Early Talent Acquisition Associate (Hybrid - Reston, VA)

About the Role 

We’re looking for an Early Talent Acquisition Associate to help shape the next generation of talent at ICF. In this role, you’ll manage full lifecycle recruitment for intern, early-career, and emerging talent pipelines while partnering with hiring managers and other stakeholders to deliver a strong Early Talent experience. You’ll contribute to recruiting strategies, build relationships across the organization, and grow your expertise in university and early talent recruiting. 

This is an ideal opportunity for an individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment, enjoys building collaborative relationships, and is eager to apply data, technology, and new ideas to sourcing and hiring. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Manage Early Talent requisitions from intake through start, supporting high-impact and high-volume hiring needs. 
• Facilitate early talent hiring with a high degree of accuracy, coordinating multiple stakeholders, timelines, and deliverables in a fast‑paced environment. 
• Create compliant job postings, sourcing strategies, and interview plans using internal frameworks.  
• Follow all Workday workflows, employment law requirements, and internal standards while maintaining accurate, audit‑ready documentation.  
• Ensure timely, transparent communication that reflects ICF values and delivers a best‑in‑class candidate experience.  
• Guide candidates with professionalism, empathy, and a high‑touch approach tailored to early‑career needs while delivering clear and consistent updates throughout the hiring process.  
• Partner with the Early Talent Manager and other stakeholders to support early talent hiring strategies and demand planning using data, market intelligence, and workforce insights. 
• Collaborate with Hiring Managers, Business Leaders, and HR partners to understand workforce needs, align expectations, and support informed hiring decisions. 
• Gather and share competitive intelligence and Early Talent market trends to support recruiting strategy and stakeholder decisions. 
• Use dashboards, analytics, and recruiting trends to strengthen sourcing strategies and improve process efficiency. 
• Learn and use approved AI and emerging technologies responsibly to support sourcing, candidate engagement, data synthesis, and process improvement, while applying appropriate human judgment and following organizational policies. 
• Proactively build and maintain pipelines of intern and early‑career talent using ICF HR technology and tools.  
• Execute targeted outreach and nurturing campaigns to engage early-career talent; use available tools to streamline sourcing and tailor messaging to candidates’ interests, motivators, and long-term development goals. 
• Collaborate with and share effective early talent sourcing and hiring practices across the global talent team. 
• Serve as a visible and enthusiastic ambassador of the ICF Early Talent brand with both internal and external stakeholders.  
• Travel and attend various college and university campuses for career fairs, networking events, and other Early-Talent programming. 
• Represent ICF and Early Talent at community events.  

Minimum Qualifications 

• A bachelor’s degree.  
• Minimum 2 years of recruiting experience in early talent, university recruiting, campus recruiting, or a related area. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Willingness to travel up to 50% during fall and spring recruiting cycles.  
• Ability to build collaborative relationships and communicate data and market insights to stakeholders. 
• Strong judgment, organization, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple priorities. 
• Excellent communication, storytelling, and candidate engagement skills. 
• Sourcing expertise, especially with Early Talent initiatives, including proactive outreach and passive talent engagement. 
• Experience using ATS/CRM systems (i.e. Workday, Beamery) and analytics tools. 
• Demonstrated curiosity with AI-enabled recruiting technologies and helping to incorporate approved capabilities into team processes. 
• Experience using Early Talent platforms such as Handshake, 12Twenty, Simplicity, etc. 

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Bot and Third-Party Applications

Please note that this application must be submitted directly by the applicant for consideration. Failure to do so may result in the application being excluded for consideration.  Applicants needing an accommodation for disability or religious purposes in connection with the application process should contact [email protected] for assistance.

Working at ICF

Pay Range - There are multiple factors that are considered in determining final pay for a position, including, but not limited to, relevant work experience, skills, certifications and competencies that align to the specified role, geographic location, education and certifications as well as contract provisions regarding labor categories that are specific to the position.

The pay range for this position based on full-time employment is: