With a passion for excellence, Golden Key Group (GKG) helps clients solve their strategic, organizational, and operational challenges to better meet their mission demands.  We have serviced more than 25 Federal departments and agencies and several large commercial companies since our inception in 2002.

Golden Key Group's talented professionals, combined with our strategic partners, bring a depth of commercial and government experience and expertise.  We are relentless in delivering the highest levels of services to provide tangible value and create sustainable results for our clients.

The Executive Recruiter provides specialized executive search and talent acquisition services for senior leadership and executive-level positions. Working on an intermittent, as-needed basis, the Executive Recruiter partners with organizational leaders and stakeholders to identify, assess, and recruit highly qualified executive talent. The incumbent manages the full lifecycle executive recruitment process, from position development through candidate placement, while ensuring a high level of professionalism, confidentiality, and customer service.

This position is part-time and intermittent. Work is assigned based on organizational needs and executive search activity and does not guarantee a minimum number of hours.

Note** This position is being recruited in support of potential future contract awards, and qualified candidates may be considered for upcoming opportunities supporting federal government clients.

Position Planning and Search Strategy

• Consult with hiring executives and key stakeholders to understand leadership needs, organizational priorities, technical requirements, and cultural considerations.

Talent Identification and Recruitment

• Conduct executive-level sourcing, market research, and talent mapping activities.
• Identify, engage, and recruit highly qualified passive and active candidates through professional networks, direct outreach, referrals, and research databases.
• Build and maintain executive talent pipelines for current and future leadership opportunities.
• Conduct national searches and targeted outreach to diverse candidate pools.

Candidate Assessment and Evaluation

• Screen and evaluate executive candidates against position requirements and leadership competencies.
• Conduct structured interviews and candidate assessments.
• Evaluate candidates' leadership capabilities, professional achievements, organizational fit, and strategic vision.
• Coordinate and participate in reference checking and background review processes as appropriate.

Candidate Presentation and Client Support

• Prepare candidate profiles, assessment summaries, and search status reports.
• Present qualified candidate slates and recommendations to hiring officials.
• Provide regular progress updates, market intelligence, and recruitment metrics.
• Facilitate communication between candidates and stakeholders throughout the recruitment process.

Interview and Selection Support

• Coordinate scheduling and logistics for executive interviews.
• Assist with development and calibration of interview processes and evaluation methodologies.
• Gather stakeholder feedback and refine candidate pools based on organizational needs.
• Support consensus-building and selection decision processes.

Offer Development and Candidate Closing

• Assist hiring leaders with compensation discussions and offer strategy.
• Facilitate candidate negotiations and acceptance discussions.
• Support relocation, transition, and onboarding planning as appropriate.
• Maintain candidate engagement through successful placement.

Compliance and Professional Standards

• Ensure recruitment activities comply with applicable employment laws, equal employment opportunity requirements, and organizational policies.
• Maintain strict confidentiality regarding candidates, searches, and organizational information.
• Adhere to ethical standards and best practices in executive recruitment.
• Develop position profiles, leadership success factors, competency models, and candidate specifications.
• Advise hiring managers on executive labor market conditions, compensation trends, and recruitment strategies.
• Design and execute customized executive search strategies for complex and specialized leadership positions.

Other duties as assigned.

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, Psychology, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and executive recruitment experience.
• Five (5) years of progressively responsible experience conducting executive or senior leadership recruitment searches.
• Demonstrated experience managing full-cycle executive recruitment engagements.
• Experience sourcing and attracting highly specialized or hard-to-fill leadership talent.
• Strong interviewing, candidate assessment, and stakeholder consultation skills.
• Knowledge of employment law, Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) principles, and executive search best practices.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise discretion in sensitive situations.
• Proficiency with applicant tracking systems, talent sourcing platforms, and recruitment technologies.

• Advanced degree in Human Resources, Organizational Leadership, Business Administration, or a related discipline.
• Executive search experience supporting scientific research organizations, higher education institutions, federally funded research organizations, government contractors, or other highly technical environments.
• Demonstrated experience recruiting executive leaders in science, technology, engineering, research, advanced computing, data science, or related technical fields.
• Experience conducting executive searches for Department of Energy (DOE) laboratories, national laboratories, federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs), or similar scientific research institutions.
• Demonstrated success recruiting C-suite executives, laboratory directors, associate laboratory directors, chief scientists, senior research leaders, or other executive-level scientific leadership positions.
• Experience utilizing executive assessment methodologies, leadership evaluation tools, and market-mapping techniques.
• Established professional networks within the scientific research, national laboratory, higher education, or federal contractor communities.