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Title:** **Director – Early Careers Program

About the role:

As a Director – Early Careers Program, you will be the operational leader for Cognizant’s Early Careers Program at our Plano, TX, Delivery Center. This role goes beyond onboarding—it requires strategic planning, stakeholder alignment, and flawless execution. You will lead workforce planning, talent deployment, and engagement initiatives, ensuring that all relevant stakeholders work as one team to deliver a world-class experience for campus hires. Success in this role means driving metrics-based governance and aligning program objectives with Cognizant’s business priorities.

In this role you will:

+ **Program Planning & Deployment**

+ Develop and execute comprehensive workforce plans for onsite talent in partnership with the central Organizational Effectiveness (OE) team.

+ Drive talent deployment strategies, ensuring timely placement and utilization across markets and service lines.

+ **Stakeholder Alignment & Governance**

+ Bring together cross-functional stakeholders (Operations, Service Lines, Delivery, Learning and Development (L&D), Human Resources (HR), Supply Chain Management (SCM), Corporate Real Estate and Workplace Services (CREWS)) under a unified program governance model.

+ Ensure alignment on objectives and accountability for execution.

+ **Talent Lifecycle Management**

+ Talent Planning: Collaborate with the Organizational Effectiveness team for workforce planning.

+ Talent Acquisition: Partner with Recruitment to hire talent.

+ Talent Enablement: Work with Service Lines and Learning and Development to ensure training readiness.

+ Talent Engagement: Coordinate with Human Resources and Service Lines to foster engagement and retention.

+ Talent Deployment: Lead deployment activities, ensuring alignment with business needs.

+ **Metrics-Driven Governance**

+ Monitor and report on key program metrics:

+ Hiring selection and offer conversion

+ Training effectiveness and Fast Tracker

+ Deployment timelines and utilization

+ Retention tenures and early attrition

+ Percentage of SA population sourced from program

• **Operational Excellence**

+ Track and report on cohort progress, engagement metrics, and feedback.

+ Ensure compliance with internal policies and external regulations related to hiring and onboarding.

+ Support planning and execution of cohort-related events (e.g., orientation, networking, milestone reviews).

• **Continuous Improvement**

+ Identify opportunities to enhance the onboarding experience and streamline the deployment process.

Contribute to the development of scalable processes and playbooks for future hub expansion.

What you need to have to be considered:

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or related field.

• 15+ years of experience in campus recruitment, talent acquisition, operations or program/project management within a large enterprise or consulting environment.

• Proven ability to manage complex onboarding and orientation processes across multiple stakeholders.

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; ability to engage with diverse audiences.

• Experience with Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), onboarding platforms, and Microsoft Office Suite.

Leadership Expectations

+ Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional teams and influence senior stakeholders.

+ Strong decision-making and problem-solving skills in dynamic, high-volume environments.

+ Ability to create alignment across diverse functions and drive accountability for program objectives.

+ Skilled in building collaborative relationships and fostering a culture of ownership and execution.

These will help you stand out

• Master’s degree or HR certification (e.g., Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP), Professional in Human Resources (PHR)).

• Experience managing early career programs or university relations in a consulting or IT services firm.

• Familiarity with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) best practices in recruitment and onboarding.

• Experience with data reporting, program evaluation, and continuous improvement initiatives.

We're excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways. Don't hesitate to apply, even if you only meet the minimum requirements listed. Think about your transferable experiences and unique skills that make you stand out as someone who can bring new and exciting things to this role.

We believe hybrid work is the way forward as we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring 3 days a week in a client or Cognizant office. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance though our various wellbeing programs.

The working arrangements for this role are accurate as of the date of posting. This may change based on the project you’re engaged in, as well as business and client requirements. Rest assured; we will always be clear about role expectations.

Cognizant is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.