Vice President Talent Acquisition

A growing, Chicago-based financial services organization is seeking a Vice President of Talent Strategy & Culture to build the talent infrastructure required for its next stage of growth.

The organization serves individuals, families, and business owners through a coordinated advisory model. Its continued success depends on attracting exceptional professionals, developing strong leaders, and giving high-performing employees opportunities to build lasting careers.

This is not a traditional HR administration position. Recruiting will be central to the role, particularly identifying and cultivating senior professionals who may require a year or longer to recruit. The Vice President will also strengthen onboarding, employee development, succession planning, manager effectiveness, and retention.

The right person will combine the instincts of an executive recruiter, the relationship skills of a business developer, and the operational discipline to build scalable talent programs.

• Lead recruiting across the organization, including senior advisors, firm leaders, attorneys, tax and financial professionals, operational employees, administrative support, and early-career talent.
• Build long-term pipelines of passive candidates before hiring needs become urgent.
• Manage priority searches from market research and direct outreach through assessment, references, offers, closing, and integration.
• Establish consistent recruiting processes supported by target lists, candidate scorecards, interview standards, and clear selection criteria.
• Develop relationships with senior professionals whose recruiting processes may extend 12 to 18 months.
• Create a candidate experience that is organized, transparent, responsive, warm, and appropriately confidential.
• Partner with executive leadership to recruit individuals who could meaningfully influence the organization’s growth.
• Build referral networks and market intelligence that provide access to professionals who are unlikely to apply directly.

• Design structured onboarding and 30-, 60-, and 90-day plans for critical positions.
• Translate the practices of top performers into practical training resources, manager guides, and repeatable development programs.
• Create meaningful career paths for advisors, operational employees, administrative professionals, and interns.
• Develop learning programs that measure demonstrated capability and performance improvement, not simply course completion.
• Equip managers with tools for coaching, feedback, and employee development.
• Monitor whether development plans are being implemented and producing results.
• Build an accessible knowledge library that supports employee effectiveness and organizational continuity.

• Lead quarterly talent reviews focused on performance, succession, high-potential employees, organizational gaps, and retention concerns.
• Identify critical roles and create succession and contingency plans.
• Recognize leadership, employee relations, and retention issues before they become larger organizational problems.
• Hold department leaders accountable for coaching, supporting, and developing their teams.
• Address ineffective management practices or behavior that conflicts with the organization’s standards.
• Support a high-performance culture grounded in integrity, accountability, service, collaboration, and follow-through.
• Give exceptional employees clear opportunities for continued development and advancement.

The Vice President will play an important role in the organization’s broader expansion strategy, including relationships with independent firms, senior producers, and potential market leaders.

Responsibilities will include:

• Mapping prospective firm leaders, senior advisors, and other strategically important professionals.
• Developing relationships with individuals who could join, lead, or become affiliated with the organization.
• Evaluating the leadership strength and talent needs of potential affiliated teams.
• Creating talent-integration plans for new groups and employees.
• Communicating a complex business opportunity persuasively within established…