Talent Acquisition & Onboarding

As director of Talent Acquisition and Onboarding, Audrey Gainey oversees UF’s Strategic Talent Group, which aims to identify, attract and engage potential and current faculty and staff and serves as a consulting group to departments throughout the university.

Gainey brings more than 24 years of experience in recruitment, selection and hiring to the UFHR team, having most recently served as talent acquisition manager for the City of Gainesville.  There, she led a team of eight in the development of recruitment and sourcing strategies, analyzed hiring needs and provided employee hiring forecasts and championing various diversity initiatives.

Gainey has also led a number of system implementations, including the City of Gainesville’s automated onboarding process and background integration.  She served as the HR Change Champion for the City’s ERP Implementation efforts, a member of the City’s Equal Opportunity Diversity Committee and a member of the City’s Core Equity Leadership Team. During her tenure with the City, she was selected as an Emerging Leader, recognized for her commitment to diversity and awarded for her exceptional team efforts to staff a major City project.

Gainey holds a master’s degree in organizational management from the University of Phoenix and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Alabama A&M University. She is also a Society for Human Resource Management Senior Certified Professional (SPHR-SCP).

As Associate Director for Talent Acquisition and Onboarding, John supports in the management of talent acquisition programs, including pre-employment screening, as well as the immigration program for sponsoring international employees and employment abroad. John has been with UF Human Resources for over 15 years. John holds a master’s degree in Human Resources from Webster University and a bachelor’s degree in Interpersonal Community from the University of Central Florida. 

Mackenzie Burkett leads the Strategic Talent Group(STG) at the University of Florida (UF). STG serves as the University’s Internal Executive Search Team and is dedicated to identifying, attracting, and engaging top-tier talent for UF. As an internal consulting group, they leverage their passion for UF and deep understanding of the university’s culture and values to tailor recruitment strategies for each engagement.

Before her role in HR and Talent Acquisition, Mackenzie spent a decade in the performing arts and event industries across three states, holding various positions including stagehand, Disney performer, and manager.