Exact Sciences is recruiting new leaders to its workforce through a special focus on connecting with veterans with a shared passion for helping people.

Earlier this year, the company, which is dedicated to innovative work that helps detect cancer earlier and improves cancer treatment guidance and monitoring, partnered with Mission Wisconsin, an organization that helps Wisconsin employers connect with transitioning service members, spouses, and veterans.

Veterans bring important leadership skills, drive and work ethic gained through military officer experience to the job force. Headquartered in Madison and Switzerland, Exact Sciences has more than 5,000 employees and has expanded to locations in Cambridge, Salt Lake City, San Diego, Redwood City, Phoenix, Baltimore, and Boston within the U.S.

“It’s really about developing field-based leaders – coaching and mentoring individuals, partnering and building relationships with them as they transition into civilian life,” said Anna Sullivan, director for talent acquisition.

Mission Wisconsin actively shares Exact Science job openings through social posts, weekly newsletters, and other networks. They are connecting candidates directly to Exact to help identify the right roles.

Building a talent acquisition strategy means being deliberate about reaching out to underrepresented groups of individuals, from those who identify as LGBTQ to different ethnicities to veterans, Sullivan said.

“We are responsible for that outreach, which means acting now so we can deliver for the future versus taking a passive approach and just hoping we can hire a diverse group of individuals for positions to represent our employee base over time,” said Scott Larrivee, Exact Science’s associate director of corporate affairs.

Exact has more than 500 open jobs, requiring everything from a GED diploma to a doctorate.

“That’s not always something people think of, so we’re trying to help people understand how their careers and backgrounds can fit,” Larrivee said. “With our veterans hiring initiative, that means actively working on translating amazing military skills like project management and planning and bringing those into the organization.”

Aaron Schoepke joined Exact Sciences in spring 2021 as senior recruiter. He retired from military service after 10 years of active duty in the Navy and 10 years of reserve duty and said he was drawn to the company by its core values.

“Exact lives and breathes and hires for core values,” Schoepke said. “They’re talked about daily in meetings. In the military, those have been instilled in you since day one. Having that structure when you’re coming out of service and into a company where it’s already established is second to none.”

Exact pulls its core values – innovation, integrity, quality, teamwork and accountability – into daily work, referring back to them and using them regularly in decision-making. Larrivee said there’s an important connection between military service and values Exact’s responsibility for fighting cancer.

To view current openings at Exact Sciences, head to the company’s Careers Page.