Clarissa Yerkes
linkedin.com/in/clarissayerkes
Summary
Talent Acquisition Operations leader with over 15 years of experience in building scalable recruiting infrastructures in global organizations. Proven track record in workforce planning, structured hiring, and recruiting analytics, successfully translating growth strategies into measurable business impact and improved hiring practices.
Overview
16
16
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Head of Americas & EMEA Talent Acquisition
AMAGI
01.2023 - Current
- Lead Talent Acquisition strategy and operations across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC partnering directly with executive leadership on workforce planning and capacity modeling across all business functions.
- Built and scaled regional TA infrastructure to support GTM, Product, Engineering, G&A, and Executive hiring across complex multi-market environments, enhancing recruitment effectiveness.
- Increased diverse hiring representation to 47% through disciplined sourcing strategies, calibrated interview practices, and competency-based evaluation frameworks.
- Delivered $415K in annualized cost savings by reducing agency reliance and strengthening internal recruiting infrastructure and operating efficiency.
- Defined and launched refreshed global EVP and employer brand to align with growth strategy and talent market positioning, strengthening employer value proposition.
- Established TA operating infrastructure, including recruiter enablement, hiring-manager tools, and competency-based interview frameworks, to enhance hiring quality and consistency.
Director, RPO Client Delivery
RANDSTAD ENTERPRISE
01.2022 - 01.2023
- Led 100+ person talent delivery organization across Americas in support of Microsoft RPO model, overseeing recruiting operations and service delivery.
- Directed SLA performance, KPI governance, and operating cadence across executive recruiting, scheduling, and offer audit functions, achieving 92% timeliness.
- Redesigned underperforming delivery operations by restructuring governance and implementing accountability frameworks and process redesign.
- Enhanced recruiter engagement and operational performance through recalibrated leadership, defined execution standards, and reinforced delivery discipline.
Director, Global Talent Acquisition
WELOCALIZE
04.2019 - 01.2022
- Promoted to lead a global TA organization of 45+ across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia, overseeing recruiting operations, team performance, and hiring delivery at scale.
- Reduced cost per hire by 52% through baseline modeling, funnel optimization, and redesign of TA processes, enhancing overall recruitment efficiency.
- Secured Team of the Year (2020) designation by surpassing hiring, cost, and time-to-fill targets, demonstrating commitment to excellence in talent acquisition.
- Acted as Talent Acquisition SME for global Workday and Lever implementations, standardizing workflows, compliance practices, and recruiting processes across regions.
- Embedded AI-driven bias mitigation tools into global hiring workflows, fostering equity, consistency, and transparency in decision-making.
Director, Talent Strategy & Recruitment
WELOCALIZE
06.2017 - 01.2022
- Collaborated with executive leadership to synchronize hiring strategy, resource planning, and recruiting support with business expansion goals.
- Developed recruiter capacity modeling systems and KPI frameworks to boost productivity, enhance forecasting accuracy, and increase workforce planning visibility.
- Enhanced recruitment efficiency by 25% during transition to shared services global TA operating model.
Staffing Director (Account Management / Talent Acquisition)
WELOCALIZE
07.2013 - 06.2017
- Grew on-site delivery teams by 225% within an $8M revenue portfolio, increasing service capacity.
- Launched teams in Cupertino and Austin to support AI and ML data transformation initiatives, aligning resources with strategic goals.
- Expanded Workforce Solutions delivery capability to enhance recruitment efficiency and operational scalability.
Senior Recruitment Consultant
ADAPTIVE EXECUTIVE
02.2010 - 07.2013
- Achieved 110% of average target for executive, sales, and engineering placements in competitive agency environment.
- Developed and strengthened enterprise client relationships while overseeing full-cycle search execution.
- Led recruitment strategies to attract top talent for executive positions.
Education
Master of Arts - History
California State University, Northridge
Bachelor of Science - Business Management
University of Phoenix
Skills
- TA Operations Strategy
- Recruiting Excellence
- Workforce Planning
- Capacity Modeling
- Structured Hiring
- Hiring Governance
- Executive Hiring Operations
- TA Infrastructure Design
- Process Standardization
- Recruiting Analytics
- Funnel Health
- KPI Dashboards
- Service Delivery
- ATS/HRIS Implementation
- Employer Brand
- Vendor & Agency Optimization
- Change Management
- Diversity Hiring Strategy
- Global TA Leadership
- TA Playbooks
Recruiting Technology & AI Tools
HRIS/ATS: Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Greenhouse, Lever, SmartRecruiters, MyNextHire, Workable, Ashby
Sourcing, CRM & DEI Technology: LinkedIn Recruiter, Gem, MeVitae
Interviewing & Assessment: GoodTime, HackerRank
Workflow, Automation & Project Management: Jira, Zapier, Monday
Analytics & Reporting: Power BI, Looker, DOMO
AI Tools: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude
Certification
- Diversity & Inclusion in HR Management, HRCI
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Six Sigma Academy
- Transform Recruitment Marketing, Smashfly Transform Academy
Other Professional Experience
Adjunct Professor of World History, Mount San Jacinto College, 2008-2010
Timeline
Head of Americas & EMEA Talent Acquisition
AMAGI
01.2023 - Current
Director, RPO Client Delivery
RANDSTAD ENTERPRISE
01.2022 - 01.2023
Director, Global Talent Acquisition
WELOCALIZE
04.2019 - 01.2022
Director, Talent Strategy & Recruitment
WELOCALIZE
06.2017 - 01.2022
Staffing Director (Account Management / Talent Acquisition)
WELOCALIZE
07.2013 - 06.2017
Senior Recruitment Consultant
ADAPTIVE EXECUTIVE
02.2010 - 07.2013
Master of Arts - History
California State University, Northridge
Bachelor of Science - Business Management
University of Phoenix