Lead strategy, operations, and growth of the employee referral ecosystem. Build workflows, incentives, marketing, analytics, and integrations to increase referral volume, quality, and conversion while ensuring program integrity, exceptional candidate/referrer experience, and executive reporting.
About Overwatch Mission Critical
Overwatch is a service-disabled Veteran-owned small business (SDVOB) certified through the National Veterans Business Development Council (NVBDC), offering construction professional services, talent acquisition, and general contractor services for the mission-critical infrastructure industry.
Our mission is the construction and management of state-of-the-art data centers with the precision and reliability this industry demands. From high-end engineers to seasoned professionals, we deploy the people you need to get your data center off the ground. At Overwatch, it's more than a job. It's a purpose.
Role Overview
At Overwatch, referrals are more than a recruiting program—they are one of our most important talent acquisition channels, generating approximately half of our hires. As we continue to scale, we're investing in transforming referrals into a strategic growth engine that delivers exceptional talent, strengthens our workforce supply chain, and creates a sustainable competitive advantage.
The Referral Program & Growth Manager will own the strategy, operations, performance, and continuous growth of Overwatch's referral ecosystem. This role combines recruiting expertise, program management, analytics, technology, and marketing to increase referral volume, improve candidate quality, accelerate hiring, and create an exceptional experience for both referred candidates and those making referrals.
Success in this role is measured not by administering a referral program, but by building a scalable, data-driven talent acquisition channel that consistently delivers measurable business results and evolves alongside the company's growth.
What You'll Do:
Referral Strategy & Growth
- Own the end-to-end strategy and execution of Overwatch's referral program as a critical talent acquisition channel.
- Develop annual and quarterly growth strategies to increase referral volume, quality, and referral-to-hire conversion.
- Continuously evaluate and optimize referral incentives, program structure, communications, and engagement strategies.
- Identify new referral opportunities across employees, veterans, BuildNow graduates, alumni, strategic partners, customers, suppliers, and other talent communities.
- Build and maintain a long-term roadmap that ensures the referral program continues to scale with the business.
Program Operations
- Own the complete referral lifecycle from submission through hire and payout.
- Design standardized workflows, governance, and operating procedures that create consistency and accountability.
- Establish and monitor service level expectations for referral response times, recruiter follow-up, and candidate communication.
- Partner with Recruiting Operations and Business Platforms & Intelligence to optimize referral workflows, automation, and system integrations across recruiting technologies.
- Ensure program integrity, data accuracy, compliance, and timely incentive administration.
Candidate & Referrer Experience
- Deliver a best-in-class experience for both referred candidates and those making referrals.
- Ensure every referral receives timely acknowledgment, communication, and appropriate follow-up throughout the recruiting process.
- Build trust and encourage repeat participation through transparency, responsiveness, and exceptional service.
- Continuously improve the referral experience by gathering feedback and implementing enhancements.
Marketing & Engagement
- Partner closely with Marketing to develop and execute referral campaigns that increase awareness and participation.
- Create employee communications, newsletters, recognition programs, success stories, referral contests, and targeted hiring campaigns.
- Develop creative engagement strategies for priority hiring initiatives, including mission-critical construction, veterans, BuildNow, and other strategic workforce initiatives.
- Build excitement around the referral program through consistent communication, recognition, and storytelling.
Analytics & Continuous Improvement
- Develop dashboards and executive reporting that provide visibility into referral pipeline health and business performance.
- Analyze referral activity, conversion rates, recruiter responsiveness, candidate quality, time-to-hire, retention, and overall business impact.
- Identify trends, uncover opportunities, and recommend data-driven improvements.
- Lead a culture of continuous experimentation by testing new incentives, campaigns, messaging, workflows, and engagement strategies.
- Regularly present insights, recommendations, and program performance to Recruiting Leadership.
What Success Looks Like:
Within your first 12 months, you'll
- Increase qualified referral submissions and active participation across the organization.
- Improve referral-to-interview and referral-to-hire conversion rates.
- Reduce average referral response times and improve recruiter accountability.
- Launch recurring referral marketing campaigns that drive measurable engagemen.
- Deliver executive dashboards that provide real-time visibility into referral performance and business impact.
- Build a scalable operating model that supports Overwatch's continued growth and evolving workforce needs.
- Establish the referral program as one of the company's highest-performing talent acquisition channels.
What You'll Bring:
- 5+ years of experience in recruiting, recruiting operations, talent acquisition programs, agency recruiting, or strategic talent initiatives.
- Demonstrated success building, optimizing, or managing recruiting programs or high-volume talent acquisition channels.
- Strong program and project management skills with the ability to lead cross-functional initiatives.
- Experience working with ATS, CRM, and recruiting technologies such as GEM, Greenhouse, Salesforce, or similar platforms.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data, identify trends, and translate insights into action.
- Excellent communication, relationship-building, and organizational skills.
- Experience partnering with Marketing, Operations, or Technology teams to deliver cross-functional initiatives is preferred.
- A continuous improvement mindset with a passion for building scalable programs that drive measurable business outcomes.
Benefits:
Overwatch offers a competitive salary and benefits package, including health insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, 401(k) retirement plan, paid time off, and relocation assistance available.
OVERWATCH is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. OVERWATCH considers candidates regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.
OVERWATCH Austin, Texas, USA Office
Austin, TX, United States, 78738
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