Location: Toronto, Canada (hybrid, minimum three days in office)
Contract Length: 2 years
Commitment: Full time, 37.5 hours/week
Compensation: $70,000 + Benefits
Start Date: May 6, 2025

About Youth Challenge International (YCI)

YCI is a leading global youth development organization that promotes youth innovation to drive positive change. Together with our partners we create market ready solutions that catapult youth around the world to succeed and prosper; we are driven by youth and their potential to affect positive change in the world. Our solutions are focused – always keeping the young people we are designing for and with at the center of the conversation. Our approach is rooted in creativity and constantly evolving to respond to changing needs and market realities.  YCI is an organization where diversity and talent come together to shape a better future for youth around the world.

HerStart: Innovate the Future
HerStart: Innovate the Future is an initiative developed by Youth Challenge International to propel sustainable economic development, entrepreneurship and social impact for women and their communities in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda. The HerStart program is designed for aspiring women entrepreneurs, providing skills-based training, mentorship and funding to launch or scale a social enterprise. Canadian volunteers are recruited, trained and deployed to contribute their knowledge and skills towards the ambitious goals of YCI and our partners.

Position Summary:

Reporting to the CEO, the Talent Acquisition Specialist plays a key role in supporting full-cycle recruitment and onboarding efforts for both staff and volunteers at YCI.

The Talent Acquisition Specialist will manage end-to-end recruitment and on-boarding processes, including sourcing, screening, interviewing, administration and training, while collaborating with hiring managers to develop and implement effective recruitment strategies. A core focus of the role is ensuring an exceptional candidate experience, maintaining clear communication and a seamless transition from application to onboarding.

This candidate will have high attention to detail and organization skills, managing the daily operations of staff recruitment and international volunteer recruitment and deployment. The role also involves developing and overseeing policy-related training, tracking key metrics and providing data-driven insights.

This position is ideal for an organized, strategic and mission-driven professional eager to contribute to YCI’s goal of attracting and retaining top talent to drive meaningful impact.

Responsibilities include:

• Lead full-cycle YCI staff recruiting, including hiring intake, sourcing, scheduling, screening, interviewing and contracting;
• Manage HerStart volunteer sourcing, recruitment, administration, onboarding, training and deployment;
• Provide exceptional candidate experience through clear communication, timely updates and a smooth process from application to onboarding;
• Continuously improve Talent Acquisition documentation, tracking systems and training materials, ensuring hiring teams have up-to-date resources, guidelines and best practices;
• Maintain and report on key metrics in order to inform recruiting decision-making;
• Collaborate with the Senior Project Manager (SPM), HerStart to explore and implement efficiencies in volunteer recruitment practices and processes;
• Meet and report on volunteer recruitment targets set by the SPM to ensure program performance;
• Collaborate with the Communications and Resource Development Manager and SPM to execute public engagement, alumni activities, and plan/attend virtual and in-person recruitment events;
• Develop and oversee policy-related training for staff, volunteers and other stakeholders;
• Ensure volunteers meet all logistic requirements and are prepared for international placements;
• Support administrative functions across YCI, including legal compliance, insurance, benefits, banking, subscriptions and country registration and support other special projects and/or activities as requested by the CEO.

Skills and Experience:

• Highly motivated by YCI’s mission of accelerating youth innovation for good;
• 5+ years of recruiting and/or human resource experience, ideally across multiple industries;
• Demonstrated experience working with recruitment tools, systems and applications;
• Solid knowledge of candidate sourcing techniques and practices;
• Excellent project management skills, including the ability to organize, set and manage priorities and meet competing deadlines;
• Ability to effectively manage administration of volunteer recruitment and deployment;
• A committed team player who can work across teams and professional skill sets in different cultural contexts and build effective working relationships;
• Have an appreciation of the contribution of volunteers to international development and ideally, experienced in supporting or working with volunteers;
• Demonstrates an understanding of the YCI context both within Canada and internationally;
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to coach, advise and influence outcomes;
• Ability to generate enthusiasm about opportunities to prospective candidates;
• Proven ability to understand organizational issues and manage change;
• Strong initiative, process-orientation and attention to detail with excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Application Deadline: Friday, March 14, 2025.

How to apply: 

Link to application can be found here. Please submit your CV as a PDF document, maximum 3 pages, saved in the following format: “First Name Last Name_ Talent Acquisition Specialist.”

The deadline to apply is 5:00pm EST on March 14, 2025, however applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so we strongly encourage early submissions. 

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis as they are received, so we encourage early submissions. No phone calls about the position can be accepted. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

YCI encourages applications from all backgrounds. To achieve our goals, we rely on the unique experiences and viewpoints of our staff, volunteers, and partners. We understand that diverse perspectives require an inclusive culture to thrive - a culture that is respectful and welcoming to all.  We are committed to creating a place of inclusion for employees, candidates, volunteers, partners and visitors of all backgrounds, ages, religions, races, gender identities, physical abilities or sexual orientations; a place where one can be their whole self, and where that whole self feels celebrated.   

Please note that YCI uses a people-focused approach to evaluating applicants. We do not utilize artificial intelligence during the recruitment process. 

Protection against Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Policy

Youth Challenge International (YCI) commits to a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) and considers any such acts a gross misconduct and grounds for dismissal. YCI recognizes the unequal power dynamics inherent in international development work and our responsibility to protect the human rights of the communities we serve and provide an environment free of sexual exploitation and abuse. Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) is everyone’s responsibility, and all employees are required to sign and adhere to the PSEA Policy and Code of Conduct, at all times.  All employees must ensure that they understand and act in accordance with this clause.