Talent Researcher Jobs in Texas (NOW HIRING)

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AOI) is a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced optical, semiconductor, and HFC networking products that support AI datacenters, cable broadband, telecom, FTTH, and fiber access networks around the world. Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, AOI is a vertically integrated company that designs and manufactures products ranging from semiconductor laser chips and optical components to high-speed optical transceivers and HFC networking equipment. AOI’s operations include semiconductor chip R&D in Sugar Land, dedicated cable and fiber product R&D in Atlanta, and manufacturing operations across Texas, Taiwan, and mainland China. Publicly traded on the Nasdaq (AAOI), AOI is actively expanding its U.S.-based manufacturing operations in Sugar Land to meet accelerating demand in the AI datacenter market.

Summary

AOI is seeking a proactive Talent Sourcer to join our Talent Acquisition team in a newly created, dedicated sourcing role. This is a top-of-funnel position focused on identifying and engaging passive talent for our exempt and professional requisitions, with the potential to support non-exempt hiring in the future. Working hand-in-hand with our recruiters, the Talent Sourcer builds and nurtures candidate pipelines, runs proactive outreach campaigns, and delivers a steady flow of qualified, interested candidates for recruiters to advance through the hiring process. The ideal candidate is a sourcing specialist at heart who is skilled at creative search, market mapping, and candidate engagement and who takes pride in building strong pipelines that set recruiters up to succeed.
Job Responsibilities

• Partner with recruiters and hiring managers to understand role requirements and translate them into targeted sourcing strategies.
• Identify and engage passive candidates for exempt and professional requisitions with an emphasis on engineering and technical roles through proactive, personalized outreach.
• Build and maintain healthy candidate pipelines for current and anticipated openings.
• Use a range of sourcing channels and techniques, including but not limited to, LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean and X-ray search, professional networks, referrals, and sourcing tools to find high-quality talent.
• Conduct market mapping and talent-pool research to inform sourcing and hiring strategy.
• Run initial outreach and engagement to gauge candidate interest, then hand off warm, interested candidates to recruiters for screening and full-cycle ownership.
• Maintain accurate and organized candidate records and sourcing activity in the Applicant Tracking System, ensuring clean handoffs to recruiters.
• Track and report on sourcing metrics (e.g., outreach volume, response rate, and pipeline conversion) to continuously improve effectiveness.
• Stay informed on talent market trends, competitor activity, and compensation insights relevant to target roles.
• Provide a positive first-touch candidate experience that reflects well on AOI’s employer brand.
• Support non-exempt sourcing as needed in the future.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, liberal arts, or a related discipline (or equivalent experience).
• 2+ years of sourcing or top-of-funnel recruiting experience, ideally including sourcing for exempt, professional, or engineering roles.
• Demonstrated ability to source and engage passive candidates using creative search techniques.
• Strong proficiency with LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean/X-ray search, and sourcing tools; experience sourcing technical talent a plus.
• Knowledge of Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS); ClearCompany a plus.
• Proficient in MS Office applications.
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple sourcing efforts simultaneously.
• Strong written communication skills for compelling candidate outreach.
• Self-motivated and comfortable working toward sourcing and pipeline goals.
• Bilingual in Spanish, Vietnamese, or Mandarin Chinese is a plus.

Location & Work Environment

This is a full-time onsite position based at AOI's Sugar Land, Texas campus, a combined office, warehouse, and manufacturing environment. The role is primarily office-based and works closely with the Talent Acquisition team, hiring managers, and HR partners across the business.

Typical business hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. CT, with flexibility required during peak hiring periods and other business-critical windows.
Why AOI?
In addition to competitive salary, AOI offers:

• Flexible and competitive health benefits, including medical, dental, and vision plans designed to meet individual and family needs
• Employer matching on 401(k) deferrals
• Generous PTO policy, with unused PTO payout at end of the year
• Relocation packages available within the United States.

Applied Optoelectronics, Inc. (AOI) is committed to providing equal opportunity in all of our employment practices, including hiring, placement, promotion, training, transfer and compensation, to all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship, religion, sex, veteran status, age, disability, marital status, or any other category protected by State or Federal law. Moreover, we endeavor to treat our employees fairly.

We do not accept unsolicited proposals from third-party recruiters or agencies. Contacting hiring managers directly may result in disqualification of submissions.