It's something to be aware of and to try to avoid. It may be casually acceptable, but consider it from a female candidates point of view. Having been frequently confronted with exclusionary language the assumption is likely to be that this usage does imply male-only. I'm not saying you or anyone implies that, but it's good to be aware of so you can avoid unintended discrimination. It takes almost no effort to modify these word choices to be inclusive.

My wife and her female cousin-in-law do it to each other all the time.

That said, I agree it's not appropriate for a job req and understand why it turns women off from applying.

Referring to women as "females" probably won't help, either