Delanna Thornton
Atlanta
Summary
Dynamic people professional with a strong background in recruiting and HR operations. Drives employee engagement and retention through data-informed strategies and proactive support, fostering a culture of inclusivity. Partners with leadership to ensure talent initiatives align with organizational objectives and enhance performance.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
Work History
Recruiting/People Operations/Employee Relations
Freelance/Contract/Self-employed
Atlanta
01.2023 - Current
- Managed employee relations matters, including conflict resolution and workplace investigations
- Conducted fair and thorough investigations, ensuring consistent application of company policies
- Advised managers on performance management, disciplinary actions, and terminations
- Fostered positive, inclusive work environment by providing proactive employee support to address concerns and promote engagement
- Mitigated organizational risk by ensuring compliance with employment laws and internal policies
- Built trust across the organization by balancing employee advocacy with business objectives
- Drove employee engagement and retention initiatives, strengthening workplace culture and fostering employee loyalty
- Leveraged data and HR metrics to inform people strategies and support business decision-making
- Partnered with leadership to align people initiatives with organizational goals
- Specialize in sourcing and hiring top technical talent, including software engineers, DevOps professionals, data analysts, cybersecurity experts, and IT support staff.
- Partner with hiring managers and technical leads to define role requirements, assess team needs, and craft effective recruiting strategies.
- Conduct advanced sourcing using Boolean search, GitHub, Stack Overflow, and LinkedIn Recruiter to identify both active and passive candidates.
- Screen candidates for technical proficiency, cultural fit, and long-term potential using structured interviews and collaborative feedback loops.
- Manage the full recruitment lifecycle - from intake to offer - ensuring a smooth, timely, and transparent hiring experience.
- Advise clients on competitive compensation trends, market availability, and candidate engagement strategies for hard-to-fill technical roles.
Team Lead - Technical Recruiting
Twitter
San Francisco
04.2021 - 01.2023
- Partnered with leaders to establish plans, define strategies, and deliver solutions that transformed senior talent recruitment
- Defined, designed, and implemented leadership recruiting programs; drove sourcing strategy recommendations for various senior technical roles
- Utilized a combination of recruiting techniques to build and engage networks, assessing and hiring top-tier senior engineering talent
- Partner closely with hiring managers throughout recruitment cycle from identification, assessment through offer
- Collaborate with engineering recruiting teams to share competitive intelligence, prospective candidate leads and placement of senior technical talent
- Act as an advocate for both client and candidate throughout the hiring process; establishing regular touch points and providing diligent follow through resulting in a best-in-class candidate and client experience
Team Lead - Technical and Engineering Recruiting
Forcepoint
Austin
06.2017 - 03.2021
- Managed full life cycle recruiting for multiple requisitions, achieving consistently low time to fill
- Primarily sourced and recruited candidates with active DoD/Intel TS/SCI Polygraph clearances
- Recruit for various sales and technical roles within the Commercial and Federal space
- Recruit within NAM/LATAM/APAC/EMEA for Commercial and Federal roles
- Implemented strategic enhancements to recruiting policies and practices, aligning with organizational goals
- Built candidate pipeline for various roles through targeted networking and engagement both inside and outside of company
- Work with finance and HR Business Partners to ensure salaries are within budget prior to extending verbal offers
- Extend all verbal offers and background checks and on boarding
Senior Recruiter
Aptean
Alpharetta
08.2016 - 12.2016
- Led recruitment efforts across North and Latin America, aligning talent acquisition strategy with regional needs
- Manage recruitment process from initial contact with candidates to onboarding
- Facilitated weekly meetings with hiring managers to provide updates on requisition status and align on recruitment strategies
- Extend offers and negotiate counter offers
- Conducted initial phone interviews to assess candidates' skills and suitability for specific roles
- Conduct Skype video assessments prior to onsite interviews
University Relations Campus Recruiter
SunTrust
Atlanta
04.2013 - 08.2015
- Developed and executed campus recruiting strategy, identifying creative approaches to enhance candidate engagement
- Developed and maintained relationships with campus stakeholders, including career services, professors, and student organizations, to support recruiting initiatives
- Plan and execute all campus events (information sessions, lunch and learns, executive speaker sessions etc.)
- Increased diversity recruiting efforts through implementation of annual Diversity Leadership Summit, promoting inclusive hiring practices
- Created and managed a 120K University Relations budget for annual campus recruiting activities
- Extended offers to 80% of summer intern class with an 81% conversion acceptance rate overall
- Utilized candidate tracking systems and online reporting tools to streamline recruitment processes.
- Assisted in candidate selection by reviewing applications and conducting interviews.
- Traveled to various campuses to attend recruiting events and engage with potential candidates.
- Conducted bi-annual debrief of Summer Intern recruiting as well as full-time backfill efforts
- Work closely with line of business to determine business needs
- Use social media tools to develop and maintain brand awareness on campus and in the general college community
- Launched "STRH Women's Roadshow" at 6 test schools to promote female presence on campus
- 83% acceptance rate of all Super Day candidates for the Investment Banking role
- 85% acceptance rate of all Super Day candidates for the Portfolio Management role
- 23% of full-time class a direct result of Diversity Leadership Summit
Education
Master of Business Administration -
Southern Polytechnic State University
Atlanta, GABachelor of Art -
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GASkills
- Talent strategy
- Candidate sourcing
- Boolean
- Inclusive Recruitment
- Behavioral Interviewing
- Onboarding
- Performance management
- Employee Mediation
- EEOC Compliance
- Workday
- LinkedIn Recruiter
- ICIMS
- Greenhouse
- Lever
- SmartRecruiters
- JazzHR
- Paycom
- Data management
- Data analysis
- MS Office
Timeline
Recruiting/People Operations/Employee Relations
Freelance/Contract/Self-employed
01.2023 - Current
Team Lead - Technical Recruiting
Twitter
04.2021 - 01.2023
Team Lead - Technical and Engineering Recruiting
Forcepoint
06.2017 - 03.2021
Senior Recruiter
Aptean
08.2016 - 12.2016
University Relations Campus Recruiter
SunTrust
04.2013 - 08.2015
Master of Business Administration -
Southern Polytechnic State University
Bachelor of Art -
Georgia State University