Background Adjudicator

Job Summary: The Background Adjudicator owns the adjudication of background screening results across the enterprise ensuring guideline and policy adherence to drive consistent, compliant, and timely hiring decisions. This role assists in protecting the company from legal risk by aligning with Legal, HR, and Talent Acquisition to enable speed to start and a strong candidate experience.

Job Responsibilities:

Adjudication & Decisioning

• Review criminal, employment, education, MVR, and other screening results
• Apply company adjudication matrix and job-relatedness standards to determine hire eligibility.
• Assess risk using nature of offense, recency, frequency, and role sensitivity in partnership with leaders from HR and Legal departments.
• Make determinations based on guidelines escalating cases outside guidelines to Legal leadership for determination

Regulatory Compliance and Documentation:

• Ensure full compliance with Fair Credit Reporting Act, EEOC guidance, and state/local regulations with guidance from the HR and Legal department.
• Execute pre-adverse and adverse action processes with accuracy and timeliness.
• Maintain audit-ready documentation for all decisions.
• Monitor regulatory changes and update adjudication standards accordingly.

Operational Efficiency and Process Improvement:

• Meet Service Level Agreements for turnaround time to protect start dates and production continuity.
• Identify process gaps that slow hiring or create risk; suggest fixes and implement when approved.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition Operations to streamline workflows in Workday and screening vendor integrations.
• Track and report key metrics. Time to adjudicate, adverse action rates, overturn rates, and candidate disputes.

Risk Management:

• Advise Talent Acquisition, HR, and Hiring Leaders on adjudication outcome or escalation to legal and risk posture.
• Serve as point of contact for complex or sensitive cases.
• Partner with Legal on policy interpretation and escalations, ensuring clear, compliant communication during adverse action.
• Balance risk mitigation with fair chance hiring principles and brand reputation.

Experience:

• 1-3 years in background screening, adjudication, compliance, employment law support, or related fields
• Demonstrated experience making defensible adjudication decisions based on guidelines/ policies
• Experience working in high-volume, hourly hiring environments

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Knowledge and understanding of FCRA, EEOC guidance, and multi-state compliance.
• Strong judgment and ability to handle sensitive information with discretion.
• Analytical mindset with ability to interpret complex records.
• Experience in manufacturing, food processing, logistics, or similar regulated environments.
• Familiarity with screening vendors (e.g., HireRight, Sterling) and ATS platforms.
• Exposure to DOT vs. non-DOT requirements.

Supervisor Responsibilities:

• None. This is an individual contributor role

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Legal Studies, HR, Criminal Justice, or related field preferred

Competencies:

• Risk assessment and decision quality
• Attention to detail
• Accountability and speed
• Communication and Stakeholder influence
• Ethical judgment
• Process discipline

Work Environment:

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is exposed to typical risks of injury in an office environment. 
• Duties include a typical office setting including extensive computer work, sitting or standing.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Must adhere to the company’s Code of Conduct and all other policies.

Safety Requirements:

• Follows all departmental and company safety policies and programs.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, Wayne-Sanderson does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, religion, gender (sex), sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, citizenship status, a person’s veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law or executive order.

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.