Jessica Power | Freelancer Resume

JESSICA POWER BIO Director of Talent Acquisition with 10+ years of experience building and scaling recruiting functions in fast-growing, technical, and mission-driven organizations. Proven partner to founders and executive teams, owning workforce planning, full-cycle recruiting, interview design, compensation alignment, and onboarding for globally distributed teams. Known for building high-signal, data-driven hiring systems from scratch: balancing speed, quality, and candidate experience while hiring for complex technical and cross-functional roles. Former national-level athlete (2008 & 2012 Olympic Trials), bringing grit, discipline, and steady execution to complex, real-world problems. CORE SKILLS ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Talent Acquisition Strategy & Workforce Planning Full-Cycle Recruiting (Technical & Specialized Roles) Interview Design, Scorecards & Bias-Resistant Evaluation Employer Brand & Talent Pipelines Compensation Bands & Hiring Budget Alignment Data-Driven Hiring Metrics (time-to-hire, funnel health) Onboarding Design & Early Success HR Technology & ATS Optimization (BambooHR, ClickUp; fast learner of Greenhouse/Rippling) EXPERIENCE Sland Studios, Calgary — Director of Operations & People March 2025 - Present | Remote Own and operate core People programs for a fully remote, cross-functional agency, partnering closely with leadership to build scalable, people-first systems that support clarity, accountability, and performance. ● ● ● Acted as the senior People leader, partnering with leadership on workforce planning, organizational health, performance management, and complex people decisions, serving as the escalation point for sensitive and high-impact matters. Built and owned the company’s end-to-end hiring system (role definition → sourcing → structured interviews → offers → onboarding) for technical and senior roles in a remote-first environment. Designed people systems that reinforced ownership, accountability, and results across teams, aligning employee experience with delivery performance and business goals. ● ● ● ● ● Partnered with leadership to design role clarity, accountability frameworks, and performance expectations across teams. Treated people programs as products, using feedback loops, metrics, and iteration to continuously improve engagement, accountability, and performance. Designed and implemented centralized team workflows and documentation systems in ClickUp; trained the entire organization on consistent operating rhythms. Support hiring, onboarding, and enablement for distributed teams while maintaining consistency, clarity, and employee experience. Identify friction points across the employee experience and implement practical, human-centered solutions. POD Marketing — People & Learning Advisor (Post-Acquisition) January 2022 – March 2024 | Remote Served as a senior People Operations and Learning advisor during post-acquisition integration, supporting leadership through organizational change and operational maturity. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Audited hiring, onboarding, performance, and manager practices to reduce founder dependency and improve consistency. Supported leadership with hiring execution and onboarding design during post-acquisition team changes, ensuring clarity and continuity for new hires. Designed and implemented structured onboarding programs, including 90-day ramp plans and role-based learning materials. Partnered with leadership to strengthen manager enablement, documentation standards, and feedback rhythms. Led complex employee relations and performance management cases, supporting leaders through difficult conversations with empathy, consistency, and sound judgment. Improved early engagement, clarity, and retention through standardized onboarding and manager support systems. Supported leadership and team through post-acquisition change, employee relations matters, and people-related risk, balancing business continuity with employee experience. Built trust with leaders and teams during periods of uncertainty by bringing structure, clarity, and calm to people's decisions. PowerSurge Marketing, Calgary — Co-Founder & Head of People & Operations (Acquired 2021; continued post-acquisition as operator/advisor) June 2016 - March 2024 | Remote Owned People Operations and internal systems from early growth through acquisition for a remote-first digital agency scaling to $2M+ ARR. Hiring & Recruiting Execution ● ● ● Owned end-to-end recruiting from role definition through offer for a remote-first team, including sourcing, screening, interviews, and candidate communication. Hired globally across Canada, United States, Europe, India, Philippines and Pakistan, balancing speed with quality and candidate experience. Designed interview scorecards and screening criteria to support hiring for technical, operational, and cross-functional roles. ● ● Conducted first-round candidate screens and provided clear summaries and recommendations to leadership. Reduced operational drag on founders by owning hiring coordination, candidate communication, and onboarding execution end-to-end. People Operations & Programs ● ● ● Owned hiring, onboarding, performance management, manager enablement, promotions, and exits across the full employee lifecycle. Designed and ran performance review and goal-setting systems aligned to business priorities and employee growth. Built manager enablement programs for first-time leaders, including feedback frameworks and performance conversations. People Strategy, Governance & Scale ● ● ● ● ● ● Owned end-to-end People & Culture strategy through rapid growth and acquisition. Developed people strategies directly tied to revenue growth, delivery capacity, and margin health, ensuring people investments delivered measurable business impact. Led employee relations, performance management, and exits with consistency, fairness, and legal awareness. Designed and governed compensation structures, role leveling, and growth paths aligned to business needs. Oversaw compliance, benefits administration, payroll, and HR operations in partnership with finance and legal advisors. Built leadership capability across managers responsible for both people and delivery outcomes. Leadership & Culture ● ● ● ● Built and led fully remote teams across marketing, operations, and client success. Coached managers (teams of 1–6) on leadership fundamentals and Radical Candor–inspired feedback. Led company-wide communication rhythms and leadership alignment during growth and acquisition. Served as primary people partner through acquisition and organizational change. Systems, Compliance & Scale ● ● ● ● ● Designed hiring frameworks, interview scorecards, onboarding flows, and internal documentation from 0 → scale. Standardized and automated core people processes to reduce manual effort, improve consistency, and scale operations efficiently as the business grew. Implemented and built custom workflows for onboarding, performance tracking, and employee data management. Oversaw payroll, benefits administration, and HR operations in partnership with accounting. Maintained compliance processes in a HIPAA-regulated environment. Calgary Recruiting & Staffing, Calgary — Account Executive March 2013 - December 2013 | Calgary, AB ● ● Delivered full-cycle recruitment for executive, professional, and contract roles across multiple industries. Built strong client partnerships through deep understanding of hiring needs and role requirements. Dentons, Edmonton — Global Digital Marketing Coordinator April 2014 - June 2016 | Edmonton, AB ● ● Supported global digital marketing initiatives at a multinational professional services firm. Managed web content and global communications using Sitecore, WordPress, and analytics tools. SCOPE & COMPLEXITY ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Team size supported: 30–100+ employees (across growth stages) Operating environments: High-growth, client-service, distributed teams Leadership scope: Executive advisory, manager coaching, employee relations Business impact: People strategy aligned to performance, growth, and retention Compliance exposure: Canadian employment standards, benefits, payroll, terminations Work style: Hands-on, visible leadership with a strong results orientation Decision cadence: executive, weekly, quarterly SOFTWARE PROFICIENCY People Operations & Workflows ● ● ● ● ClickUp, HighLevel, Trello, Asana Google Workspace: Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slides, GMeets Slack, Zoom 1pass, Lastpass Talent Acquisition & Workforce Systems ● ● ● ATS & HRIS: BambooHR, ClickUp, Greenhouse, Rippling, ADP, Dayforce, Harvest LinkedIn Recruiter, Indeed, Hubstaff, WellFound Time & Capacity Tracking: HarvestScreenshot monitor, Time Doctor, Toggl Track Global Operations & Payments ● ● Quickbooks Remitly, Wise , Paypal, Stripe, WorldRemit AI, Automation & Productivity ● ● ● ChatGPT, Jasper, Consensus Zapier, Twilio Google Apps Script, Slack API EDUCATION University of Calgary — Bachelor of Arts, Communication and Media Studies - Minor in Marketing 2007 - 2012 Elevated HR —HR For Startups 2019 LEADERSHIP & DIFFERENTIATORS ● ● ● ● ● Builder mindset: design → test → scale Calm, empathetic operator in high-stakes situations Strong bias toward clarity, accountability, and fairness Leadership Values: Results-driven, trust-based leadership; high ownership; growth mindset; gratitude and recognition as performance levers. Deep respect for the emotional realities of work, especially in remote environments AWARDS ● ● ● ● Women of Influence Nominee - RBC Canadian Entrepreneur Awards Honours with Distinction - Calgary Academy Curtis Myden Swimming Award Jimmie Condon Athletic Award