Talent Acquisition Lead

Lead, Talent Acquisition

Nearwater Capital is a rapidly growing and innovative specialty finance company headquartered in New York City with global operations and client base. Established in 2017, Nearwater has distinguished itself as a leader in delivering thoughtful, solutions-based financing to some of the largest financial institutions and financial services firms in the world.

Role/Job Description:

Nearwater is seeking a seasoned, highly resourceful Recruiting leader to manage end-to-end hiring across a broad range of roles, including front-office structured finance, operations, technology, risk, internal audit, and corporate functions. This individual will play a critical role in building the talent foundation of a rapidly scaling firm. The ideal candidate brings maturity, judgment, and the ability to partner deeply with hiring managers to understand needs, calibrate candidate profiles, and deliver a high-quality hiring experience. This is a hands-on, roll-up-your-sleeves recruiting role in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Key Responsibilities:

Full-Cycle Recruiting

• Own and manage the entire recruiting lifecycle from intake to offer for roles across Risk Retention, Liquid Markets, Capital Markets, Operations, Technology, Risk, Finance, Internal Audit, Legal, Compliance, Support Functions, and other key business areas.
• Develop strong partnerships with hiring managers to understand role requirements, success profiles, team needs, and organizational context.
• Drive consistent, thoughtful search strategies tailored to niche roles in structured finance.

Sourcing & Talent Pipeline Development

• Build and maintain pipelines of high-caliber passive and active talent using creative sourcing techniques (LinkedIn Recruiter, referrals, competitive mapping, networking, etc.).
• Conduct market research and talent landscaping for highly specialized or hard-to-fill roles.
• Ensure diverse candidate slates while maintaining speed and precision in execution.

Candidate Evaluation & Experience

• Screen and assess candidates effectively, ensuring alignment with capability needs, role fit, and Nearwater's culture.
• Manage candidates end-to-end, ensuring a high-touch, transparent, and professional experience.
• Prepare hiring managers for interviews, align on competencies to evaluate, and calibrate assessments across interviewers.

Stakeholder Management

• Build trust and credibility with senior leaders by demonstrating sound judgment, discretion, and a solutions-oriented mindset.
• Advise hiring managers on best practices in interviewing, evaluation, and decision-making.
• Partner cross-functionally with HR operations, legal, compliance, and business leaders to ensure a seamless hiring process.

Process Ownership & Continuous Improvement

• Implement and maintain Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and Recruitment Dashboard.
• Maintain accurate records, reporting, and search documentation, streamlining processes where possible.
• Identify opportunities to enhance recruiting workflows, candidate experience, and hiring manager effectiveness.
• Uphold operational excellence and compliance in all recruiting practices.

Skills and Experience:

• 10+
  years of full-cycle recruiting experience, with exposure to financial services or complex technical/business roles.
• Strong sourcing capabilities, including experience building pipelines for niche or competitive talent pools.
• Prior experience recruiting across a range of disciplines (front office, technical, operational, risk/audit) is strongly preferred.
• Experience leveraging AI in recruitment practice.
• Proven ability to partner with senior leaders, synthesize hiring needs, and translate them into effective search strategies.
• Excellent communication skills with a high level of emotional intelligence and maturity.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced, high-accountability, roll-up-your-sleeves environment.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple searches simultaneously.
• Commitment to delivering an exceptional candidate and hiring manager experience.

Core Competencies:

• Relationship-driven with strong stakeholder management skills
• Strategic thinker with tactical execution capabilities
• Strong judgment and candidate assessment skills
• Operational rigor and process discipline
• Collaborative, resourceful, and solutions-oriented

What Else You'll Get:

Join a purpose-driven financial services firm committed to innovation, integrity, and client trust. As a Recruiter at Nearwater, you will shape the talent engine of a rapidly growing company and directly influence the next stage of our expansion. Nearwater offers an attractive market compensation and benefits package including health, dental & vision benefits, life insurance, paid vacation and holidays, and a 401(k) plan. Our office is located in midtown, close and convenient for commuting. As a creative, intellectual capital firm, Nearwater is proud to be 100% work-from-office, which promotes our collaborative and "get things done" atmosphere.

You will be joining a firm that is well established but still growing rapidly and will have the opportunity to impact the design and execution of new business segments. Work in a fast-paced and intellectually stimulating environment where you will learn something new every day, with a collaborative culture where every voice is heard.