About Luke Kay
My career spans talent acquisition leadership, executive search, and strategic growth across mortgage banking, technology, healthcare, and professional services. At PennyMac, I built a dedicated loan officer recruiting team of seven and helped triple annual hiring in one year.
At American Pacific Mortgage, 209 recruiting conversations generated 94 opportunity meetings over nine months. The resulting pipeline represented approximately $1.086 billion in potential loan production. I ranked first among 16 recruiters for 10 consecutive months and was nominated for Employee of the Year.
I also founded and led Premier Talent Solution, a recruiting agency focused on workforce planning, executive search, and building talent pipelines.
At Inogen, I led recruiting across six functions and supported 78 open requisitions. At JDA TSG, I led national technical recruiting for Microsoft’s Premier Field Engineering program and enterprise clients. My broader work at Accenture, Academic Partnerships, and Metro Systems covered hiring across technology, engineering, healthcare, finance, IT, sales, and leadership. I combine AI-powered sourcing and pipeline analytics with direct conversations to identify and engage candidates.
My leadership foundation began in the U.S. Navy. I served at NAS Fallon and held the rank of Petty Officer Second Class, with experience as an Associate Command Career Counselor.
Driving retail branch growth at American Pacific Mortgage
Strategic Growth Partner and Executive Mortgage Recruiter
I was selected to support the top 5% of APM’s retail branches. I partnered with branch managers to identify growth opportunities and recruit experienced loan officers, mortgage sales professionals, and branch leaders in competitive markets.
- #1 of 16Recruiters ranked for 10 consecutive months
- 94 of 209Recruiting conversations led to opportunity meetings
- 79 of 94Meetings completed, an 84.0% hold rate
- $1.086 billionEstimated potential annual loan production in the pipeline
How I built the recruiting pipeline
Over nine months, I combined AI-powered sourcing, data-driven prospecting, and pipeline analytics with direct outreach to high-producing mortgage talent. I worked with candidates and branch leaders to assess career goals, culture, team fit, and production potential before bringing them together for opportunity meetings.
Scaling loan officer hiring from 300 to 900 at PennyMac
As VP of Talent Acquisition at PennyMac Loan Services from May 2020 to May 2022, I led a team of seven recruiters responsible for hiring mortgage loan officers. Our hiring volume tripled from 300 to 900, while time to fill dropped from 36–42 days to 28 days.
- 300 to 900Loan officer hires
- 36–42 to 28 daysTime to fill
- 7Recruiters on the team
Leadership and responsibilities
- Build and lead the recruiting team. I built a dedicated team of seven loan officer recruiters to support national mortgage expansion. I set expectations for sourcing, pipeline management, and recruiter performance.
- Shift to proactive mortgage recruiting. I moved the team from relying primarily on inbound applicants to identifying and reaching out directly to experienced loan officers, including those who weren’t actively looking.
- Set measurable performance standards. I established a target of about 12 loan officer hires per recruiter per month and tracked hiring volume alongside time to fill.
- Plan recruiting capacity with business leaders. I partnered with executives on workforce planning, sourcing priorities, and the pipelines needed to meet national growth objectives.
First-year results
Annual loan officer hiring rose from approximately 300 to 900, a 200% increase. Average time to fill fell from 36–42 days to 28 days. The recruiting expansion helped support approximately $1.9 billion in additional annual loan production in the first year.
What we looked for in a loan officer
We looked for candidates with three to five years of mortgage banking experience and typically at least a year in each role. We reviewed annual loan volume and transaction counts together to understand both the dollar value and the number of loans a candidate had closed. Those details gave us a clearer basis for discussing the candidate’s production history and fit with the business.
How I measure hiring performance
I look at hiring volume and time to fill together. Hiring volume tells me how much work the team completed. Time to fill tells me how quickly we moved from an open role to a hire. When one measure improves and the other stalls, I look at where candidates are waiting, from initial screening to interviews and offers, before deciding where to focus the team.
Building internal talent acquisition at Academic Partnerships
Senior Recruiter, Talent Acquisition · June 2016–February 2017 · Dallas, Texas · Contract
As the senior-most recruiter at Academic Partnerships, I led national recruiting initiatives as the education technology company expanded its online programs for university partners. I helped bring more searches in-house, reducing reliance on external agencies and expanding the internal team’s ability to recruit across the business.
- Full-cycle recruiting. I led searches across engineering, IT, enrollment services, academic services, sales, marketing, finance, HR, healthcare, and executive leadership.
- Workforce planning and hiring decisions. I partnered with executives and hiring managers on job design, hiring priorities, candidate assessment, and selection.
- Sourcing and recruiting analytics. I built targeted pipelines for hard-to-fill roles and used pipeline health, hiring activity, and time to fill to decide where recruiting efforts needed attention.
Delivering high-volume technical recruiting at Accenture
Senior Technical Recruiter · December 2014–February 2016 · Dallas–Fort Worth · Contract
I supported Accenture’s Outsourcing Growth Platform, recruiting specialized technology talent in U.S. and international markets for business process, infrastructure, and application outsourcing.
- 172Hires in the first two quarters of 2015
- 26Hires in a single month
- Enterprise infrastructure hiring. I managed one of the larger workloads in Infrastructure Services, recruiting solution architects, delivery account managers, network and telecom engineers, systems and database administrators, project and program managers, and Tier 2/3 technical support professionals.
- Full-cycle execution. I partnered with hiring leaders to define technical requirements and build pipelines, then handled passive candidate outreach, qualification, interviews, assessments, compensation discussions, and reference and employment verification.
- Recruiting recognition. Accenture recognized me as a top recruiter and featured me in its September 2015 Recruiting Spotlight. View the Accenture Recruiting Spotlight.
Leading 47 recruiters at Metro Systems
As Regional Recruiting Manager at Metro Systems from March 2006 to October 2014, I led 47 recruiters. I earned National Recruiting Manager Champion recognition in 2008 and was named Top Recruiter of the Year in 2012.
Building and developing a regional recruiting team
Over more than eight years at Metro Systems, I progressed into regional leadership and ultimately led 47 recruiting professionals across multiple markets. I set performance expectations, coached recruiters, and held the team accountable for candidate quality, client service, and productivity.
- Workforce planning and resource allocation. I translated hiring forecasts into sourcing priorities and worked with business leaders to allocate recruiting resources as demand shifted.
- Recruiting operations. I built and managed university recruiting, community partnerships, vendor and search-firm relationships, job fairs, sourcing programs, and onboarding. These channels supported immediate openings and longer-term talent pipelines.
- Broader workforce support. I advised leaders on employee development, employee relations, benefits, and recruiting practices related to EEO and ADA compliance.
How I diagnose a recruiting slowdown
I start by asking where the work is getting stuck. When too few qualified candidates make it to screening, I review the search criteria and where the recruiter is sourcing. When qualified candidates have already interviewed and are waiting, I focus on getting feedback from the hiring manager and making sure the recruiter can give candidates a clear update.
What a recruiter should leave a review with
I want each recruiter to know which role needs attention, what’s holding it up, and what they can do next. That might mean revisiting the candidate profile with the hiring manager or following up on an interview decision. The next review can then start with what changed and whether the role moved forward.
Leading national technology recruiting at JDA TSG
Director of Talent Acquisition · March 2018–December 2019 · Dallas–Fort Worth
At JDA TSG, a Microsoft Premier Partner, I led nationwide talent acquisition for specialized technology, engineering, and consulting roles. I directed recruiting for Microsoft’s Premier Field Engineering (PFE) program and supported enterprise searches for clients including the NFL and Intuit.
Microsoft Premier Field Engineering
I partnered with executives, hiring leaders, and client stakeholders to define the technical skills and client-facing experience each role required. I turned those requirements into targeted searches using market mapping, passive candidate outreach, and pipeline development.
Delivering Intuit’s proof-of-concept hire
Executive leadership selected me to lead a search that would demonstrate JDA TSG’s ability to deliver specialized talent for Intuit. I managed the search from intake and stakeholder alignment through sourcing, assessment, interviews, selection, and accelerated onboarding. We delivered the hire and gave JDA TSG a concrete example of its recruiting capabilities for discussions about expanding the relationship.
Leading talent acquisition across six functions at Inogen
I joined Inogen after PennyMac’s former senior talent acquisition executive became Inogen’s Senior Director of Talent Acquisition. He recruited me based on my work at PennyMac to help strengthen recruiting during a period of organizational growth.
- 78Open requisitions supported
- 6Business functions
- 5Recruiters and sourcers coached
Recruiting leadership in medical devices
I led recruiting across R&D, Finance, Engineering, Medical, HR, and IT. I provided daily coaching and direction to three recruiters and two sourcers and partnered with the Senior Director on recruiting strategy, onboarding, team development, and workload management.
I worked with business and HR leaders to prioritize critical roles and allocate recruiting resources across technical and corporate functions. I also stayed involved in strategic sourcing and talent pipeline development, helping the team move searches forward while working within the requirements of a regulated medical-device business.
Founding Premier Talent Solution
Founder and Vice President of Talent Acquisition · July 2023–February 2025 · Dallas–Fort Worth
I founded Premier Talent Solution, my own recruiting agency, to help organizations scale their teams, strengthen leadership pipelines, and connect hiring plans to business growth. I built and led recruiting teams and developed repeatable processes for searches across technology, healthcare, corporate functions, professional services, sales, and leadership.
Workforce planning and recruiting operations
I partnered with executives and HR leaders to identify workforce gaps, set hiring priorities, and build recruiting structures that could adapt as business needs changed. I used those priorities to guide sourcing and develop pipelines for immediate openings and future hiring.
Executive search and hands-on sourcing
I personally worked on specialized, hard-to-fill searches. I mapped talent markets, identified passive candidates, led outreach, and kept stakeholders involved throughout the search. Working directly on searches gave me feedback I could use to refine the recruiting strategy.
Recruiting awards and recognition
The 2008 Territory King announcement records my win in a yearlong contest that measured recruiting managers’ office volume against assigned quotas. The ceremony photos show me receiving recruiting recognition alongside colleagues. The September 2015 Accenture Recruiting Spotlight profiles my work as a recruitment specialist on the Software Utility Services team.
Core expertise
- Talent acquisition leadership
- Mortgage and loan officer recruiting
- Strategic growth
- Executive search
- AI-powered sourcing
- Recruiting strategy and team development
- Talent analytics and pipeline management
- Workforce planning and recruiting operations
- Strategic sourcing and market mapping
- Medical-device and healthcare recruiting
- Engineering, R&D, and IT recruiting
- National enterprise technology recruiting
I’m open to VP, Director, and Head of Talent Acquisition roles, as well as talent acquisition management and strategic mortgage recruiting opportunities.