Katie Wagner has built recruiting engines for companies like Tarro, DoorDash, and IKEA — and now, as Principal at Growth by Design Talent, she’s teaching teams to rethink how they hire.

Her philosophy? Recruit like a product manager.

Don’t start with the job description.
Start with the business problem.
What outcome does this role need to drive?
What pain point is it meant to solve?

From there, everything else flows —
scorecards, interview rubrics, success metrics, and the candidate experience itself.

Because when recruiting works backward from impact, every search becomes a product worth building.

Katie’s pro tip:

“Start with the problem and build backward. That’s how you hire the right person for the right reason.”

Episode 008 of Building the Talent Machine is out now 🔊
🎧 Listen on Spotify
▶️ Watch on YouTube

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Building The Talent Machine

Trailer Episode 009 w/ Katie Wagner