Stephen Decea

Strategic Senior Technical Talent Acquisition Partner with 10+ years of experience building high-performing technical teams and advising senior technology leaders on talent strategy. Proven partner to SVPs, CIOs, Engineering, Product, and business leaders, translating workforce priorities into scalable recruiting strategies and identifying highly sought-after technical talent. Track record of managing 12–15 concurrent requisitions, delivering approximately 28 hires annually, maintaining a 92% offer acceptance rate, and reducing time-to-fill by 30%.

Deep expertise across Software Engineering, Data, Product, Infrastructure, and Analytics recruiting, complemented by experience applying agentic AI and Claude to modernize talent acquisition workflows and increase recruiting efficiency.

Senior Technical Talent Partner at DoubleVerify (2024-03 – 2026-07)

Promoted to Senior Technical Talent Partner in March 2024 based on expanded scope, strategic impact, and partnership across the technology organization.

• Served as a strategic talent advisor to SVPs, the CIO, Engineering, Product, and hiring leaders, translating organizational priorities into targeted technical talent strategies.
• Partnered with senior technology leadership to build and scale top-performing Software Engineering teams, identifying and securing highly competitive technical talent across Software Engineering, Data, Product, and related disciplines.
• Managed 12–15 concurrent requisitions and delivered approximately 28 hires annually while maintaining hiring quality, candidate experience, and stakeholder alignment.
• Reduced time-to-fill by 30% through proactive sourcing, stronger talent pipelines, streamlined interview processes, and improved collaboration between Talent Acquisition and hiring teams.
• Maintained a 92% offer acceptance rate through consultative candidate engagement, effective expectation management, competitive positioning, and offer strategy.
• Partnered directly with SVPs and the CIO to streamline recruiting processes, improve stakeholder alignment, eliminate workflow inefficiencies, and accelerate hiring decisions.
• Advised leaders on talent availability, market conditions, candidate quality, sourcing strategy, interview design, pipeline health, and hiring priorities.
• Developed proactive pipelines of passive technical talent through direct sourcing, referrals, professional networks, recruiting platforms, and targeted outreach.
• Tracked and analyzed recruiting KPIs including time-to-fill, time-to-hire, source-of-hire, pipeline health, and offer acceptance, using insights to continuously improve recruiting performance.
• Integrated agentic AI and Claude into recruiting workflows to accelerate talent research, sourcing strategy, market analysis, stakeholder preparation, candidate communications, and administrative processes.

Technical Talent Partner at DoubleVerify (2021-05 – 2024-03)

• 30% reduction in time-to-fill | 28 annual hires | 12–15 concurrent requisitions | 92% offer acceptance
• Spearheaded DoubleVerify's Engineering DEI Apprenticeship Program with Multiverse, resulting in five Engineering hires.
• Helped convert six interns into full-time employees across functions including Marketing and Engineering.
• Advanced the practical use of agentic AI and Claude to improve recruiting productivity, research, talent intelligence, and workflow efficiency.

IT Executive Recruiter at Creative Financial Staffing (2020-11 – 2021-05)

• Led full-cycle technical recruiting from hiring-manager intake and sourcing through candidate assessment, interviewing, offer negotiation, and onboarding preparation.
• Partnered with CIOs, hiring managers, and senior stakeholders to assess workforce requirements and develop technical recruiting strategies aligned with business objectives.
• Identified passive technical talent through direct sourcing, professional networking, cold outreach, referrals, social media, job boards, and market research.
• Managed candidate relationships and advised clients throughout interview, selection, and offer processes.
• Developed new accounts and strengthened existing client relationships through consultative partnership and proactive communication.

IT Recruiter at HumaneEdge (2015-02 – 2020-06)

• Managed full-cycle recruiting and account management for contract and direct-hire technical talent, supporting organizations ranging from small businesses to enterprise clients.
• Partnered with C-level executives and hiring managers to understand workforce requirements and develop customized recruiting strategies.
• Recruited technical professionals across Software Engineering, Data Engineering, Database Administration, Business Intelligence, Analytics, IT Leadership, Infrastructure, and related technology disciplines.
• Built passive candidate pipelines using direct sourcing, professional networks, third-party vendors, referrals, job postings, and alternative sourcing methodologies.
• Developed job specifications, candidate assessments, recruiting processes, and delivery methodologies to improve recruiting efficiency and hiring outcomes.
• Managed consultant relationships, HR and onboarding activities, and contributed to hiring, training, and mentoring initiatives.

Bachelor of Arts in History – State University at Albany (2014)