iCIMS Announces Winners of Inaugural Customer Awards for Excellence in Recruiting and Hiring--iCIMS STAR Awards

Global brands recognized for measurable improvements in talent acquisition outcomes across AI adoption, candidate experience and industry leadership

HOLMDEL, N.J., Jan. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- iCIMS, a leading provider of talent acquisition technology, today announced the winners of its customer award program, the iCIMS STAR Awards. The iCIMS 2026 STAR (Strategic Talent Acquisition Recognition) Awards honor global organizations that are setting the standard in transforming talent acquisition with iCIMS—including streamlining hiring, boosting efficiency and elevating the candidate experience. 

With nearly 100 customer nominations from around the world, the inaugural iCIMS STAR Award winners showcase the transformation and measurable business impact talent acquisition teams achieve with iCIMS every day. Winners were evaluated based on innovation, depth of iCIMS platform adoption and demonstrated business and talent outcomes, with particular emphasis on efficiency gains, hiring performance and candidate experience improvements at scale.  

"Now more than ever, the future of work depends on those who can turn hiring efficiency, process improvements, and AI technology adoption into business results," said Nikki Grigsby, chief customer officer at iCIMS. "Today's most exceptional talent acquisition leaders are shaping what's next by thoughtfully embedding AI and designing hiring experiences that put candidates first. The inaugural iCIMS STAR Award winners prove these capabilities aren't aspirational; they're achievable, essential and foundational to building resilient, high-performing organizations."  

Leading the inaugural class of iCIMS STAR Award winners is Danny Rojas, senior talent acquisition manager of The Container Store, named iCIMS STAR of the Year. Rojas was honored for enabling a predictable and scalable hiring engine for one of the U.S.'s largest specialty retailers focused on home organization. With iCIMS, Rojas' team achieved a 30% year-over-year headcount growth in Custom Spaces, the brand's custom-design services business, through talent acquisition centralization and automation.  

"iCIMS is the backbone of our talent acquisition ecosystem, helping us scale high-volume hiring with speed, consistency and a people-first experience," said Rojas.  

Additional iCIMS 2026 STAR Award winners include organizations and talent leaders driving measurable impact across AI-powered hiring, candidate experience and industry-specific transformation:  

AI Pioneer Award
ATCC (American Type Culture Collection) | Angela Biehl, Director, Talent Acquisition  
Recognized for strategically implementing iCIMS AI and optimizing their platform using data-driven insights, transforming recruiting across the organization and eliminating agency and RPO spend.

Candidate Experience Champion Award
Expleo Group | Laura Garcia Herrero, Global Talent Acquisition System Manager   
Recognized for delivering consistent, real-time insights across more than 25 countries and strengthening employer brand through thoughtful, standardized candidate communication.  

Hospitality Industry STAR Award
Delaware North | Amy Duncan, VP of Talent Acquisition and Laura Murray, Director, Employer Branding & Strategy  
Recognized for achieving a 7-point lead in high-quality candidates over the industry benchmark.  

Healthcare Industry STAR Award
St. Luke's | Emily Reed, Human Resources Project Specialist  
Recognized for achieving a 22% completed-apply rate, 50% interview rate and 40% hire rate from engaged candidates with iCIMS CXM.   

Manufacturing & Construction Industry STAR Award
TDIndustries | Amanda Norfleet, Head of Talent Acquisition Operations and Derek Dostal, VP of Talent Acquisition
Recognized for reducing time to fill by 50%, accelerating hiring at a pace that is now nine days faster than the average iCIMS manufacturing customer.  

Top finalists for the iCIMS 2026 STAR Awards ("Rising STARs") include leaders from H&R Block, Smile Brands, KEO International Consultants and Johnson Financial Group. Across their respective organizations, these Rising STARs achieved a range of measurable outcomes with iCIMS, including reducing candidate response times by more than 50% and shortening application completion time to under five minutes.  

"Being named the AI Pioneer reflects the thoughtful way our team has integrated AI into hiring," said Biehl of ATCC. "In a highly regulated environment, we use AI with defined guardrails, human oversight and a focus on fairness and compliance. Partnering with iCIMS has enabled us to innovate responsibly, mitigate risk and continue improving the candidate experience."

See our iCIMS STAR Award winners and explore their success stories. Request a demo today to learn how iCIMS can help organizations achieve similar results and transform talent acquisition.  

About iCIMS, Inc.  
iCIMS is a leading provider of talent acquisition technology that enables organizations everywhere to build winning workforces. For over 20 years, iCIMS has been at the forefront of talent acquisition transformation. iCIMS empowers thousands of organizations worldwide with the right tools to meet their evolving needs across the talent journey and drive business success. Its AI-powered hiring platform is designed to improve efficiency, cut recruiting costs and build exceptional experiences for candidates and recruiters. For more information, visit www.icims.com.

Contact
Will DeMuria
Corporate Communications, iCIMS
[email protected]

SOURCE iCIMS, Inc.