HAMILTON -- The Stelco name is back and the southern Ontario steelmaker says it has launched a hiring program as it prepares to resume functions that have been performed outside the country while it has been a subsidiary of U.S. Steel.

Stelco spokesman Trevor Harris says the recruitment drive is currently focused on roles in information technology, finance, sales and procurement.

The total number of people to be hired hasn't been determined yet but the company's new website at StelcoCanada.com had about 50 job postings Friday.

About a quarter of those are IT positions responsible for software development, computer systems, communications networks, cyber security and vendor contracts and other technology functions.

The company, which has been operating under court protection since September 2014, currently employs about 750 in Hamilton and 1,400 in Nanticoke, Ont.

The century-old steel company was known as Stelco when it was acquired in 2007 by Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel and renamed U.S. Steel Canada.

U.S. Steel announced last month that it has a preliminary agreement to sell the business as a going concern to a group known as Bedrock Industries, but the court has yet to be presented with a final proposal.