new graduate programs in partnership with business leaders and finance — currently 60–90 interns and 100–150 new graduate hires per year, representing approximately 10–20% of total company hiring.
- Develop and manage the campus recruiting budget, ensuring strong ROI on career fairs, sponsorships, events, and technology.
- Track, analyze, and report on program metrics (offer acceptance rates, intern conversion, retention, diversity of pipeline, cost per hire, time to fill) and present results to executive leadership.
University & Academic Partnerships
- Identify, build, and maintain strategic relationships with target colleges, universities, community colleges, nursing schools, CNA/LPN training programs, and allied health programs, including career services offices, faculty, deans, clinical coordinators, and student organizations.
- Negotiate and manage partnership agreements, sponsorships, and engagement commitments with academic institutions.
- Cultivate relationships with student clubs, honor societies, and professional/affinity organizations to expand reach and strengthen the talent pipeline.
- Represent the organization at career fairs, campus events, conferences, classroom presentations, and panels.
Full-Cycle Early Career Recruiting
- Manage full-cycle recruitment for intern, co-op, and entry-level roles: sourcing, screening, coordinating interviews, extending offers, and closing candidates.
- Partner with hiring managers to define role requirements, interview processes, and candidate evaluation criteria for early career positions.
- Ensure an exceptional, high-touch candidate experience from first contact through onboarding.
- Maintain accurate candidate data and pipeline reporting in the applicant tracking system (ATS).
Internship & Early Career Program Management
- Design and administer the internship program end to end, including program structure, orientation, learning and development components, mentorship pairing, mid-point and final evaluations, and capstone presentations.
- Drive intern-to-full-time conversion strategy and manage the return-offer process.
- Develop rotational or early career development program frameworks as the organization scales.
- Gather and act on feedback from interns, new hires, and managers to continuously improve programs.
Employer Branding & Campus Marketing
- Develop the early career employer value proposition and ensure consistent, compelling messaging across campus channels.
- Partner with Marketing/Communications to create recruiting collateral, social media content, and digital campaigns targeting student audiences.
- Build and manage a campus ambassador or alumni advocate network to extend brand presence.
Compliance & Operational Excellence
- Ensure all recruiting practices comply with applicable employment laws and regulations (e.g., EEO, FLSA, immigration/work authorization considerations for student hires).
- Establish scalable, repeatable processes, playbooks, and tools to support seasonal recruiting cycles.
What you Need to make a Difference
- Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Communications, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- 7+ years of progressive talent acquisition experience, with at least 4 years focused on campus/university recruiting or early career programs.
- Demonstrated success building university partnerships and managing high-volume, seasonal recruiting cycles.
- Experience recruiting in healthcare, skilled nursing, post-acute care, or another licensure-driven industry, with an understanding of clinical career pathways (CNA, LPN, RN, therapy, and allied health).
- Experience owning and managing an internship or early career program end to end.
- Strong data and analytics orientation; able to build reports, interpret pipeline metrics, and present insights to senior leadership.
- Proficiency with applicant tracking systems (e.g., Workday, Greenhouse, Lever) and campus recruiting platforms (e.g., Handshake, Symplicity, RippleMatch).
- Exceptional relationship-building, presentation, and public speaking skills.
- Ability and willingness to travel up to 40% during peak recruiting seasons.
- Established relationships with nursing schools, CNA/LPN training programs, therapy programs, and allied health institutions, including experience negotiating clinical rotation, externship, or clinical site agreements preferred.
- Experience developing rotational, co-op, or apprenticeship programs preferred.
- Established network with career services offices and student organizations at target institutions preferred.
- Experience with employer branding, recruitment marketing, or social media campaigns preferred.
Our exceptional Benefits Package and Signature Perks include the following and more!
Live with Purpose at Signature HealthCARE
Our exceptional benefits and Signature Perks are designed to support your health, wealth, and well-being, including:
- Medical, Dental & Vision Coverage
- First Stop Health Virtual Healthcare
- 401(k) & Roth 401(k)
- Company-Paid & Voluntary Life Insurance
- Health Savings Account (HSA) & Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
- Paid Time Off (PTO) & Holiday Incentive Pay
- Tuition Reimbursement & Tuition Discounts with Select Universities
- Student Debt Assistance (eligible SNF RNs & LPNs)
- Uniform Allowance
- Partner Perks Discount Program
- Perfect Attendance Program
- Pay Advance & Next Day Pay
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
- Support Beyond Benefits with VitalLink and the Signature Inspire Foundation
At Signature HealthCARE, our team members are empowered—not just encouraged—to use their talents and abilities to solve problems.
Our culture is built on three pillars: Learning, Spirituality, and Intra-preneurship.
Each pillar has dedicated initiatives that strengthen our culture and create opportunities for growth.
Come see what the revolution is all about!
Signature HealthCARE is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for all applicants and stakeholders.
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#LI-AK1
Strategy & Program Ownership
- Design and own the enterprise-wide college recruitment and early career talent strategy, aligned to workforce planning and business growth goals.
- Establish and deliver annual hiring targets for intern, co-op, and new graduate programs in partnership with business leaders and finance — currently 60–90 interns and 100–150 new graduate hires per year, representing approximately 10–20% of total company hiring.
- Develop and manage the campus recruiting budget, ensuring strong ROI on career fairs, sponsorships, events, and technology.
- Track, analyze, and report on program metrics (offer acceptance rates, intern conversion, retention, diversity of pipeline, cost per hire, time to fill) and present results to executive leadership.
University & Academic Partnerships
- Identify, build, and maintain strategic relationships with target colleges, universities, community colleges, nursing schools, CNA/LPN training programs, and allied health programs, including career services offices, faculty, deans, clinical coordinators, and student organizations.
- Negotiate and manage partnership agreements, sponsorships, and engagement commitments with academic institutions.
- Cultivate relationships with student clubs, honor societies, and professional/affinity organizations to expand reach and strengthen the talent pipeline.
- Represent the organization at career fairs, campus events, conferences, classroom presentations, and panels.
Full-Cycle Early Career Recruiting
- Manage full-cycle recruitment for intern, co-op, and entry-level roles: sourcing, screening, coordinating interviews, extending offers, and closing candidates.
- Partner with hiring managers to define role requirements, interview processes, and candidate evaluation criteria for early career positions.
- Ensure an exceptional, high-touch candidate experience from first contact through onboarding.
- Maintain accurate candidate data and pipeline reporting in the applicant tracking system (ATS).
Internship & Early Career Program Management
- Design and administer the internship program end to end, including program structure, orientation, learning and development components, mentorship pairing, mid-point and final evaluations, and capstone presentations.
- Drive intern-to-full-time conversion strategy and manage the return-offer process.
- Develop rotational or early career development program frameworks as the organization scales.
- Gather and act on feedback from interns, new hires, and managers to continuously improve programs.
Employer Branding & Campus Marketing
- Develop the early career employer value proposition and ensure consistent, compelling messaging across campus channels.
- Partner with Marketing/Communications to create recruiting collateral, social media content, and digital campaigns targeting student audiences.
- Build and manage a campus ambassador or alumni advocate network to extend brand presence.
Compliance & Operational Excellence
- Ensure all recruiting practices comply with applicable employment laws and regulations (e.g., EEO, FLSA, immigration/work authorization considerations for student hires).
- Establish scalable, repeatable processes, playbooks, and tools to support seasonal recruiting cycles.
- Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Communications, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- 7+ years of progressive talent acquisition experience, with at least 4 years focused on campus/university recruiting or early career programs.
- Demonstrated success building university partnerships and managing high-volume, seasonal recruiting cycles.
- Experience recruiting in healthcare, skilled nursing, post-acute care, or another licensure-driven industry, with an understanding of clinical career pathways (CNA, LPN, RN, therapy, and allied health).
- Experience owning and managing an internship or early career program end to end.
- Strong data and analytics orientation; able to build reports, interpret pipeline metrics, and present insights to senior leadership.
- Proficiency with applicant tracking systems (e.g., Workday, Greenhouse, Lever) and campus recruiting platforms (e.g., Handshake, Symplicity, RippleMatch).
- Exceptional relationship-building, presentation, and public speaking skills.
- Ability and willingness to travel up to 40% during peak recruiting seasons.
- Established relationships with nursing schools, CNA/LPN training programs, therapy programs, and allied health institutions, including experience negotiating clinical rotation, externship, or clinical site agreements preferred.
- Experience developing rotational, co-op, or apprenticeship programs preferred.
- Established network with career services offices and student organizations at target institutions preferred.
- Experience with employer branding, recruitment marketing, or social media campaigns preferred.
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