Talent Acquisition Specialist

Progressive Companies is looking for a Talent Acquisition Specialist to help us attract exceptional talent and support the continued growth of our Architecture, Engineering, Design, & Construction firm. This role leads full-cycle recruiting across our locations, with a particular focus on growth in the Carolinas, while creating an engaging and efficient experience for candidates and hiring leaders.
This is a great opportunity for an experienced recruiter who enjoys building relationships, sourcing talent, improving processes, and using technology and data to strengthen recruiting results.

Compensation & Benefits
We offer a competitive total rewards package that recognizes the value our people bring to Progressive Companies. Benefits include competitive compensation, comprehensive health and wellness benefits, retirement programs, paid time off, professional development opportunities, flexible & hybrid work practices, and employee ownership through our ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan), allowing employees to share in the firm's long-term success.
Why Progressive Companies
At Progressive Companies, you'll have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact by helping connect talented people with careers where they can grow, contribute, and thrive. You'll join a collaborative team and an employee-owned organization committed to its people, clients, communities, and continued growth


What You'll Do
• Lead full-cycle recruiting, from developing the recruiting strategy and sourcing candidates through interviews, offers, and transition to onboarding.
• Partner with hiring managers and firm leaders to understand current and future talent needs.
• Build proactive pipelines of passive and active candidates, particularly for critical and growth-focused roles.
• Collaborate and strategize for early talent initiatives, including college recruiting, campus partnerships, internships, and other pipeline-building programs.
• Strengthen our employer brand and help communicate the Progressive Companies employee experience to prospective candidates.
• Use recruiting technology, automation, AI, and data to improve sourcing, candidate communication, efficiency, and decision-making.
• Manage relationships with agency partners and staffing firms who provide recruiting support for a select number of hard-to-fill positions.
• Monitor recruiting metrics, market trends, and candidate pipelines and translate the information into actionable insights.
• Build relationships: with schools, professional organizations, recruiting partners, community organizations, and other external talent sources.
• Partner across the Talent Team to support onboarding, workforce planning, mobility, succession, and other strategic talent initiatives.
• Help continually improve and scale recruiting practices as the firm grows.
What You'll Bring
• Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
• 8+ years of full-cycle recruiting and onboarding experience, with proven success sourcing passive candidates and filling key roles.
• Experience in an architecture, engineering, construction, or related professional services firm preferred, as well as experience in a multi-location environment. Knowledge of the Carolinas talent market is a plus.
• Experience partnering with leaders to turn business priorities into hiring strategy, including talent identification, career pathing, and succession planning.
• Strong analytical skills, including building recruiting reports that guide decisions and drive continuous improvement.
• Experience implementing and using applicant tracking systems, HRIS, and AI tools such as Claude, Juicebox, Ceridian Dayforce, and Handshake.
• Experience building diverse and inclusive talent pipelines and running campus and intern programs.
• Knowledge of federal and state hiring and employment regulations, including EEO.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to work with a wide range of stakeholders and manage multiple complex projects under pressure.
• PHR or SHRM-CP certification preferred.
• Ability to travel occasionally to firm offices, with occasional evening work for campus events, career fairs, and community events.


People Matter
Each individual’s background, knowledge, ability, and experience contributes to strengthening our organization and projects. Our dedication to diversity includes company provided training and education, equitable recruitment, a grassroots employee DEI committee, and robust community partnerships.

Progressive Companies is comprised of people with a variety of abilities, races, colors, religions, genders, sexual orientations, national origins, ages, veteran statuses, and more. As an equal opportunity employer, we believe diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential elements of innovative design. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.

Transforming Spaces. Empowering People.

The talented professionals of Progressive Companies are designers of a bold new future, creating high-performance structures and pathways, delivering on today’s needs and preparing for what’s to come. We live by the idea that design isn’t simply about beauty, it’s about improving strategic outcomes—what we call Performance Based Design. Our work spans across the nation, allowing team members to work on a variety of exciting projects and maximize impact as trusted partners to our clients and communities.

Sustainable and Inclusive

We are dedicated to human-centered, sustainable, and inclusive design practices. We believe diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to building trust, respect, and truly innovative design making spaces welcoming and accessible to all. Our sustainability approach embraces the AIA 2030 Commitment, together with a range of high performance, restorative, and regenerative strategies with a focus on climate responsive results to maximize positive impact in our industry.

Employee Owned

We act like owners—because we are. From modest beginnings of four original engineering partners in 1962, to almost 300 architects, engineers, designers, and consultants across multiple regional offices today, the energy, resourcefulness, and entrepreneurial mindset you expect from a CEO come standard with every team member.

Culture of Excellence

The firm is continually ranked as one of the Best and Brightest Companies to Work For in the Nation®, with comprehensive benefits including an award-winning wellness program, hybrid work schedule, summer hours, profit-sharing, and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP). We take our work seriously, but have fun along the way, which fuels the creative spirit and supports a focus on work and life integration.
Progressive Companies is committed to development and growth of team members through continuing education, mentorship, growth opportunities, and more. We are dedicated to giving back to our communities, with paid service-learning hours available to every employee and corporate sponsorship for a wide range of community organizations and activities.