Britton Bloch is a seasoned talent acquisition strategist and an influential leader in workforce transformation. As the Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition Strategy and Recruiting at Navy Federal, she plays a pivotal role in shaping the organization’s hiring strategy, driving innovation, and enhancing workforce capabilities. Since joining in April 2021, Britton has been instrumental in aligning recruitment efforts with enterprise objectives, ensuring Navy Federal attracts top-tier talent in an increasingly competitive landscape.  

Prior to her tenure at Navy Federal, Britton served as the Head of Talent Acquisition Delivery at USAA, where she led senior leadership teams in reimagining talent acquisition functions to maximize stakeholder value and drive enterprise-wide growth. Her ability to revolutionize hiring processes and implement data-driven recruitment strategies positioned USAA as a leader in talent management. 

With a career spanning global talent operations, Britton has held key leadership roles at IBM, serving as the North America and Canadian Client Innovation Centers’ Talent Management Leader. Her tenure at IBM was marked by groundbreaking achievements, earning her more than 10 awards for innovation and client leadership. Her expertise in talent strategy, digital transformation, and workforce analytics has solidified her reputation as a forward-thinking leader who bridges the gap between human capital and business success.  

As companies navigate an evolving talent landscape, Britton remains at the forefront of industry innovation, leveraging technology, data, and strategic insights to build high-performing, future-ready workforces. 

Redefining Talent Acquisition 

Britton has built a distinguished career at the intersection of talent strategy and business transformation, redefining how organizations attract, engage, and retain top-tier talent. With a track record of leading large-scale workforce initiatives across multiple industries, Britton has pioneered data-driven talent acquisition strategies that align human capital with overarching business objectives.  

As the founder of Britt Bloch Consultants, Inc., a nationally recognized recruiting firm, she secured vendor contracts with Fortune 500 powerhouses such as IBM and Johnson & Johnson. This foundation set the stage for her expertise in workforce planning, employer branding, and talent acquisition operations, shaping best-in-class recruitment functions that drive business success. 

At IBM, Britton took on the critical role of leading North American Recruiting Operations for the company’s Client Innovation Centers. She spearheaded workforce strategies that not only fueled revenue growth but also reinforced IBM’s market positioning. Her focus on optimizing operational processes and strengthening diversity hiring strategies helped dismantle systemic barriers to workforce inclusion, setting new benchmarks in equitable recruitment.  

Transitioning to USAA as Executive Director of Enterprise Talent Acquisition, Britton led enterprise-wide recruitment initiatives with a strategic emphasis on military hiring, workforce analytics, and employer brand positioning. Under her leadership, USAA launched a robust Employer Value Proposition (EVP), reinforcing its talent brand while implementing scalable hiring solutions that enhanced workforce agility and adaptability in a rapidly evolving job market. 

Since 2021, as Vice President of Global Talent Acquisition Strategy & Head of Recruiting at Navy Federal Credit Union, Britton has been at the helm of talent strategy for an organization comprising 25,000 employees. She played a pivotal role in the human capital integration of Bank of America’s OMBP acquisition, crafting a post-merger workforce strategy and designing a scalable talent framework that supports business expansion. 

A Strategic Approach to Talent Acquisition 

As the largest natural member credit union in the United States, Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) serves over 14 million members worldwide, offering a full suite of financial services tailored to military service members, veterans, and their families. With a workforce of 25,000 employees, NFCU operates at the intersection of financial services and member advocacy, ensuring operational excellence and long-term talent sustainability. 

At the core of NFCU’s workforce strategy is its commitment to building an agile, mission-driven culture that aligns with the organization’s growth objectives. Leading this charge is Britton, Vice President of Talent Acquisition Strategy & Recruiting, who spearheads the credit union’s end-to-end talent acquisition function. Britton’s leadership focuses on integrating human capital strategy with business priorities, ensuring NFCU remains competitive in attracting and retaining top talent. Her role encompasses:  

• Enterprise-Wide Talent Strategy – Crafting and executing recruiting strategies that drive business performance, scale operations, and optimize workforce planning. 
• Employer Branding & Market Positioning – Strengthening NFCU’s employer value proposition (EVP) to attract high-caliber talent and enhance workforce engagement. 
• Technology & Process Optimization – Leveraging AI-driven recruiting solutions, automation, and analytics to improve operational efficiency and hiring outcomes. 
• Mergers & Acquisitions Talent Integration – Leading workforce strategy during acquisitions, including the Bank of America OMBP (Operation Military Banking Program) integration, to ensure seamless talent retention and cultural alignment. 

Under Britton’s leadership, NFCU is enhancing its talent acquisition capabilities by utilizing data-driven insights, emerging technologies, and strategic workforce planning. This proactive approach positions NFCU as an employer of choice in an increasingly competitive talent market. 

Five Pillars of Large-Scale Talent Acquisition Transformation 

Leading large-scale talent acquisition transformations requires a structured, data-driven approach that aligns workforce strategy with business objectives. Britton’s methodology is built on five key pillars: 

1. Strategic Alignment – Talent acquisition must be directly aligned with corporate strategy. She begins by assessing workforce demands, market trends, and business objectives to design a talent framework that supports organizational scalability, operational efficiency, and long-term sustainability. 
2. Technology & Innovation – A successful transformation requires automation, AI-driven analytics, and predictive workforce planning to streamline recruitment, improve candidate experience, and enhance decision-making. 
3. Employer Value Proposition (EVP) – A strong EVP ensures an organization remains competitive in the talent market. Britton has led multiple EVP launches at Fifth Third Bank, USAA, and NFCU to strengthen employer brand visibility, increase candidate engagement, and enhance retention. 
4. Cross-Functional Collaboration – When leadership, HR, and hiring teams are aligned, large-scale initiatives succeed. Britton leverages cross-functional collaboration, structured implementation roadmaps, and executive buy-in to drive adoption and long-term success. 
5. Data-Driven Decision Making – Utilizing workforce analytics and performance metrics, Britton ensures that hiring strategies are continuously optimized to meet evolving business needs. 

By embedding innovation into recruitment processes and reinforcing a people-first culture, NFCU is not only driving business growth but also strengthening its commitment to its workforce and members.  

At the Forefront of Workforce Innovation 

Innovation thrives in environments where psychological safety, diverse perspectives, and a willingness to challenge conventional thinking are embraced. Within her recruiting teams, Britton fosters a culture where experimentation, constructive debate, and continuous improvement are not just encouraged but embedded in the organization’s DNA. Her approach is guided by four key principles: 

• Creating Safe Spaces for Healthy Challenge: True innovation flourishes when individuals feel empowered to voice new ideas, challenge existing processes, and engage in courageous conversations without fear of failure or retribution. Britton ensures that all voices—regardless of role, tenure, or background—are heard and valued, reinforcing that a broad array of skills, experiences, and perspectives is critical to achieving peak innovation. Psychological safety enables recruiters to push boundaries, question assumptions, and explore the art of the possible. 
• Emphasizing Progress Over Perfection: Perfectionism stifles agility. Under Britton’s leadership, iterative improvement takes precedence, ensuring that innovation remains an ongoing process rather than a singular initiative. This approach enhances operational efficiency and elevates the candidate experience by fostering dynamic and responsive hiring practices. 
• Fail Fast, Learn Faster: A key tenet of Britton’s innovation strategy is failing forward. By rapidly testing AI-driven sourcing tools, and automation strategies, her teams measure effectiveness swiftly and pivot based on data-driven insights. By eliminating the stigma associated with failure and replacing it with a learning-focused mindset, the organization accelerates innovation and ensures its strategies remain agile and future-ready. 
• Embedding Innovation Through Collaboration: The most transformative ideas emerge from title agnostics discussions. Britton cultivates a culture where a broad spectrum of insights informs talent strategies, ensuring that recruiting initiatives are scalable, equitable, and aligned with overarching business objectives.  

Through these principles, Britton positions her recruiting teams at the forefront of innovation, continuously pushing the boundaries of what is possible in talent acquisition and workforce development.  

Embedding Broad Talent Community Reach into Every Stage of Recruitment 

Britton emphasizes deep talent community outreach into every stage of the recruitment process, stating that at its core, talent acquisition is about guiding and supporting all communities in their career exploration and ensuring that opportunities are accessible, equitable, and human-centered. This approach is not about applying a programmatic label but about operationalizing fairness, reducing barriers, and creating meaningful career pathways for all individuals. 

The recruitment lifecycle is designed to prioritize opportunity and access. Sourcing strategies expand reach beyond traditional talent pools, ensuring that recruitment remains proactively inclusive rather than passively reactive. This includes leveraging skills-based hiring frameworks, tapping into untapped talent communities, and engaging partners that support career mobility for veterans, military spouses, individuals with disabilities, and career changers. Uniform processes are embedded at every touchpoint, reinforcing a commitment to equity. 

Beyond merely filling roles, Britton believes in helping candidates see pathways they may not have previously considered. Transparent communication, mentorship, and career exploration resources are integrated into the hiring process, ensuring that individuals receive the necessary support to make informed career decisions regardless of their background, experience, or network. Embedding fairness into hiring is an evolving process rather than a one-time initiative. Recruiting analytics, hiring data, and feedback loops are leveraged to measure effectiveness, identify disparities, and continuously refine the approach. 

Britton ensures that talent acquisition serves as an open door to opportunity, economic mobility, and long-term workforce equity. 

Connection Over Correction 

Throughout her leadership journey at Fifth Third Bank, IBM, USAA, and Navy Federal, Britton has upheld one fundamental principle: people don’t follow titles—they follow leaders who are authentic, relatable, and invested in their success. Britton emphasizes that leadership presence is not about executive polish or authority but about connection, authenticity, and creating spaces where individuals feel valued, heard, and empowered to do their best work. 

Britton asserts that high-performing teams don’t emerge from constant correction but thrive when leaders prioritize connection over correction. An approachable leader who listens, asks questions, and guides rather than dictates fosters an environment where healthy challenge, innovation, and continuous learning can flourish. According to Britton, people seek leadership, not management. Leadership presence isn’t defined by commanding a room but by making people feel engaged and valued. Britton highlights that empathy, curiosity, and relatability hold greater significance than polished corporate speak. Emotionally available leaders, she explains, share their challenges and engage in honest conversations, building trust faster and creating deeper alignment with their teams. High-EQ leaders don’t just set expectations—they understand what their teams need and meet them where they are. 

Britton underscores that performance and engagement are directly tied to whether individuals experience a sense of joy, purpose, and belonging at work. She has witnessed firsthand how teams that feel safe to experiment, take risks, and challenge ideas consistently outperform those that operate under fear of failure. Britton believes work is more than just a transaction—it’s an opportunity to connect, solve problems, and create something meaningful. When work is human, results follow. High-belonging teams, Britton notes, operate at a higher level because they don’t waste energy in a fearful culture. She insists that leaders must intentionally ensure every individual feels seen, valued, and included. 

At its core, Britton believes outstanding leadership isn’t about perfection but presence. She champions leading with humanity, fostering honest conversations, and ensuring people feel connected to the mission, team, and work. According to Britton, high-performing teams don’t just execute well—they thrive in environments where they feel safe, challenged, and empowered to succeed. 

Beyond Checkboxes and Branding 

Britton’s advice to organizations looking to improve their hiring practices is clear: improving hiring isn’t about checking boxes, branding initiatives, or debating terminology—it’s about being a good human and doing the right thing. She emphasizes that fairness, access, and opportunity are essential for all people to thrive. Organizations should focus on removing barriers to access, creating equitable hiring processes, and ensuring every candidate has a fair shot based on skills and potential. According to Britton, equity isn’t a tagline—it’s about building a hiring system that works for everyone, not just those with access. 

Britton advocates for expanding where and how talent is sourced, moving beyond traditional resumes to focus on skills, experiences, and potential. She asserts that the best hiring practices rely on leaders and recruiters simply being human. 

Breaking Down Hiring Barriers for a More Inclusive Workforce 

Britton has been published in Forbes, Newsweek, and Fast Company. She asserts that the most exciting trends in HR today aren’t about policy shifts or emerging technologies—they’re about rethinking access, leadership, and career mobility. Organizations that thrive break down outdated hiring barriers, amplify non-traditional talent channels, and elevate emotionally intelligent leaders who create meaningful pathways for people to grow. 

The most forward-thinking organizations embed themselves in communities, forging partnerships with skills-based training programs, workforce development initiatives, and apprenticeship models to create scalable career opportunities. HR is shifting from transactional hiring to proactive career building, ensuring more people—especially those from non-traditional backgrounds—have access to meaningful work. Organizations are realizing that skills-first hiring, vocational training, and work-based learning programs unlock a broader, more capable workforce. 

Britton emphasizes that talent is everywhere, and HR leaders must intentionally look beyond traditional hiring pools to uncover high-potential candidates with the capability but not the conventional credentials. The best leaders today aren’t the ones with the loudest voices or most polished resumes—they’re those with emotional intelligence, adaptability, and a deep understanding of developing talent at every level. Leaders who break barriers, foster belonging, and serve as true ambassadors for their teams drive better engagement, retention, and organizational culture. Companies that prioritize leadership presence over executive presence win in today’s talent landscape. The shift from recruiting for roles to recruiting for capabilities is reshaping workforce strategy, ensuring that organizations are more agile, resilient, and prepared for the future of work. 

AI as a Transformative Force in Talent Acquisition 

Britton envisions AI as a transformative force in talent acquisition over the next five years, not as a replacement for recruiters but as an accelerator of strategic hiring. The organizations that thrive will be those leveraging AI to drive efficiency, automate administrative burdens, and create more space for high-value, human-centric interactions. AI will serve as a force multiplier, streamlining high-volume, repetitive tasks while allowing recruiters to focus on meaningful, high-touch engagement with talent. Hiring velocity will improve without compromising quality, as AI-driven analytics redefine workforce planning by offering deeper insights into talent availability, market trends, and skill gaps. However, Britton emphasizes that while AI enhances speed and precision, it cannot replace the human elements that define exceptional hiring—empathy, influence, storytelling, and the ability to serve as authentic brand ambassadors. 

Balancing Results with Recruiter Capacity 

Britton identifies the biggest challenges in talent acquisition today as the mounting pressure to deliver results with fewer resources, accelerated timelines, and an increasingly complex hiring landscape. The issue extends beyond hiring—it’s about safeguarding recruiter capacity, preventing burnout, and ensuring teams operate at a sustainable, high-impact level. One of the greatest threats to recruiting team health is the expectation to do more with less. Ruthless prioritization and capacity management are essential. Recruiters must be recognized as strategic advisors rather than order-takers, and leadership must implement guardrails to protect their bandwidth. Simply increasing requisition volume without refining hiring strategies leads to diminishing returns. 

Britton emphasizes the need for strategic hiring over high-volume hiring. This means prioritizing internal mobility, skills-first hiring, and tapping into alternative talent pipelines. Organizations must optimize the talent they already have, rather than focusing solely on external recruitment. High-performing teams don’t just need more tools—they need leaders who advocate for their well-being, capacity, and long-term success. Not every requisition carries the same strategic weight, and hiring efforts must align with critical workforce needs rather than reactive seat-filling. A thriving talent acquisition team fuels a thriving organization, and TA leaders must be empowered to drive meaningful, long-term workforce impact. 

Rethinking Talent Acquisition 

Britton dismantles one of the most persistent misconceptions about talent acquisition—that it is merely a transactional function centered on filling roles rather than driving business strategy. In reality, she sees talent acquisition as a cornerstone of enterprise success, shaping workforce planning, business agility, and long-term organizational health. Many assume TA is solely about sourcing and hiring candidates, but Britton emphasizes its role at the intersection of business growth, workforce strategy, and organizational design. TA leaders, according to her, provide real-time labor market intelligence, skills forecasting, and competitive insights that directly inform enterprise-level decision-making. Hiring without strategy is just staffing; she believes effective talent acquisition fuels business performance. 

Britton also challenges the notion that TA functions independently when, in fact, its success hinges on deep cross-functional collaboration. Effective TA strategies, Britton argues, demand seamless integration with Finance, Business Units, HR, Technology, and Operations to ensure that hiring efforts align with long-term business goals. Recruiting, in Britton’s view, isn’t about headcount; it’s about capability building, workforce agility, and sustainable talent pipelines. TA professionals don’t just fill roles—they guide business leaders in structuring teams, investing in talent, and creating meaningful career pathways. For her, talent acquisition is a driving force behind succession planning, internal mobility, leadership pipeline development, and organizational design—bringing a holistic, human capital strategy lens to workforce planning.  

Roadmap for Early-Career HR Professionals in Talent Acquisition Leadership 

Britton offers a strategic roadmap for early-career HR professionals aiming for senior leadership in talent acquisition. According to her, success in TA leadership is about more than just mastering hiring processes—it’s about becoming a trusted strategic advisor, continuously learning, and leading with authenticity. 

The most effective TA leaders, she emphasizes, don’t just execute hiring strategies; they shape business decisions, influence workforce planning, and drive long-term organizational success. True differentiation comes from understanding business strategy as deeply as hiring. Expertise in workforce planning, talent analytics, and labor market intelligence sets future leaders apart. Britton advises moving beyond filling requisitions—asking the right questions, challenging assumptions, and guiding leaders toward smarter hiring decisions. Senior leadership isn’t about process execution; it’s about driving business outcomes through talent strategy. 

Britton underscores the power of authenticity in leadership. Senior TA leaders must influence executives, align cross-functional teams, and confidently advocate for talent priorities. Authenticity builds trust—when stakeholders see a leader as credible, informed, and people-first, their impact extends beyond hiring to shaping culture, retention, and workforce agility. 

With the talent landscape evolving rapidly—shaped by technology, new hiring models, and shifting workforce expectations—she stresses the importance of curiosity, adaptability, and proactive learning. Future TA leaders must seek mentorship, stretch assignments, and exposure to cross-functional business initiatives to broaden their perspective beyond HR. 

Britton reinforces that talent acquisition doesn’t operate in isolation. High-impact TA leaders collaborate with Finance, HR, Operations, and Technology to drive holistic talent solutions. Understanding how hiring decisions influence business objectives, workforce costs, and long-term talent sustainability positions TA professionals as key partners in leadership. 

To know more, please visit: https://www.navyfederal.org/