I help companies make high-stakes hires and build the systems that make good hiring repeatable.

I've led 400+ hires in regulated and complex environments. Companies bring me one decision, a systems build, a leadership search, or the whole talent function.

Book an intake call Review one decision →
6+
ATS, HRIS & recruiting platforms implemented or integrated
20+
System integrations delivered
400+
Hires led
96%
Offer acceptance rate
Engagements

Ways to work together

Four ways in, depending on what you need right now. Every engagement has clear pricing before work begins.

Decide
Decision Review. A structured evaluation of one hiring decision before you commit.
Build
Talent Systems Manager and AI Talent Engineer. The ATS, HRIS, reporting, and AI layer your hiring runs on.
Hire
Leadership & Executive Search. A dedicated search for senior manager roles and above, run end to end.
Lead
Fractional Head of Talent. Senior talent leadership inside your company, without the full-time hire.

Not sure which engagement fits? Book a free 30-minute call. By the end, you'll know whether there's a fit and what the recommended next step is. What the call is and isn't ↓

Book a free call
Engagement structure
Clear terms before work begins. Standard engagement rates are published on the pricing page. Search pricing is set after the role and scope are discussed.
Start with one decision

If you are not sure whether an engagement is the right fit, this is where most people start. Bring one decision. Ninety minutes. You will leave with a clear recommendation and next step, plus a sense of whether ongoing work makes sense.

A single hiring decision can represent a $300K to $700K commitment when you factor in salary, ramp, and risk.

This is the review before that commitment.

Don't see an arrangement that quite fits? Engagements and fees can be tailored to specific situations. Email Kate to scope something custom.

How engagements start

What the intake call is and isn't

Decision Review is self-serve: book, pay, and bring one decision. Every other engagement above, from a systems build to an executive search to the fractional retainer, starts with the same free 30-minute intake call.

01
Free, remote, and takes 30 minutes. No prework required on your end.
02
Bring the specific problem. A role, a stalled search, a systems build. Team and company context help, but the specific problem is what we'll work from.
03
We're evaluating fit, not solving the problem. Working through the problem itself is what the paid engagements are for.
04
You leave knowing what comes next. By the end of the call I'll tell you if I'm the right fit and which engagement applies.
Outcomes

What the work changes

Two kinds of results: systems your team runs every week, and decisions that hold up under pressure.

Systems that make hiring repeatable

01
Systems your team can actually use. You get stages, scorecards, and automations configured around your process, not factory defaults.
02
A stronger reporting foundation. You get clearer definitions, cleaner data capture, and an honest read on what still depends on process and adoption.
03
A hiring process that is easier to run. You get clearer ownership, fewer handoff gaps, and workflows that keep candidates and hiring teams moving.
04
AI you can use responsibly. You get automation where it is safe, review where it is not, and a person owning every call that reaches a candidate.

Current work in this lane: a 13-week end-to-end ATS reconfiguration for a multi-entity industrial manufacturer. A subsidiary is already consolidated off its separate ATS ahead of schedule, with LinkedIn, Indeed, assessment, and payroll integrations underway.

Decisions and searches that hold up

01
You open better-defined roles. Scope, level, and success criteria are settled before candidates are in process.
02
Your interview panel works from the same bar. Everyone evaluates the same role against the same success criteria.
03
You make finalist decisions on evidence. You get a structured read on the finalist, not a gut call under deadline pressure.
04
Your leadership search stays managed through close. From scoping to a signed offer, no stage runs on autopilot.
How I work

Ground rules

These protect both of us. I do my best work when the scope is clear and expectations are set up front.

Commitment terms vary by engagement. Retainers have a 3-month minimum, then either side can end with 30 days notice. Talent Systems Manager and AI Talent Engineer run month-to-month from day one. Leadership & Executive Search is scoped and quoted per search. Career Coaching and Decision Review are one-session bookings, pay at checkout, show up, done.

01
Scope set on day one. If the work shifts meaningfully, we talk and adjust.
02
US business hours. Async-friendly.
03
Strategic work first. The goal is clarity and quality, not speed for its own sake.
04
If I am not the right fit, I will say so.

For larger engagements, Relio may bring in trusted specialists for sourcing, systems support, documentation, or implementation work while Kate remains the primary strategy and delivery lead.

About

Who you're working with

Kate Rose

Sometimes companies have a hiring problem. More often, they have a decision problem that shows up as a hiring problem.

I'm Kate Rose, formerly Smithson. Nearly a decade in talent acquisition across agency, in-house, and leadership roles: 100+ client searches on the agency side, go-to-market talent at Redox, a VC-backed healthtech company, where I cut sales time-to-hire from 57 days to 20 and delivered 75+ hires, and most recently Head of Talent Acquisition at SCA Pharma, a PE-backed 600-person 503B facility under FDA oversight, where I built the talent function from the ground up.

My systems experience is hands-on. I've configured and integrated ATS and HRIS platforms, worked with regulated data through APIs and JSON, and built AI-assisted workflows with the checks that catch where they're confidently wrong. When a problem spans hiring and the systems around it, I can hold both.

The common thread is regulated or complex environments where hiring mistakes cost more because the talent pool is narrower and the stakes are higher. If you think of this as HR, you're mostly right: it's the talent and hiring side of HR and the systems it runs on, not payroll, benefits, or employee relations. When you need those, I'll point you to people who do them well.

Industry depth
SaaS startups, healthtech, 503B pharma under FDA oversight, government, Fortune 500, M&A integrations, and PE-backed and VC-backed companies
Company stage
Pre-revenue through Fortune 500, including PE-backed and VC-backed from Seed to Series D
Role focus
GTM, legal, and technical roles, leadership, regulated-industry hires
Credentials
PHR · Lean Six Sigma Green Belt · HL7/HealthIT Interoperability · Workday Human Capital Management for Business Users
What hiring managers have said

From people who have partnered with me

"Kate helped me scale a team very quickly in a tough hiring market. Her ability to identify top talent is unquestionable, as she consistently helped me find some of the best hires I have made in my career. Kate is the best talent partner I have ever had and I hope we will work together again — because I will be the one recruiting her the first chance I get."
David Millsaps David Millsaps · Marketing AI for Healthcare
More reviews available on LinkedIn. Worked with Kate? Leave a review →
For individuals

Career coaching

If you're an individual navigating a job search, an offer, or a career transition, that's a different conversation.

Career coaching for sales, GTM, project managers, and software engineers lives on its own page. Same person, different audience.

See career coaching →

Start here

If this sounds like your situation, let's talk.

Send me a note with the decision, role, or systems problem you are working through. I'll tell you whether I'm the right fit.

Two ways to reach me

Email: [email protected]
Book a 30-min intake call: calendar link →

Book an intake call Review one decision →