Amanda Rominger
Topstep
“Every applicant is a real person. Behind every application is someone seeking stability, growth, or opportunity.”
Amanda Rominger has been named to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, the annual award recognizing up to 100 leaders in each category of talent acquisition. Honorees are nominated by peers or found by committees that look for excellent work wherever it happens, then chosen for the depth of their craft and their impact on hiring. This is Amanda's story.
Amanda Rominger, Director of Talent Acquisition at Topstep, didn't set out to build a career in recruiting, but life had other plans.
When she suddenly became a single mother, she knew she needed to make a fast, meaningful career change. A friend already working in the recruiting industry offered her an opportunity to help in a small way: sharing job advertisements on social media. What started as a simple support role quickly became something more, because her impact was immediate.
The team recognized her ability to connect with people, communicate opportunities clearly, and represent roles authentically. That initial break turned into a formal role on the talent team, then into leadership, managing teams, scaling operations, and eventually stepping into global talent leadership. Step by step, Amanda worked her way up, learning every layer of the function along the way.
What Energizes Her Most
For Amanda, recruiting has always been about impact. What energizes her most today is the ability to change someone's life by offering them an opportunity they truly need. Matching great people with great companies, finding the right fit, and helping build something meaningful on both sides of the hiring equation is deeply rewarding to her.
While “changing lives” can sound cliché in talent acquisition, Amanda lives that purpose daily. She approaches recruiting with empathy, intention, and a genuine desire to help, seeing candidates as people, not numbers.
How Recruiting Is Changing
Amanda has seen the recruiting industry move in cycles, especially over the past few years. When companies need to make budget cuts, talent teams are often among the first affected. Then, when hiring demand inevitably returns, organizations rush to rebuild those same teams. It's a familiar, and frustrating, pattern that highlights just how critical recruiting is to business success.
She also sees AI as one of the most significant shifts in the industry today. While there is fear that AI could replace recruiters, Amanda believes it should be viewed as a tool, not a substitute. Used thoughtfully, AI helps teams work more efficiently and frees recruiters to focus on what matters most: personalization, relationship-building, and the human connection. For Amanda, technology should support recruiters, not remove the human element from hiring.
Amanda's Advice for 2026
As the industry looks ahead, Amanda's advice is simple but powerful: every applicant is a real person. Ghosting candidates, she believes, should never be acceptable. Behind every application is someone seeking stability, growth, or opportunity, and recruiters have a responsibility to treat candidates with respect, transparency, and care, even when the answer is no.
In an increasingly automated world, Amanda reminds us that recruiting is, at its core, still deeply human. That belief is what makes her a standout voice among today's talent leaders.
The Talent 100 exists to celebrate the people shaping the future of how the world hires, and few embody that better than Amanda. We are honored to welcome Amanda Rominger to the Talent 100, Class of 2026, and grateful for the experience, perspective, and craft they bring to this community. Congratulations, Amanda. Welcome to the Talent 100.
About the Talent 100
The Talent 100 is an annual list spotlighting the leaders who push HR and talent acquisition forward, organized by Noon AI. Honorees are selected through peer nominations and independent selection committees. Selection is entirely merit-based, with no fees or pay-to-play requirements.
