James Cope Email & Phone Number

Tempe, Arizona

As Vice President, Recruiting Team Lead for Northern Trust, I managed a team that supported and oversaw the recruiting efforts for Global Services, Technology and the general recruitment activities for the Tempe facility. We worked closely with each division to become a consultative partner to these business lines and established ourselves as advisors on market trends and industry changes that affect candidates. As a group we provided each division with an inclusive and diverse slate of highly qualified candidates for each opening, ensuring the best talent is made available to the organization.Overseeing a team of six Associate Consultant, Consultant, and Senior Consultant-level Recruiters across the Tempe and Chicago offices, I offered general guidance on the processes and best practices required to succeed, as well as acting as an advisor and mentor. This role gave me the opportunity to take on more of a teaching role, helping to guide less experienced recruitment professionals and work with them to establish their careers within the organization.

Manila, Philippines

Moving from Tempe to my position in Manila gave me the opportunity to take on a leadership role. Charged with repairing and building relationships, I worked to regain credibility with hiring managers for our entire team, and implemented consistent practices throughout the region. I relished the opportunity to offer guidance and autonomy to the recruitment professionals I managed, and the chance to watch them grow and develop. I set myself several major goals for my time in Manila, which included establishing a Job Change Opportunity Program, overhauling the governance of onboarding activities for new hires in the region, and reducing our external recruitment costs by 15%. I was a great advocate for Northern Trust and strived to ensure that we were positioned as an employer of choice within the APAC region.

Tempe, Arizona

Working for a company like Northern Trust was a goal towards which I had been striving my entire career. My MBA was pursued with the aim of moving into the financial sector. Stepping into this role, I was tasked with building several HR functions from the ground up. The challenge of starting with a clean slate was exciting as we carefully nurtured and developed the team and the culture. While in this role I grew the HR team within the Tempe, Arizona Operations Centre from 11 team members to more than 30. We fully staffed groups in the HR Service Center, and in the areas of payroll, HR advisory services, and employee relations. During the year that I was in this role, I oversaw more than 100 hires. Participating in some of the extraordinary initiatives the company runs, including partnering with local business resource councils such as the Military Appreciation and Assistance Resource Council and the Asian Leadership Business Resource Council, was incredibly rewarding.

Tempe, Arizona

Joining the recruitment team at First Solar gave me exposure to international recruiting across a wide range of regions, including EMEA and APAC. Renewable Energy was becoming a priority across the globe and being involved at the forefront of this innovative and emerging market was exciting and rewarding. During my tenure I was responsible for building the Operations and Maintenance teams throughout the globe. This became one of the largest business units within the company and we shifted them from a cost center into a profit center. This role involved some unique challenges, including finding O&M staff willing to be based in extremely remote and often foreign locations such as the deserts of central California, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. Stakeholder management and a commitment to open and transparent communication became essential to my success.

Chandler, Arizona

Phoenix, Arizona

Joining an already established and successful team at Volt, I was reunited with a former colleague from Aerotek. As a team we were extremely successful. We played to each other’s strengths – sales and recruitment – and this combination led to our success. Within nine months, we were the second highest-earning team nationally and the number one within the Phoenix office.

Phoenix, Arizona

Aerospace was an exciting and innovative industry to be a part of. My role as Senior Recruiter had me overseeing cutting-edge project-based design work, including the development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and the Airbus A380. Building up the Phoenix office for CDI and fully staffing the Structures and Stress Engineering Group presented me with fresh challenges. New hires within this group required extremely specialized skills that necessitated my own learning and development within this area.

Gurnee, Illinois And Phoenix, Arizona

My time at AeroTek has influenced every step of my professional life since: it taught me that there is no substitute for hard work. I’ve since learned to work smarter but the work ethic that was ingrained in me during this time still informs the way I operate on a day-to-day basis. Working on the company’s highest-grossing account in 2002, billing more than $1 million in 2003, was testament to the fact that effort equals reward. I was the number one recruiter in the South Western Region and the Phoenix office in terms of direct margin in 2003.

Master Of Business Administration, Finance

Bachelor Of Science, Business Management