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Leila Shamas

Talent strategy leader with deep expertise in Culture & Employee Experience

About Me

I foster cultures that drive real engagement, retention, and growth. I bring a rare combination to the table: People team leadership, go-to-market strategy and business partnership, and deep expertise spanning employee, candidate, and customer engagement. That blend lets me connect the dots between people strategy and organizational goals in ways that actually move the needle. A few things I'm proud of: - Architected company core values from the ground up - leading employee listening around the effort, cross-functional alignment of the values across 1,500 employees, and ensuring integration into recognition, L&D, and competency frameworks - Scaled employee engagement survey participation from under 15% to 82%, having built strategy and implemented from the ground-up, then turned that data into team-specific action plans that measurably improved connectedness and satisfaction - Led an organization-wide hybrid work transition for a globally dispersed workforce, owning program management, stakeholder negotiation, change management, and cross-functional coordination end to end - Identified a gap in talent go-to-market strategy at the leading middle market consulting, accounting and tax provider, built the business case, and stood up a recruitment marketing function from scratch, growing the talent community by 40% and delivering the firm's first structured candidate engagement program - Championed a video platform from concept to rollout that drove $9M in opportunity value and a 100% win rate on priority proposals, while fully integrating the approach into our strategy for business development, internal communications, and early talent recruitment - Built a recognition ecosystem from scratch that drove global engagement across all regions and functions and a more structured and values-aligned recognition culture across the organization I'm driven to leave things better than I found them - finding gaps others miss and solving them in ways that seek to ensure employee experience and operational efficiency aren't trade-offs. I bring both the strategic vision and the executional follow-through to build environments in which people and businesses can thrive.

Jurisdiction

United States

Notable Employer

  • Geography Marketing Leader at PwC LLP (PricewaterhouseCoopers)

Experience

Seniority LevelDirector
Years of Experience20+ years
Current StatusActive
Transition Leadership: Talent, Culture & Employee ExperienceNintex USA, LLC
2026 - 2026

Serving as strategic HR advisor and implementer through one of Nintex's most consequential organizational transformation periods. Leading enterprise-wide communications strategy, workforce restructuring, and operational effectiveness initiatives, connecting HR strategy to business execution under significant change and resource constraint. Reassessing Nintex's global workplace and location strategy, evaluating real estate footprint and hybrid work strategy to identify opportunities for operational efficiency with minimal sacrifice to the employee experience. Driving rationalization of tools, programs, and facilities, balancing fiscal responsibility with people impact, deprecating underutilized investments, realigning resources, and ensuring decisions are communicated with care and clarity.

Head of Talent Acquisition & Integration (Director)Nintex USA, LLC
2025 - 2026

Led a 15+ member global talent acquisition and onboarding team and related programs, operations, and employer brand, building systems and establishing processes to enhance efficiency, capacity, experience, and predictability in the recruiting and onboarding function in preparation for higher capacity with reduced resources. Delivered measurable recruiting transformation within the first full quarter, reducing time-to-fill by 23% (34 days), time-to-hire by 40% (29 days), and internal offer approval time by 53% (7 hours) by redesigning all approval workflows, implementing salary governance and pay transparency compliance, and reevaluating end-to-end processes across all global markets. Architected and executed a global company-wide hiring pause in support of a major business pivot, owning the full scope from communications and process design to weekly executive and HRBP partnerships. Rebuilt the leadership hiring model (Director through VP) from the ground up, closing the gap between business strategy and candidate experience by strengthening executive alignment to the role, business, and vision for each business unit. Redesigned the new hire onboarding experience using Nintex workflows and forms, connecting day-one experience directly to role readiness, performance cycle integration, and global probation requirements. Established audit-ready global hiring compliance standards across the TA tech stack, remediating GDPR/POPIA gaps, modernizing confidential requisition processes, and redesigning pipeline protocols for data integrity at scale. Accelerated recruiter effectiveness and candidate experience through Calendly-Greenhouse automation, AI optimization within Greenhouse, and full standardization of core recruiting rhythms including start date management, biweekly leadership forecasting, and sourcing output.

Head of Culture & Employee Experience (Director)Nintex USA, LLC
2023 - 2025

Built and led the global organizational effectiveness, employee experience, and culture function at Nintex, spanning organizational design and effectiveness, strategic workforce planning, change management, employee engagement and listening, leadership capability, HR communications, workplace strategy, and culture integration. Designed and executed enterprise-wide programs across 1,200+ employees and multiple global markets, directly supporting business growth objectives and organizational scalability. Core Values: Architected Nintex's core values from the ground up, leading executive and employee listening efforts, cross-functional alignment across 1,500 employees, and full integration into recognition, L&D, competency frameworks, and organizational systems. Hybrid Work Model: Led the organization-wide transition from virtual-first to hybrid work, owning program management, executive negotiation, change management, and cross-functional coordination to drive adoption across a globally dispersed workforce. Employee Engagement: Designed and launched a full-cycle engagement and listening strategy from scratch, scaling participation from under 15% to 82% across two cycles; translated data into leadership action plans and measurable improvements in employee connectedness and satisfaction. Recognition Ecosystem: Designed and scaled a recognition ecosystem, launching AwardCo, Slack-to-CultureAmp integration, elevated peer recognition, and a new premier employee award, driving 10x engagement across all regions and functions. Culture Integration: Led culture due diligence and post-acquisition integration for Nintex's Skuid acquisition, developing a novel diligence framework, onboarding strategy, and employee listening approach with transparent executive feedback loops. Workplace Experience: Unified a fragmented global workplace experience team around shared purpose, career frameworks, and compliance standards; supported strategic office buildouts across Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Tel Aviv, and Melbourne. DEIB & Culture: Launched DEIB and global cultural programming engaging 25% of the workforce, including a movement campaign that doubled year-over-year participation.

Senior Manager, Talent Brand, Marketing & ExperienceNintex USA, LLC
2022 - 2023

Led global talent brand and marketing strategy, owning brand reputation, storytelling, content, demand marketing, and digital media with a focus on culture and employee advocacy. Managed strategic communications through high-stakes transitions including a global reduction in force and CEO change, driving internal communications and employee engagement with clarity and care. Transformed employer storytelling to high-impact, driving 125,000+ impressions and a 5.1% engagement rate through culture-focused content and employee advocacy. Revamped digital talent brand across LinkedIn and Glassdoor, achieving 74% new hire influence from LinkedIn careers pages and a 4.5-star Glassdoor rating, the highest in company history. Drove CSR and DEI strategy including new employee resource groups and Nintex's first global community impact campaign, earning new Great Place to Work certifications.

Marketing Leader, Employer Brand and Talent MarketingRSM US LLP
2019 - 2022

Owned employer brand and recruitment marketing strategy across the U.S., Canada, and India, spanning brand development, demand and lifecycle marketing, D&I initiatives, digital/social channels, technology platforms, and agency partnerships. Led digital transformation of recruitment marketing during the pandemic, standing up five new TA technology platforms and expanding digital presence to sustain candidate pipeline through shift to virtual recruiting. Championed a user-generated video platform from business case to rollout, driving $9M in associated opportunity value, 100% win rate on priority proposals, and 95% positive onboarding sentiment. Delivered best-in-class campaign performance including up to 65% open rates, ~3% CTR, and 18x more targeted marketing activity than the prior year. Designed virtual programs for 2,000+ early career candidates and interns, including a mobile learning app, interactive early career site, and 100+ employee-generated culture videos. Led all programming for the 2022 Owner's Meeting, a 1,500-person executive event, managing end-to-end development from content and breakouts to AV, staffing, and logistics. Spearheaded D&I recruitment initiatives including a virtual event series with 2,000+ registrations and an agency-led campaign generating 2.5M impressions, embedding diversity into RSM's employer brand.

Marketing Manager, Technology Products and Colorado Market DevelopmentRSM US LLP
2016 - 2019

Led full marketing strategy for technology and management consulting practices across the region, spanning partnerships with NetSuite and Microsoft, thought leadership, social media, events, and analysis. Drove $4M in technology and $3.5M in real estate revenue locally from near-zero the prior year through strategic marketing execution and account-based partnerships with professional organizations. Earned innovation and best practice awards for development and implementation of a data-driven activity monitoring framework, connecting regional pipeline development to national campaigns. Identified gap in talent go-to-market approach, built a business case, and stood up RSM's recruitment marketing function, enhancing candidate experience and talent pipeline development. Grew RSM's talent community by 40%, activating a CRM and marketing automation system to deliver the firm's first structured candidate engagement initiative, driving brand awareness and targeted campaigns.

Geography Marketing LeaderNotablePwC LLP (PricewaterhouseCoopers)
2014 - 2016

Owned regional marketing strategy across Colorado and Utah, supporting 40 partners and 600+ professionals to drive brand visibility, deepen client relationships, and fuel business growth. Unlocked new business development momentum in Salt Lake City's high-potential middle market by connecting PwC's enterprise brand to the local startup and tech ecosystem through board activations and strategically aligned CSR investments. Built PwC's regional presence through integrated marketing and corporate responsibility programming spanning events, PR, community partnerships, charitable giving, and alumni relations.

Various Marketing, Communications, and Recruiting RolesRSM US LLP (McGladrey)
2006 - 2014

As sole marketer in a new RSM market, built integrated strategy across the local Colorado office and national risk consulting practice, growing the practice 5x in 5 years (ultimately 10x in 10 years) through brand awareness and targeted business development within corporate growth organizations and private equity. Pioneered RSM's first risk consulting client newsletter and targeted Twitter account; produced the firm's most highly-attended webcast series and most highly-engaged newsletter, creating new channels to key personas and driving measurable pipeline growth. Solely owned Colorado campus recruiting across five universities from employer brand to offer, co-led regional onboarding, and delivered proposals, PR, collateral, and events across multiple practices.

Education

Masters of International & Intercultural CommunicationUniversity of Denver
2008 - 2010
Degree of Communications & Rhetoric and History (dual major)University of Pittsburgh
2001 - 2005

Skills

Core skills10
Interests0
Languages1

Skills

Building and scaling HR/people functions
Organizational effectiveness and change
Culture strategy and transformation
Employer brand and talent marketing
Strategic workforce planning
Employee experience & engagement
Talent acquisition ldrshp & operations
Strategic change communications
HR tech implementation + optimization
cross-functional & executive partnership

Languages

English