Strategic Talent Group
Identify, Attract, and Engage Preeminent Talent
This is our vision. We are creating a competitive advantage for the university through people—strong individual contributors, high-functioning collaborators and teams, and excellent leaders—where their best work is encouraged, enabled, expected, and recognized.
Preeminence Through People
The Strategic Talent Group is University of Florida’s internal search team. By identifying, attracting, and engaging the strongest talent, we contribute to the Gator Good. As an internal consulting group, our passion for UF and our understanding of the culture and values of the UF community enable us to find the very best to meet the particular needs of each recruitment engagement.
Our Services
The Strategic Talent Group partners with UF departments and units to identify, attract, and engage the best talent. We are committed to providing exceptional service by blending our institutional knowledge and insights into UF’s culture with premier recruitment practices. We understand your business needs and will work closely with you to develop a strategic talent search plan. And we strive to advance UF’s employer brand by facilitating positive and productive relationships with all applicants.
We begin by talking with key individuals—unit leadership, search participants, and other stakeholders—to understand the vision for the position, the unique culture of the department or unit, and the characteristics and qualifications of an ideal candidate.
We build relationships by reaching out to potential sources and candidates in order to find exceptional talent. We explore a variety of outlets and utilize different methods to search peer institutions as well as private industry fields that align with the unit’s needs.
The Strategic Talent Group initiates conversations with potential candidates to gather essential information and lay the foundation for positive relationships. We share our insights and advise the hiring department regarding interview selections.
We collaborate in the interview process by developing strategic methodologies to facilitate the exchange of meaningful information between participants. Our team assists with campus and community tours that speak to each candidate’s special interests.
At the end of the search, our team provides data-driven recommendations for compensation packages, and we assist with the administrative responsibilities needed to finalize the recruitment process.
Our Team
Vice President
University of Florida Human Resources
Director
Talent Acquisition and Onboarding
gaineya1@ufl.edu
(352) 273-1706
Associate Director
Talent Acquisition and Onboarding
jsun@ufl.edu
(352) 273-1734
Manager
Strategic Talent Group
m.burkett@ufl.edu
(352) 273-1751
Talent Consultant
Strategic Talent Group
devan.m.b@ufl.edu
(352) 273-1722
Talent Consultant
Strategic Talent Group
aj.brown@ufl.edu
(352) 273-1713
Active Full-Cycle Executive Searches
Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor
Office of the Provost
Located in St. Augustine, FL
Recent Strategic Hires
Director, Beyond 120 Program
Dr. Taylor Stokes serves as the Director of the Beyond 120 Program for the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. She has worked in colleges and universities, domestic and international, in areas of leadership development, community engagement, service-learning, career development, entrepreneurial and social impact partnerships. These partnerships have been between businesses and the university, student housing, student success, and student-athlete advising. Most recently Taylor served as the Interim Director of the David & Wanda Brown Center for Leadership & Service at UF.
Director, University Press of Florida
Gutierrez has served UPF in various roles since 2004, most recently as associate director and director of sales and marketing. In this position she managed all aspects of sales and marketing for a frontlist of 80 new titles per year and a backlist of nearly 2,000 books in print. As a member of the management team, she has played an important part in UPF’s leadership and strategic planning.
Chair, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
“Life science research is invaluable to our society,” he said. “It’s important to engage with the policymakers and advocate for biomedical science funding — to make sure researchers’ voices are heard by those who make federal funding decisions.”