Atlanta, Georgia, United States, March 2026 – Karen Jacks has started a new position as Vice President Talent Acquisition at Ryan Companies US, Inc., advancing her leadership journey within the organization.
Karen has been with Ryan Companies for over two years, most recently serving as Senior Director Talent Acquisition, where she led enterprise-wide talent acquisition strategy. She supported the company’s fastest-growing Mission Critical Data Centers sector while strengthening specialized recruitment across Construction Operations, Shared Services, and Architecture & Engineering.
During her tenure, she advanced workforce inclusion and pipeline development by launching Ryan’s Military & Veteran Recruitment Program, revamping Early Careers strategy, and expanding Skilled Pathways through university, trade school, and professional association partnerships. She modernized TA systems by implementing Workday Recruiting and HireVue, introduced new dashboards and tagging methodologies, optimized vendor strategies for executive search savings, and strengthened team capabilities through advisor training and certification pathways. Her human-centered approach enhanced candidate and hiring manager experience through design thinking and journey mapping initiatives.
Prior to Ryan Companies, Karen spent over sixteen years at Cox Enterprises, holding progressive leadership roles including Senior Manager Talent Acquisition – Technology, Product and Analytics. She partnered with C-suite leaders on workforce planning, led the TA M&A workstream supporting multiple acquisitions, scaled technology recruiting across 60+ brands, and elevated early careers diversity outcomes. Her earlier experience also includes leadership roles at EarthLink Internet, where she managed technical recruitment strategy and ATS transformation initiatives.
About Ryan Companies US, Inc.
Ryan Companies is a national leader in commercial real estate services, providing integrated design, development, finance, construction, and property management solutions. The organization emphasizes purpose-driven development, focusing on delivering value to communities and clients beyond financial returns. Guided by core values of Safety, Integrity, Respect, Stewardship, Family, Excellence, and Fun, Ryan Companies builds projects that serve as lasting backdrops to the communities they support.
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