Alaina Schnipke

Alaina Schnipke

Director, Talent Acquisition - PDW

Like many talent leaders, Alaina Schnipke never planned on a career in talent acquisition.

After beginning her career in higher education, she wanted to transition into the corporate world and was referred to a recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) firm as a Recruiting Coordinator.

That opportunity would ultimately shape the course of her career.

“I firmly believe that anyone who works in talent acquisition should spend time as a Recruiting Coordinator.”

While often overlooked, Alaina credits the coordinator role with teaching some of the most important skills in talent acquisition: organization, data integrity, systems thinking, and operational excellence.

From there, she worked her way through nearly every layer of recruiting—Coordinator, Sourcer, Recruiter, Program Leader, Operations Specialist, and Talent Acquisition Executive.

Each role expanded her understanding of how talent organizations can influence business outcomes at scale.

Over the years, she built recruiting programs, implemented enterprise HR technologies, managed surge hiring initiatives, developed leadership pipelines, and led large-scale operational improvements across organizations ranging from restaurant brands and industrial businesses to technology giants and healthcare innovators.

Today, she leads Talent Acquisition Operations & Infrastructure, overseeing technology, process, analytics, employer branding, and HR technology initiatives.

Looking back, Alaina credits her journey to a combination of curiosity, adaptability, and a willingness to embrace new challenges.

“A little bit of fate, a little bit of always saying yes to opportunities.”

The Advice That Changed Everything

Throughout her career, Alaina has been fortunate to work alongside leaders who helped shape her approach to leadership and talent.

One of the earliest influences was Jessica Brown, a manager who taught her the importance of adaptability, emotional intelligence, and creating space for people to learn through experience.

At Amazon Web Services, she encountered several leaders who would significantly influence her growth.

Adrian Shamir demonstrated what strong leadership looks like in practice—combining humility, operational excellence, and fierce advocacy for her team.

Greg Billings, one of Alaina’s mentors, offered a piece of advice that would become foundational to her career.

“Say what you want out loud.”

The message was simple: managers are not mind readers.

If you want new responsibilities, bigger challenges, or a future leadership opportunity, you have to communicate your ambitions clearly.

That advice transformed the way Alaina approached career development.

Rather than waiting for opportunities to appear, she learned to actively advocate for herself, raise her hand for new experiences, and make her goals known.

The result has been a career marked by continuous growth and expanding responsibilities.

“If the experience comes open, I’m raising my hand.”

Building Better Systems for Talent

Throughout her career, Alaina has gravitated toward solving complex organizational challenges.

While she enjoys recruiting, she discovered her greatest passion lies in operational excellence—identifying large-scale problems, breaking them down into manageable pieces, and building solutions that improve experiences for recruiters, hiring managers, and candidates alike.

That passion led her into Talent Acquisition Operations, where she has worked on everything from system implementations and process redesigns to workforce planning, employer branding, and people technology.

She describes her role as orchestrating a constantly moving ecosystem of people, technology, and business priorities.

“I love orchestrating a three-ring circus.”

For Alaina, great talent operations are not about maintaining the status quo. They are about continuously improving how work gets done while helping teams operate more effectively at scale.

Embracing AI While Staying Human

As someone deeply involved in recruiting technology, Alaina closely follows the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence and its impact on talent acquisition.

She sees enormous potential for AI to eliminate manual tasks, improve efficiency, and create better experiences across the employee lifecycle.

At the same time, she believes organizations must approach implementation thoughtfully and responsibly.

“I’m a huge AI adopter.”

Rather than chasing trends, she focuses on understanding how technology solves real business problems and where it creates meaningful value.

Her passion for talent technology extends beyond her own organization. Colleagues across the industry frequently seek her advice on technology evaluations, vendor selection, and recruiting infrastructure decisions.

Even when a solution may not be right for her company, she enjoys helping peers navigate an increasingly crowded technology landscape.

For Alaina, the future belongs to organizations that can balance innovation with intentionality.

Leadership Through Relationships

One of the themes that emerges repeatedly throughout Alaina’s career is the importance of relationships.

She speaks with deep appreciation about the mentors, managers, peers, and colleagues who have supported her growth over the years.

Among them is Monica Gaspo, a longtime peer mentor whom Alaina considers one of her most trusted professional advisors.

Despite speaking regularly for years and helping each other navigate complex workplace challenges, the two have never met in person.

Their relationship is a reminder that meaningful professional connections can be built regardless of geography.

Reflecting on her career, Alaina views her success as the result of talented people investing in her development and giving her opportunities to grow.

“I’m incredibly lucky that I’ve been mentored and developed by some of the smartest people in the space.”

That gratitude continues to influence how she leads today—creating opportunities for others, encouraging transparency, and helping team members confidently pursue their own ambitions.

Because sometimes the most impactful career advice is also the simplest:

Say what you want out loud.