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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Resourcing Specialist

💰 $65,000 - $95,000

Human ResourcesOperationsProject Management

🎯 Role Definition

As a Resourcing Specialist, you are the central hub for talent allocation and workforce optimization. You will act as a strategic partner to department heads, project managers, and the HR team, ensuring that our projects are powered by individuals with the right skills and availability. Your primary goal is to solve the complex puzzle of matching people to projects, balancing business needs with employee development and satisfaction. This role requires a blend of analytical rigor, strong negotiation skills, and a deep understanding of our business and talent landscape. You will be instrumental in forecasting future needs, managing capacity, and providing the data-driven insights that enable our leaders to make informed decisions about our workforce.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Recruitment Coordinator
  • Project Coordinator
  • HR Generalist

Advancement To:

  • Senior Resourcing Specialist
  • Resourcing Manager
  • Workforce Planning Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Talent Acquisition Specialist
  • HR Business Partner
  • Project Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Manage the end-to-end resource allocation process, from initial project request to team deployment, ensuring alignment with project timelines, budgets, and skill requirements.
  • Collaborate closely with Project Managers, Department Heads, and Engagement Leaders to understand upcoming project pipelines and accurately forecast future resource demand.
  • Maintain and optimize the resource management system (e.g., Kantata, Mavenlink), ensuring data integrity for employee skills, availability, and project assignments.
  • Proactively identify and resolve potential resource conflicts, scheduling bottlenecks, and staffing gaps by proposing creative solutions like skill-sharing or strategic hiring.
  • Chair and facilitate regular resourcing meetings with key stakeholders to review current allocations, prioritize competing staffing requests, and make data-driven decisions.
  • Develop, maintain, and distribute comprehensive reports and dashboards on key metrics, including utilization rates, billability, capacity vs. demand, and forecasting accuracy.
  • Analyze workforce data to identify trends, critical skills gaps, and opportunities for talent development, providing actionable insights to HR and leadership teams.
  • Act as the central point of contact for all resource-related inquiries, providing timely and accurate information on staff availability and potential deployment options.
  • Partner with the Talent Acquisition team to translate long-term resource forecasts into a strategic hiring plan, ensuring a robust pipeline of qualified candidates.
  • Manage and track the freelance and contractor talent pool, coordinating their onboarding, assignment, and offboarding in line with dynamic project needs.
  • Conduct skills gap analyses across the organization and work with Learning & Development to recommend and support training initiatives that align with future business needs.
  • Champion a balanced approach to resource allocation by considering employee career goals, development opportunities, and personal preferences alongside business priorities.
  • Drive the continuous improvement of resourcing processes, tools, and methodologies to enhance efficiency, transparency, and overall stakeholder satisfaction.
  • Govern the resource request and approval workflow, ensuring compliance with established business rules and service level agreements (SLAs).
  • Monitor project progress and actual hours worked against planned hours to inform future resource planning and improve estimation accuracy for new proposals.
  • Lead the capacity planning process, providing leadership with a clear view of our ability to take on new work and highlighting potential over/under-utilization risks.
  • Mediate staffing conflicts between project teams, demonstrating strong negotiation and problem-solving skills to find mutually agreeable outcomes.
  • Maintain a comprehensive skills matrix and talent directory, making it easier to identify subject matter experts and staff projects with precision.
  • Evaluate and recommend new resource management tools and technologies to further automate and streamline workforce planning operations.
  • Support sales and business development teams during the proposal phase by providing insights into resource availability and potential staffing models.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to answer critical business questions related to workforce composition and performance.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap by providing a resourcing perspective on operational excellence.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements for reporting and analytics.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team to ensure resourcing tools are effective.
  • Assist in the financial planning and budgeting process by providing accurate data on staffing costs, utilization projections, and hiring needs.
  • Onboard new managers and project leads on the official resourcing process, tools, and best practices to ensure smooth adoption.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Resource Management Software: High proficiency with Professional Services Automation (PSA) or resource management tools (e.g., Kantata/Mavenlink, Planview, Smartsheet, Monday.com).
  • Advanced Excel: Expertise in Microsoft Excel, including pivot tables, complex formulas, VLOOKUPs/INDEX-MATCH, and data modeling for analysis and reporting.
  • Data Visualization: Experience with data visualization tools like Power BI, Tableau, or Google Data Studio to create insightful and easy-to-understand dashboards.
  • Workforce Planning: Strong grasp of workforce planning, forecasting techniques, and capacity management principles.
  • Project Management Methodologies: Solid understanding of project management frameworks (Agile, Scrum, Waterfall) and their impact on resource scheduling.
  • Data Analysis: Ability to analyze large datasets to extract meaningful insights, identify trends, and support strategic decision-making.
  • HRIS/ATS Familiarity: Working knowledge of HR Information Systems (e.g., Workday, SAP SuccessFactors) and Applicant Tracking Systems (e.g., Greenhouse, Lever) is a plus.

Soft Skills

  • Communication & Influence: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to confidently negotiate, influence, and build consensus among stakeholders at all levels.
  • Analytical & Problem-Solving: A sharp analytical mind with a data-driven approach to solving complex staffing puzzles and operational challenges.
  • Diplomacy & EQ: High level of emotional intelligence and tact, essential for navigating conflicting priorities and sensitive conversations about staff assignments.
  • Organization & Attention to Detail: Superb organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail, capable of managing multiple high-priority requests in a fast-paced environment.
  • Proactive & Solution-Oriented: A forward-thinking mindset with a knack for anticipating future challenges, identifying risks, and proposing proactive solutions before they become problems.
  • Business Acumen: Strong commercial awareness and an understanding of how resource utilization directly impacts project profitability, client satisfaction, and financial performance.
  • Collaboration: A true team player who thrives in a collaborative environment and can work effectively across different functions, including HR, Finance, and Delivery.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's Degree or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelor's or Master's Degree in a relevant field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Human Resources
  • Business Administration
  • Operations Management
  • Project Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 3-5 years of experience in a resource management, workforce planning, project coordination, or a related HR/Operations role.

Preferred:

  • Direct experience in a professional services, management consulting, digital agency, or technology company where resource allocation is a core business function. Proven success in a matrixed organization is highly desirable.
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