
Early & Emerging Talent Acquisition Specialist
Newton, NJ · HybridFull-time$69–87K/yrSeen 1w agoSeen in employer's feed today
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At a glance
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Job overview
Thorlabs’ Early & Emerging Talent Acquisition Specialist oversees recruitment and the employee experience for early talent across U.S. locations. The role develops recruiting plans, sources and screens candidates, coordinates interviews and offers, and builds relationships with educational institutions and community organizations. It also manages the company’s cooperative education and internship program and partners with HR and talent acquisition colleagues to coordinate recruiting and onboarding.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Benefits
Full job description
Compensation
$69,000.00 - $86,500.00 / Yearly
Hours Per Week
40
Number Of Positions
1
Job Description
At Thorlabs, we design and manufacture components, instruments, and systems that transform the world by identifying, enabling, and accelerating key photonics (i.e., light-based) technologies. Backed by a dedicated workforce of more than 3,000 employees worldwide, Thorlabs contributes to cutting-edge research and real-world innovation.
Whether you're early in your career or bringing years of experience, you’ll find opportunities to grow, take ownership, and make meaningful contributions from day one. We know every employee brings unique talents and perspectives that fuel our success, and we seek driven individuals who are excited to make an impact in a fun, fast-moving culture.
Purpose of the Position
The Early & Emerging Talent Acquisition Specialist is responsible for overseeing the recruitment process for early talent across all US locations. Primary responsibilities will include managing the employee experience, developing local and national recruiting plans, utilizing traditional and strategic recruitment methods to fill positions, identifying future talent, and developing key strategic relationships and programs with universities, colleges, and community organizations. The position reports to the Talent Acquisition Leader.
Essential Job Functions include the following, but are not limited to:
Responsible for the entire recruitment and employee experience from job description development to offer extension for early talent hires.
Develop recruitment strategies to achieve required staffing levels; work closely with Business Unit Leaders and Managers to understand current recruitment needs and develop comprehensive recruiting plans
Actively and passively seek top talent; conduct phone screens/initial interviews; provide initial screening for managers to obtain work history, education, training, job skills, salary requirements; explain benefits packages to potential candidates
Arrange phone/on-site interviews with management and team members; Arrange travel and lodging for applicants through a corporate travel agent, if necessary, and manage candidate expense reimbursement process.
Responsible for managing the candidate offer process, including offer formulation, terms & conditions of benefits & relocation, offer negotiation, and conducting reference and background checks; work closely with the HR team to establish an appropriate start date and request initiation of HR/IT new hire setup.
Schedule and attend job/career fairs and trade shows with appropriate staff as a source to generate qualified candidates.
Develop and maintain professional relationships with local & regional colleges, universities, and community college placement offices as a source to generate qualified applicants
Develop and maintain an expansive Cooperative Education Program (Co-Op/Intern Program) for high school and college students
Partner with HRBP/Generalists to develop recruitment plans and talent strategies
Partner with TA Team to coordinate and facilitate offers and onboard candidates.
Post open positions on the Company’s website and external job sites.
Annual Pay Range for this position is $69,000 - $86,500 depending on experience
In addition to the essential functions and duties listed above, all positions are also responsible for:
Meeting company standards pertaining to quantity and quality of work performed on an ongoing basis, performing all work-related tasks in a manner that complies with all Company policies and procedures.
Adhering to Company policies, procedures, and directives regarding standards of workplace behavior in completing job duties and assignments.
The Company retains the right to change or assign other duties to this position.
Requirements
Experience:
Minimum 1-2 years of experience in recruitment or related experience.
Education:
- Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent work experience
Specialized Knowledge and Skills:
Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals.
Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.
College recruiting experience is a plus
Highly motivated, results-driven, and able to work independently as well as with the team.
Knowledge of employment law preferred
Excellent interpersonal and written skills
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite; Workable and/or UKG a plus
Travel required (25%)
Thorlabs values its diverse environment and is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified individuals will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age or veteran status. Job descriptions are not intended as and do not create employment contracts. The organization maintains its status as an at-will employer. Employees can be terminated for any reason not prohibited by law.
Benefits
Thorlabs offers a complete benefits package that includes medical, dental and vision insurance, company paid life insurance, a generous PTO package, a 401(k) plan, and tuition reimbursement just to name a few.
Place of Work
Hybrid
Requisition ID
1234
Job Type
Full Time
How this job compares
Set against the 2,895 open Talent Acquisition jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 3, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$69–87K/yr
- New Jersey median$75–116K/yr31 salary ranges
- US median$95–155K/yr1,617 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $78K, is 21% below the New Jersey median midpoint ($98K) — in the middle half of Talent Acquisition salary ranges in New Jersey.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 40 open Talent Acquisition jobs in New Jersey and 2,895 across the US. 8% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Hiring the most in New Jersey
- Axis2 open
- CoreWeave2 open
- FirstEnergy2 open
- Experience
- This posting asks for at least 1 year of experience — less than three in four Talent Acquisition postings that state a minimum ask for (median 4 years, across 2,290 postings).
- Education
- 382 of the 2,895 open Talent Acquisition jobs (13%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 3, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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