I come in when the process is new or messy, the role has been open too long, or the team needs a thinking partner who has been in these rooms before.
Sometimes companies have a hiring problem. More often, they have a decision problem that shows up as a hiring problem.
I've spent nearly a decade in talent acquisition across agency, in-house, and leadership roles. I was Head of Talent Acquisition at SCA Pharma — a PE-backed 600-person 503B outsourcing facility — leading hiring through active FDA oversight across Clinical, Sales, Legal, Finance, Engineering, and Leadership. Before that, I built the go-to-market talent strategy at Redox, a VC-backed healthtech company, and delivered 75+ hires including doubling the sales team.
My work sits between the hiring manager who needs the role filled and the operator who needs the decision to be defensible. I build process, coach teams, help founders make better calls on who to hire, and set up the systems that make it repeatable — from intake to ATS selection and setup.
I'd rather take longer to make the right hire than hit a fill date with the wrong one. In regulated environments, a bad executive hire costs 2–3x the role's salary when you factor in failure risk. Speed matters. Speed at the expense of quality is what gets companies into trouble.
The common thread across everything I work on: regulated or complex environments where hiring mistakes cost more because the talent pool is narrower and the stakes are higher.
Two ways to work together, both structured to keep incentives aligned with quality hires.
Senior talent leadership, two days per week, inside your company. Setting strategy, coaching hiring managers, running the highest-stakes searches, and building the systems you will eventually hand to a full-time hire — including ATS selection and setup if needed. For companies that need senior talent leadership but are not ready to hire it full-time.
Best for: Series A–C healthtech and 503B teams scaling GTM, or PE-backed companies running the first 6–12 months post-investment.
One role, focused work until it's filled right. I reset the role spec, rebuild the candidate pipeline, coach the interview panel, and help you close. You end up with one hire made right, or clear evidence the role should not exist as currently defined.
Best for: A founder or hiring manager with a single painful role, not a whole hiring plan. Most engagements resolve in 1–2 months.
These are on this page because they protect both of us. I do my best work when the scope is clear and the relationship is honest.
Most engagements start with a 30-minute intake call. It's free, but it's not a sales call and it's not a working session. It's how we both decide whether to work together.
Sometimes you are not looking for ongoing work. You have one decision in front of you and you need someone to pressure-test it in 90 minutes. For that, there is a different offer.
A structured second opinion on a specific hiring call — should we open this role, is this path right, are we about to pay twice for the same mistake. No prework, no paperwork. Pick a time, pay at checkout, and we'll meet.
Book a session →Send me a note with what you are working on and the shape of the problem. I'll tell you whether I'm the right fit.
Email: kate@relioengine.com
Book a 30-min intake call: calendar link →
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/katesmithson