Recruitment & Engagement Specialist

Overview

This position is open until filled with an initial application review to take place on April 22, 2026

The starting salary range for this position is $5,976.00 - $6,375.00 per month depending upon qualifications and is non-negotiable

SDSU Research Foundation

Established in 1943, the mission of the SDSU Research Foundation (SDSURF) is to support the research objectives of San Diego State University by helping faculty and staff find, obtain, and administer funding for their research and sponsored programs. SDSU achieved its strategic plan goal of becoming an R1, premier public research university in early 2025 furthering discoveries, interventions, and solutions that improve communities and change the world. SDSURF provides the full life cycle of grants services to faculty and staff to further their important work.

Our vision is to foster a culture of creativity and collaboration with integrity and respect for individuals that results in the delivery of superior service to support the university's strategic aspirations.

Our core values:

Service: We are a service organization that strives to provide superior support to the university community to achieve SDSU's goals; we are committed to being professionally competent by setting high standards and working hard to achieve results; and we continually seek to improve our skills and capabilities by valuing education and professional development.

Collaboration: We seek to actively engage with our stakeholders and employees to identify issues and design solutions, build strong relationships grounded in trust, openness, and inclusion and achieve the best results by taking pride in the accomplishments of our colleagues.

Innovation: We work towards inspired solutions to improve and adapt to emerging opportunities and challenges, creative ways to streamline and enhance our delivery of services through resourceful and proactive problem solving and strategic use of technology and reduction of obstacles.

Respect: We promote a culture where every individual is valued and treated with dignity, we honor open-mindedness toward different viewpoints and ideas and have a genuine appreciation for varied backgrounds, experiences, and ways of thinking.

Integrity: We are committed to act with the highest ethical standards, with honesty, integrity, and transparency, provide consistent and accurate information and value and respect all individuals.

FUNCTION OF THE UNIT

Academy for Professional Excellence, a project of San Diego State University School of Social Work, was established in 1996 with the goal of revolutionizing the way people work to ensure the world is a healthier place. Our services integrate culturally responsive and recovery-oriented practices into our daily work to promote healing and healthy relationships. Providing approximately 50,000 learning experiences to health and human service and justice system professionals annually, the Academy provides a variety of workforce development solutions in Southern California and beyond. With seven programs, three divisions and over 100 staff, the Academy's mission is to provide exceptional learning and development experiences for the transformation of individuals, organizations, and communities.

As a member of the Academy team, you will be engaging in communal development of heart, mind, and practice. You are expected to foster culturally responsive practice behaviors to promote well-being and a culture that focuses on healing, healthy relationships and changed behaviors.

The Academy's Strategy, Development & Organizational Advancement (SDOA) division leads the strategic development of learning, products, and practices that strengthen our organizational culture and brand identity, nurture organizational health, and support innovation. The division builds responsive and proactive solutions in evaluation, strategy, and systems grounded in data, best practices, and collaborative partnerships.

The Academy's Organizational Development Team designs, implements, coordinates, and facilitates initiatives that advance the Academy's Strategic Plan with a focus on supporting staff and the Academy's growth. We bring the latest in organization and staff development to strategically support Academy programs, culture, systems, and staff. We form partnerships across the Academy to advance the health of the organization; recruit, develop, and retain staff; ensure equitable protocols and procedures; and solicit funding to transform the way we and the people we serve work.

Responsibilities

PURPOSE OF THE POSITION

Under the general direction of the Leadership Development/Hiring Supervisor, the Recruitment & Engagement Specialist is responsible for working closely with the Organizational Development Team to implement and facilitate organization development strategic efforts with a focus on recruitment and employee engagement in alignment with the Academy's vision, promise, mission, and System of Practice.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

This is a 40-hour a week, full-time hybrid with remote flexibility position working M-F from 8:00 to 4:30 p.m. and is based on contract funding subject to annual renewal. This position requires that you reside within California throughout the duration of your employment and live within a commutable distance from the worksite your work supports. Positions are typically assigned to either our Riverside or San Diego office for any on-site work.

Note: some duties may include working with and/or exposure to sensitive/traumatic topics or material dealing with child abuse, abuse against older adults and adults with disabilities, and/or issues and scenarios related to mental health, substance use, or racism.

The Academy is a project of the San Diego State University Research Foundation, which is grant-funded and serves as an auxiliary to the University. The Academy is based near, but not on campus, and does not have direct responsibilities for working with or teaching college students.

The Academy is currently going through a reclassification process. If this position's classification changes during this process, it would not change the role, responsibilities, or compensation of the position.

RECRUITMENT SUPPORT (55%)

• Assist the Leadership Development/Hiring Supervisor and Hiring Authorities with responsibilities relating to: recruitment, on-boarding, and exiting of Academy staff:
• Act as a primary contact for Hiring Authorities during recruitment processes under the guidance of the Leadership Development/Hiring Supervisor.
• Serve as the lead staff member for Training Host and Training Operations Assistant (TOA) recruitment processes.
• Create and update hiring authority resource folders in order to ensure that interview panels and Hiring Authorities have the proper resources they need.
• Support Hiring Authorities through the recruitment process, direct them to relevant resources, and address their questions in a timely manner.
• Work with SDSU Research Foundation Human Resources's applicant tracking system (ATS) to post new positions, create and organize applicant packages, and enter candidate ratings.
• Communicate with and schedule interviews for prospective candidates and address candidate questions as they arise in line with HR guidance.
• Draft, post, and monitor LinkedIn and social media campaigns for all recruitments.
• Coordinate the on-boarding of new employees and update protocols and templates as directed by the Leadership Development/Hiring Supervisor.
• Send out and collect responses for candidate experience assessment and share back data via a quarterly report.
• Use the Academy's project management system to document and track your recruitment and onboarding work.
• Support the Leadership Development/Hiring Supervisor in guiding people leaders and exiting Academy staff through Academy/HR exit protocols and procedures.
• Work with Leadership Development/Hiring Supervisor and Executive Director to ensure exit interviews are conducted properly.
• Assist in updating Academy protocols and procedures related to the hiring, on-boarding, and exiting of Academy staff.
• Assist Leadership Development/Hiring Supervisor in the review of best practice resources as directed to identify recruitment improvements in alignment with the Academy System of Practice.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT (20%)

• Collaborate with Hiring Authorities to schedule and facilitate new employee Meet & Greets.
• Participate in the Academy Picnic planning sub-committee.
• Coordinate and organize the Annual Years of Service Awards for the Academy Picnic.
• Act as Academy staff lead for key staff engagement events such as: Admin Professionals Day and other opportunities as directed by the Leadership Development/Hiring Supervisor, Organizational Development Manager, and SDOA Leadership.
• Assist the Organizational Development Team with various activities to foster connection and collaboration among Academy staff to enhance organizational culture.
• Monitor Academy Suggestion Box submissions, share with the Leadership Team (LT) and the Organizational Development team for discussion, and triage as needed for response.

ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT (20%)

• Assist the Leadership Development/Hiring Supervisor in creating protocols, resources, and development opportunities for people leaders.
• Assist the Organizational Development Team with the coordination of staff development activities, including but not limited to: providing technical support for in-house training for internal staff, and assisting with material production (e.g. all-staff meetings, people leader development offerings, etc.).
• Attend SDSURF Human Resource Business Partner monthly meetings.
• Assist the Leadership Development/Hiring Supervisor with benchmarking salaries for Academy positions.
• Update and maintain the job description library.
• Update and maintain internal people information systems, Organizational Development website on the Academy HUB, and the Academy website staff directory.
• Track organizational procedure materials, mandated HIPAA and CITI training requirements, signed job descriptions, yearly sign offs of the Academy Protocol and Procedures Manual (PPM).

OTHER DUTIES AS ASSIGNED (5%)

• Perform other duties as assigned which are in the best interests of the Academy for Professional Excellence.
• Occasional travel to off-site locations for Academy and Division/Department meetings (primarily in the Riverside and San Diego area).

Qualifications

MINIMUM EDUCATION

• Equivalent to a bachelor's degree and/or equivalent training and administrative work experience involving study, analysis, and/or evaluation leading to the development or improvement of administrative policies, procedures, practices, or programs.

MINIMUM EXPERIENCE

• 5-years of progressively responsible experience performing varied or specialized administrative and analytical duties and/or service as a program administrator.

QUALIFICATIONS & SPECIAL SKILLS

Knowledge and Abilities:

• Able to understand, interpret, follow, and communicate procedures, protocols, information, ideas and instructions.
• Able to apply independent judgment, discretion and initiative to address problems and develop solutions, and know the boundaries of your knowledge and when to seek help.
• Able to communicate personnel related matters (e.g. hiring, onboarding, staff exits) while maintaining the confidentiality of discussions and information.
• Able to handle multiple simultaneous projects and requests, set priorities, and meet deadlines.
• Flexible and able to handle changing priorities and adjust products and shift workload as needed.
• Strong interpersonal skills, able to demonstrate a high level of cross-cultural sensitivity and the ability to partner with and support staff at all levels of the organization.
• Ability to work independently and as a member of a team.
• Detail oriented, accurate, and able to develop and implement efficient systems to support, track and organize the work.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Highly motivated self-starter able to use and quickly learn new office support technology systems and software packages.
• Knowledge of and skilled in standard office procedures and practices, English grammar, spelling and punctuation.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint & Google Suite applications to create reports, memos and documents.
• Familiarity with Zoom or MicroSoft Teams or other online connection/meeting support software.
• Comfortable with social media or willing to learn.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS AND SPECIAL SKILL

• Experience working in Human Resources, particularly with recruitment and onboarding.
• Meeting planning and logistics experience.