Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to design a talent-based model for recruiting faculty members at regional comprehensive universities in Iran. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the purpose, grounded theory approach was used. The research population consisted of all experts in the field of higher education in Iran. Nineteen experts were selected through purposeful sampling by Snowball method and based on theoretical saturation. To collect the data, a semi-structured interview was used and for the data analysis, a thematic analysis technique was applied. Findings: The findings showed that the model for recruiting the faculty members in Iranian regional universities included four components--Personal Characteristics, Professional Capabilities, Behavioral Capabilities and Cognitive Capabilities. Practical implications: This research identified the recruiting components and its results can be used to recruit capable faculty members purposefully and in accordance with the Iranian academic strategic plan. The method of this study can be applied in other applied fields as well. Originality/value: This study adds to the authors' knowledge about recruiting of the faculty members and also the factors that can be helpful in a talent-based selection. Therefore, in order to have capable faculty members, universities should make an effort to identify relevant components and design a comprehensive model to recruit more capable faculty members.