Senior Talent Acquisition Partner

About the role

You will manage end-to-end recruitment for critical roles in Product, Design, Commercial, Marketing, and Engineering, ensuring timely and high-quality hiring outcomes. You will act as a trusted advisor to hiring managers, translating their strategic goals into actionable talent acquisition plans. You will leverage market intelligence and talent data to anticipate hiring needs and mitigate future risks. You will design structured and role-specific interview processes that promote consistent, equitable evaluation across all panels. You will build and nurture diverse candidate pipelines to support both immediate backfills and long-term growth initiatives. You will represent KAYAK as an authentic employer brand ambassador, delivering exceptional candidate experiences at every touchpoint. You will collaborate closely with a globally distributed People & Culture team to reinforce a culture of trust, flexibility, and shared success.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Manage full-cycle recruitment from initial intake through offer, with a focus on hiring for Product, Design, Commercial (Sales, Partnerships), Marketing, and Engineering roles - including backfills and incremental headcount.
• Build strong working relationships with hiring managers and senior leaders to understand their team's needs and develop recruitment plans that support them.
• Serve as a knowledgeable resource on market trends, talent availability, and sourcing strategies - sharing what you know to help teams make informed decisions.
• Design structured, role-specific interview plans and scorecards; champion inclusive hiring practices and ensure consistent, equitable evaluation across interview panels.
• Build and maintain proactive candidate pipelines for near-term and future hiring needs.
• Represent KAYAK authentically to candidates, delivering an outstanding experience at every stage of the process.
• Collaborate closely with your TA teammates across time zones, contributing to a team culture built on trust, flexibility, and shared success.
• Partner with People & Culture on process improvements that enhance candidate and hiring manager satisfaction.
• Utilize data and metrics to evaluate recruitment performance and drive continuous improvement in quality of hire and time-to-fill.
• Support employer branding initiatives that reflect KAYAK's innovative travel search and corporate travel solutions.
• Coordinate interview scheduling and logistics to ensure a seamless experience for internal stakeholders and external candidates.
• Provide guidance on competitive compensation benchmarking to support offer strategy and negotiation outcomes.
• Monitor hiring funnel health and recommend adjustments to sourcing channels based on performance insights.
• Act as a point of escalation for complex hiring scenarios, ensuring alignment with company policies and best practices.
• Contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion goals through inclusive sourcing and unbiased evaluation practices.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of travel industry trends to better assess candidate fit for specialized roles.
• Facilitate debriefs with hiring teams to capture feedback and refine role requirements over time.
• Ensure compliance with recruitment policies and data privacy standards in all hiring activities.

Requirements

• 5+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, including meaningful in-house or client-embedded experience in a global or multi-site environment.
• Proficiency in Ashby (our ATS) & LinkedIn Recruiter.
• A solid understanding of sourcing strategies and how to run an equitable, structured hiring process.
• The ability to manage your own workload and adapt when priorities shift - you're comfortable working independently without a lot of direction.
• Clear, thoughtful communication with both candidates and internal teams; you're at ease working across time zones and with distributed colleagues.
• Comfort using data to track your work, spot patterns, and improve processes over time.
• A commitment to inclusive hiring practices and building diverse teams that reflect the global markets KAYAK serves.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail to manage multiple requisitions and competing deadlines.
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional stakeholders in Product, Design, Commercial, Marketing, and Engineering.
• Willingness to follow KAYAK's structured interview processes and use standardized evaluation tools.
• Understanding of employment laws and regulations relevant to multi-site hiring in the regions where KAYAK operates.
• Proven ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information with discretion.
• Openness to feedback and continuous learning in a fast-paced, evolving travel technology environment.
• Alignment with KAYAK's mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world through travel search.

Practical notes

This role is based in the Norwalk Office and operates on a full-time basis. The position is an 8-month fixed-term contract starting in August 2026 and concluding in April 2027. The selected candidate is expected to work from the Norwalk location unless alternative arrangements are discussed and approved. There may be occasional travel requirements within the Norwalk area and to other KAYAK offices as business needs dictate. This role reports to the People & Culture leadership and works closely with global Talent Acquisition partners. Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship for this position. The work schedule is anticipated to be during standard business hours, with some flexibility to accommodate cross-regional collaboration.