Hiring Staffing Manager in Louisville

LGC Associates is a 20-year established hospitality staffing firm with deep roots in the Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky markets, having placed over 12,000 frontline and management hospitality talent with local and national client portfolios including downtown boutique hotels, regional restaurant groups, Kentucky Exposition Center event vendors, and luxury resort partners across the broader Midwest. Unlike high-volume, high-turnover staffing agencies that prioritize headcount over fit, we build long-term partnerships with both client properties and job seekers, with a 78% 6-month retention rate for placed candidates, well above the industry average of 52% for hospitality staffing.

We are currently seeking a Staffing Manager to join our Louisville-based team, serving as the end-to-end owner of talent acquisition for our core hospitality client portfolio. In this role, you will not just fill open roles, but build sustainable talent pipelines that reduce client turnover, cut time-to-hire, and ensure candidates are placed in roles where they can build long-term, stable careers. This position reports directly to the Louisville Regional Operations Manager, and collaborates closely with our Lexington staffing team to support cross-region client needs, with approximately 1-2 days of monthly travel to Lexington for client onboarding and quarterly business reviews.

Key responsibilities for this role include:
1. Owning full-cycle recruitment for 12+ active hospitality client accounts, with a target of filling 85% of open requisitions within 14 days of receipt, reducing overall client time-to-hire by 20% year-over-year.
2. Sourcing and screening 40+ qualified candidates weekly via LinkedIn Recruiter, Indeed for Employers, hospitality-specific job boards, and our internal candidate database, conducting structured first-round interviews to assess role-specific skills (ServSafe certification, housekeeping quality standards, front desk property management system proficiency) and soft skills aligned to client service expectations.
3. Managing full onboarding coordination for all placed candidates, ensuring 100% completion of required compliance documentation (I-9 verification, background checks, Kentucky work authorization via KOES, food handler permits) and conducting 90-day check-ins with 90% of placed candidates to reduce first-quarter turnover by 15% annually.
4. Serving as the primary point of contact for 8-10 core hospitality clients, hosting quarterly business reviews to align on upcoming hiring needs, adjust role requirements as client operations shift, and delivering quarterly retention reports showing placed candidate 6-month and 12-month tenure rates.
5. Optimizing our Bullhorn ATS workflow to reduce administrative processing time by 25%, maintaining accurate candidate records, interview feedback logs, and placement data to support data-driven hiring decisions for both clients and internal teams.
6. Partnering with the Louisville and Lexington operations teams to identify seasonal hiring surges (e.g., Kentucky Derby season, holiday travel periods, major regional events) and building pre-vetted talent pipelines 6 weeks in advance of peak demand, ensuring client sites have adequate staffing with zero last-minute coverage gaps.
7. Ensuring full compliance with federal and Kentucky state labor laws, including Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) guidelines, anti-discrimination hiring practices, and work authorization requirements, conducting quarterly audits of placement records to avoid compliance risks for clients and LGC.
8. Mentoring 2 junior recruitment coordinators on hospitality-specific sourcing strategies and candidate engagement best practices, leading weekly 30-minute team training sessions to improve overall team placement rates by 10% per quarter.

Our work environment prioritizes sustainable performance over high-pressure, unrealistic sales quotas that lead to poor candidate and client experiences. You will be part of a close-knit 12-person Louisville team that values transparency, with weekly team huddles to share client insights and candidate success stories, no "rank and yank" performance reviews. This role operates on a hybrid schedule: 3 days in-office for team collaboration and client meetings, 2 days remote for sourcing and administrative work, with flexible scheduling options for client site visits. We provide a $1,200 annual professional development stipend for SHRM certifications, hospitality industry training, or conference attendance, and host annual team retreats to celebrate collective and individual successes. Occasional travel to our Lexington office or client sites (1-2 days per month) is required for this role.

Ideal candidates will have 3+ years of experience in talent acquisition, with at least 2 years focused on hospitality or frontline service recruitment. You must have a working knowledge of Kentucky state labor laws related to hiring, and experience using ATS platforms (Bullhorn experience is preferred, but experience with similar tools is acceptable). Strong interpersonal skills are required to build trust with hospitality managers who often face high turnover pain points, as well as candidates seeking stable, long-term roles. You must be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment, as hospitality hiring often involves urgent, last-minute needs, especially during peak travel and event seasons in Louisville. A bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field is preferred, but we will consider candidates with equivalent professional experience who can demonstrate a track record of successful hospitality placements.

For this role, you will regularly use the following tools and platforms: Bullhorn ATS, LinkedIn Recruiter, Indeed for Employers, Microsoft Office Suite (advanced Excel for placement metrics tracking), KOES (Kentucky Online Employer Services) for work authorization verification, ServSafe certification platforms to validate candidate credentials, and Zoom for virtual candidate and client interviews. Familiarity with hospitality property management systems (PMS) such as Oracle Opera or Cloudbeds is a plus, as it allows you to accurately assess candidate technical fit for front desk and housekeeping roles.

LGC Associates offers a competitive total rewards package for this role, including a base salary of $52,000 to $68,000 annually, dependent on relevant experience, plus a performance bonus of up to 12% of base salary tied to placement retention rates (not just headcount) to align incentives with long-term client and candidate success. Benefits include full medical, dental, and vision coverage starting on your first day of employment, 15 days of paid time off plus 10 paid company holidays, a 401(k) plan with a 4% employer match, and a $75 monthly wellness stipend for gym memberships, mental health resources, or commuting costs. We also offer flexible scheduling, 2 days of remote work per week, and paid time off for volunteer work in the local Louisville community.

LGC has a 20-year track record of promoting from within: 70% of our current leadership team started in staffing coordinator or recruiter roles. As a Staffing Manager, you will have clear, structured pathways to advance to Senior Staffing Manager, Louisville Regional Operations Manager, or Director of Talent Acquisition within 2-3 years of strong performance. We provide quarterly leadership training sessions, one-on-one mentorship from our executive leadership team, and opportunities to lead cross-regional projects (such as building a statewide hospitality talent pipeline for major event venues) to build your management experience. You will also have the option to specialize in high-growth hospitality segments such as luxury hotel staffing, event venue recruitment, or restaurant group talent acquisition if that aligns with your long-term career goals.

Our hiring process is designed to be transparent and efficient, with no unnecessary assessments or endless interview rounds. First, qualified applicants will receive a response from our hiring team within 3 business days of submission to schedule a 30-minute initial phone screen with Jennifer Sukup, our Louisville Staffing Lead, to discuss your experience and answer any questions about the role and LGC’s operations. Candidates who advance will be invited to a 1-hour in-office (or virtual, if needed) interview with the Louisville Regional Operations Manager, during which you will complete a short, role-specific case exercise: you will be given a sample urgent hiring request from a downtown Louisville hotel preparing for a major regional event, and asked to outline your sourcing, screening, and placement timeline to meet their 7-day turnaround need. Final-round candidates will meet with two members of our client success team to discuss how you would collaborate with our hospitality partners to ensure long-term placement success. We aim to extend formal offers within 10 business days of the final interview, with a flexible start date within 2 weeks of offer acceptance. To express interest, send your resume and a brief 2-3 sentence note sharing why you are interested in hospitality staffing to [email protected], or call 314-259-1870 to schedule a 15-minute informal chat with Jennifer to learn more about the role before applying. We review all submissions on a rolling basis, and will only reach out to candidates whose experience aligns with the role requirements.