Vanessa Walker
Grand Prairie,TX
Summary
Senior Talent Acquisition Partner specializing in strategic talent acquisition and full-cycle recruitment. Led data-driven hiring initiatives and managed stakeholder relationships, advancing DEI efforts and improving candidate experiences across 400+ locations. Focused on developing resilient leadership through targeted coaching and development.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Senior Talent Acquisition Partner
National Church Residences
Remote
11.2021 - Current
- Aligns enterprise-wide talent acquisition strategy with business transformation initiatives, workforce planning, and capacity modeling to ensure hiring outcomes directly support innovation and operational growth.
- Leads full-cycle recruitment for 30–70 requisitions concurrently, filling 130+ roles annually across 400+ locations in 25 states while maintaining hiring velocity and quality-of-hire standards.
- Coaches and develops recruiters and hiring managers across departments to enhance recruiting performance, deliver high-quality candidate experiences, and build a resilient leadership bench.
- Championed DEI across all recruiting touchpoints by implementing ethical hiring frameworks and equitable access initiatives that increased visibility of highly qualified underrepresented talent.
- Translate workforce analytics, capacity modeling, and talent supply/demand forecasts into actionable insights that influence executive decisions on headcount and budget allocation.
- Advised senior leadership on labor market conditions, emerging HR tech, and digital sourcing trends to inform workforce strategies and maintain competitive positioning.
- Generated HR metrics and recruitment performance dashboards to monitor pipeline health, turnover, time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, and recruiter effectiveness, supporting continuous improvement.
- Sponsors talent mobility programs and succession planning initiatives that accelerate development and promote internal advancement across the enterprise.
- Manages vendor relationships to negotiate contracts and evaluate performance of background check partners (HireRight, Sterling Solutions) across 24 states to ensure compliance and cost-effectiveness.
Human Resources Clerk
L Brands
10.2020 - 10.2021
- Advised front-line people leaders on workforce planning, performance optimization, and organizational alignment to ensure HR strategy directly supported operational and financial objectives.
- Championed data-informed decision-making using workforce analytics to enhance recruitment, selection, onboarding, employee relations, compensation planning, and benefits administration.
- Partnered cross-functionally to identify root causes of performance barrier then implemented targeted, cost-effective HR interventions that strengthened productivity and improved margin contribution.
- Assessed organizational capability and future-state talent requirements, then optimized pipelines and sourcing strategies to close skill gaps critical to sustained business growth and revenue expansion.
- Directed HR project workflows and delegated team responsibilities, ensuring alignment between HR initiatives and overarching business priorities.
- Balanced strategic and tactical talent management through collaboration with business unit leaders and HR peers to align workforce capabilities with organizational goals.
- Authored & operationalized fair, legally compliant HR policies that reflected current best practices & upheld ethical standards.
Human Resources Coordinator
Reynoldsburg City Schools
08.2018 - 10.2020
- Acted as the primary point of contact for employees and leadership, delivering high-touch HR support throughout all stages of the employee lifecycle.
- Fostered cross-departmental partnerships to align HR practices with workforce needs and organizational objectives.
- Supported a dynamic, compliance-driven HR environment serving credentialed and licensed professionals by ensuring service delivery aligned with regulatory standards and operational priorities.
- Collaborated with Talent Acquisition to facilitate internal mobility & external recruitment initiatives aligned with workforce planning efforts.
- Contributed to the development, maintenance, and refinement of personnel data governance protocols by optimizing technology capabilities to enhance consistency, accuracy, and security across HRIS systems and platforms.
- Analyzed workforce data to generate reports that informed HR strategy and supported compliance audits.
- Advised on best practices in policy interpretation and application to maintain HR compliance with internal procedures and external regulations.
HR Service Center Representative
Express Fashion Home Office
11.2017 - 08.2018
- Enhanced the employee experience by identifying recurring trends in inquiries, conducting root cause analyses, and informing policy and process improvements that increased response accuracy and reduced escalation rates.
- Resolved complex inquiries on benefits, policies, payroll, timekeeping, and leave programs, enhancing HR shared services support.
- Administered employee lifecycle changes with a focus on accurate processing and timely closure of sensitive deliverables, ensuring alignment with downstream systems.
- Fostered transparent, empathetic communication as an HR liaison, providing consistent support across diverse employee groups.
- Partnered cross-functionally with payroll, benefits, and legal teams to address multifaceted HR issues with precision, while ensuring compliance, risk mitigation, and alignment with organizational goals.
- Maintained up-to-date knowledge of employment law, regulatory updates, and best practices to enable proactive adjustments to policies and service protocols.
- Provided insights that informed decision-making for AVPs, VPs, and HRBPs by compiling data on process performance, service delivery trends, and operational gaps to inform future improvements.
Education
M.A. - Human Resource Management
DeVry University
B.A. - Sociology
Shawnee State University
Skills
- Strategic talent acquisition
- Full-cycle recruitment
- Data-driven recruitment
- Proactive candidate sourcing
- Candidate assessment
- Employer branding strategy
- Employment law compliance
- Diversity and inclusion commitment
- Retail workforce expertise
- Stakeholder management
- Team leadership development
Certification
Certified Professional Recruiter, Sourcing, Employer Branding, Recruitment Technology, ADP
Timeline
Senior Talent Acquisition Partner
National Church Residences
11.2021 - Current
Human Resources Clerk
L Brands
10.2020 - 10.2021
Human Resources Coordinator
Reynoldsburg City Schools
08.2018 - 10.2020
HR Service Center Representative
Express Fashion Home Office
11.2017 - 08.2018
M.A. - Human Resource Management
DeVry University
B.A. - Sociology
Shawnee State University