Job Description

At NerdWallet, we’re on a mission to bring clarity to all of life’s financial decisions and every great mission needs a team of exceptional Nerds. We’ve built an inclusive, flexible, and candid culture where you’re empowered to grow, take risks, and be unapologetically yourself (cape optional). Whether remote or in-office, we support how you thrive best. We invest in your well-being, development, and ability to make an impact because when one Nerd levels up, we all do.

NerdWallet is looking for a Director of Talent Acquisition to build and lead the operating engine behind how we hire and manage recruiting capacity. You'll own the full Talent Acquisition ecosystem: strategy, operating model, team leadership, Talent Operations, systems, and metrics, turning hiring into a predictable, scalable, and data-driven capability that keeps pace with our evolving business.

Talent Acquisition and Talent Operations will operate as one connected function under this role: Talent Acquisition owns hiring strategy, recruiter effectiveness, assessment quality, and business partnership, while Talent Operations powers that work through systems, workflows, coordination, dashboards, and data integrity.

We're looking for an operator: someone as comfortable redesigning a recruiting funnel or standing up a new Ashby workflow as advising executives on headcount trade-offs. You bring a strong point of view, low ego, and a track record of building recruiting infrastructure (not just running what already exists), while navigating ambiguity and leading through change.

This role reports to the Chief Financial Officer.

What you'll do:

• Shape NerdWallet's Talent Acquisition strategy alongside business leaders, assess and flex the operating model to match hiring demand, and own build-vs-buy decisions across in-house recruiting, contractors, RPO, and retained search.
• Lead capacity planning, funnel design, SLA targets, and process governance; own recruiting workflows, dashboards, and ATS requirements; drive adoption of new tools and standards across the team.
• Define and own the KPIs that measure Talent Acquisition ( time-to-fill , pipeline health, conversion, quality of hire , and more); build dashboards and a reporting cadence that keep the business aligned.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a multidisciplinary team of recruiters, sourcers, coordinators, and Talent Operations partners; stay personally involved in a subset of critical and executive searches.
• Build structured interviewing and evaluation frameworks that reduce bias and improve decision quality; create playbooks and enablement that raise the bar for hiring managers and interviewers.
• Partner closely with HRBPs, Finance, Compensation, Legal, and business leaders on workforce planning, prioritization, and hiring decisions.
• Own the recruiting technology roadmap ( Ashby , sourcing, reporting, and scheduling tools) and identify where AI can be a genuine force multiplier in recruiting and Talent Operations.

What you'll bring:

• 8+ years of Talent Acquisition experience , including at least 5 years leading Talent Acquisition as a function in a player/coach capacity .
• Experience managing an integrated Talent Acquisition and Talent Operations model.
• A track record of building or redesigning a recruiting operating model, including process design, capacity planning, vendor strategy, metrics, systems, and governance.
• Experience managing a mixed recruiting-capacity model, which may include internal teams, contractors, RPOs, and retained search firms.
• Experience supporting a high-growth or rapidly evolving company, scaling hiring across several hundred employees.
• Strong understanding of recruiting operations: ATS design, workflows, coordination models, dashboards, data integrity, and reporting, with experience establishing and enforcing SLA-based metrics.
• Hands-on proficiency with Ashby or a comparable modern ATS, used to drive process and decision-making, not just track candidates.
• Experience hiring across a broad range of levels and functions, from early-career through executive search.
• Experience building employer brand and talent attraction programs, including referral programs, internal mobility, and recruiting events.
• Excellent communication skills and a proven ability to engage, influence, and motivate diverse audiences.
• Comfort operating as an executive partner with a strong point of view, sound judgment, and low ego.

What would make you stand out:

• Experience selecting, implementing, or modernizing recruiting technology and driving adoption across a team.
• Experience integrating AI or automation into recruiting and Talent Operations workflows.
• Experience building recruiting dashboards and operating reviews that directly influence business decisions.
• Familiarity with workforce management, contingent workforce programs, or vendor-governance models.
• Experience clarifying decision rights across Talent Acquisition, HR Operations, HRIS, and People Operations.
• Familiarity with recruiting practices across multiple regions or a distributed and remote workforce.
• Experience in fintech, consumer technology, or another regulated or fast-scaling consumer-facing industry.

Where:

• This role will be remote (based in the U.S.).
• We believe great work can be done anywhere. No matter where you are based, NerdWallet offers benefits and perks to support the physical, financial, and emotional well-being of you and your family.

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