Kristen Johnson

Hi, I’m KJ (Kristen Johnson), a Talent Acquisition Leader with 14 years of experience building and scaling technical recruiting functions across Data and AI, Engineering, and Cloud in complex, high growth environments. I operate at the intersection of business strategy, workforce planning, and recruiting execution. I believe recruiting is a leadership function that shapes organizational capability, enables growth, and directly impacts performance. I partner closely with senior leaders to align market intelligence, workforce plans, and hiring execution to deliver measurable outcomes, while keeping recruiting thoughtful and human. Most recently at Avanade, a Microsoft and Accenture joint venture, I served on the North America Talent Acquisition leadership team, shaping strategy and leading recruiting strategy across Data and AI, software engineering, infrastructure, and business applications. Working closely with executive, sales, and delivery leaders, I helped translate business demand into practical hiring strategies and sustained results. Across my leadership scope, I supported more than 50% growth of North America’s Data and AI capability, delivering 300+ specialized hires across data engineering, data science, AI and ML, architecture, and advanced analytics. During this period, representation across technical and consulting leadership populations increased to approximately 40 percent through intentional workforce planning and inclusive recruiting practices. Core leadership domains: Data and AI hiring, including Data Engineers, Data Scientists, AI and ML Engineers, and Architects Engineering recruiting across software, platform, and full-stack teams Cloud and infrastructure hiring, including Azure, DevOps, and modern workplace Enterprise architecture and Microsoft ecosystem talent Digital, product, UX, and consulting roles Leadership scope: Led U.S. and Canada recruiting teams of 8 to 15 through multiple growth cycles Led a 16-person global talent delivery hub (Buenos Aires), supporting NA hiring across experienced recruiting, early talent, and high-volume sourcing, aligning delivery to workforce demand and hiring priorities Served as Global UAT Lead and North America localization owner for Avanade’s Avature CRM rollout across North America, APAC, and UKI I’m known for sound judgment, calm leadership in ambiguous environments, and building recruiting organizations that scale without losing the human experience. Outside of work, you’ll usually find me at a baseball field or gymnastics meet.