Talent Acquisition & HR Manager

About Big Viking Games

Big Viking Games is a Canadian gaming company focused on building, operating, and growing long-standing online game communities. Our games have entertained players for years, supported by loyal audiences, live operations, evolving content systems, product innovation, and deep player-driven economies.

Our flagship titles, YoWorld and FishWorld, have served millions of players over their lifetime. These are enduring live-service virtual worlds with rich in-game economies, virtual goods, social interaction, and long-term player engagement at their core.

We are entering a new phase of modernization and growth, with a focus on stronger operating discipline, better systems, practical AI adoption, clearer accountability, and scalable processes that help our teams perform at a higher level.

The People and Talent function is central to that work.

About the Role

We are hiring a Talent Acquisition & HR Manager to own hiring end to end and run the day-to-day HR operations that keep our people experience consistent and compliant. You will report to the Head of People & Culture and work closely with senior leadership, hiring managers, employees and contractors.

This is a hands-on role. You will personally run searches from intake to signed offer, and you will own the HR processes around them: onboarding, HR administration, policy, compliance and HR systems. You will be expected to give advice, push back when needed and raise the bar on how we hire and support our people.

Many of our recruiting and HR processes are being rebuilt right now, so you will help set the standard for how this work runs at BVG.

This is a hybrid role based in Toronto, with an expectation of working from our Queens Quay West office four days per week.

What You'll Do

Talent Acquisition

• Own full-cycle recruiting for priority roles across engineering, AI, data, DevOps, product, live games and player services.
• Run structured intake meetings with hiring managers to define the role, must-haves, compensation, interview plan and timeline.
• Source proactively through LinkedIn Recruiter, referrals, games-industry networks and direct outreach, not inbound alone.
• Screen candidates and give clear, evidence-based recommendations on who moves forward and why.
• Coordinate interview loops with hiring managers, senior leadership and the CEO, including in-person interviews in Toronto.
• Prepare candidate briefs, lead debriefs, and run offers, references, negotiation and closing.
• Make sure every interviewed candidate gets a timely, professional outcome update.

HR Operations

• Own onboarding and offboarding: offer letters, employment agreements, first-week setup, probation check-ins and exit steps.
• Maintain accurate employee records and HR administration in Humi, including changes, leaves and documentation.
• Be a first point of contact for employee questions on policies, benefits, time off and the employee handbook.
• Support managers on day-to-day people matters, escalating employee relations issues to the Head of People & Culture.
• Coordinate benefits and RRSP enrolment with our providers and partner with Finance on payroll inputs.
• Support People & Culture programs such as engagement surveys, recognition and culture events.

Compliance, Policy and Systems

• Keep recruiting and HR practices compliant with Ontario employment standards, human rights, pay transparency and AODA accessibility requirements.
• Track mandatory training (for example AODA and workplace harassment) and keep completion records current.
• Help keep the employee handbook and HR policies up to date.
• Own Workable as the source of truth for recruiting: stages, scorecards, templates, automations and data quality.
• Report recruiting and HR metrics to leadership, including time to fill, pipeline health, offer acceptance and cost per hire.
• Use AI tools thoughtfully for sourcing, outreach, job descriptions, candidate briefs and HR admin, while keeping people accountable for every decision.

Requirements

• 5+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, including senior and technical hires; recruiting experience at game studios, especially live-service or free-to-play.
• 2+ years of HR generalist or HR operations experience, ideally in a small or growing company.
• Experience hiring AI, machine learning or data talent.
• A CHRP or CHRL designation, or progress toward one.
• Working knowledge of Ontario employment standards, human rights, pay transparency and accessibility (AODA) requirements.
• Strong sourcing skills, with a track record of finding and closing passive candidates.
• Solid offer, negotiation and closing skills, and a good understanding of compensation.
• Confidence advising and pushing back with senior leaders and hiring managers.
• Experience building or improving recruiting and HR processes, templates and workflows.
• Experience with Workable, LinkedIn Recruiter and Humi, or similar tools.
• Hands-on use of AI tools such as Claude, ChatGPT or AI-enabled sourcing tools.
• Discretion with confidential information, including compensation, candidates and employee matters.
• Ability to work from our downtown Toronto office 4 days per week.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, and vision coverage.
• HSA/WSA spending account from day one.
• RRSP participation and matching.
• 15 vacation days.
• 10 wellness days.
• Regular in-person collaboration with a passionate team at our downtown Toronto office.
• Access to BVG tools, documentation, and AI-assisted workflows to help you do your best work.

Hiring Process and AI Disclosure

Big Viking Games may use AI-assisted tools at some steps of the recruiting process, including application review support, candidate research, interview preparation, scheduling and workflow administration. AI does not make final hiring decisions; people do.

Accessibility and Accommodation

Big Viking Games is committed to an inclusive and accessible hiring process. Accommodations are available on request at every stage. If you need one, contact hr@bigvikinggames.com and we will work with you.