Founding Recruiter

The Opportunity

My client is an early-stage AI startup in San Francisco that has raised $5M+ to bring AI-powered automation to one of the largest, most under-digitized industries in the world: insurance brokerage. They are growing quickly and are looking for their first in-house recruiter to help build the engineering and product teams that will define the next phase of the company. This is a true founding hire. You will partner directly with the founders, own the recruiting function end to end, and have the freedom to design the playbooks, tools, and culture that future hires will inherit.

What You Will Be Doing

• Building the recruiting function from scratch, including ATS setup, interview loops, scorecards, and outbound sourcing playbooks
• Owning full-cycle recruiting for engineering and product roles, from sourcing through close
• Partnering directly with the founders on org design, hiring priorities, and pitch
• Sourcing passive candidates at scale through LinkedIn, Gem, Ashby, and other modern recruiting tools
• Running first-round screens and acting as the candidate's primary point of contact through offer
• Designing and continuously improving the candidate experience, from first touch to onboarding
• Tracking pipeline metrics and using data to inform sourcing and conversion decisions
• Helping shape the early team culture as one of the company's first ten or fifteen employees

What You Bring

• 4+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, with a meaningful portion as an in-house recruiter
• Demonstrated experience building or rebuilding a recruiting function from 0 to 1 at a venture-backed startup
• A track record of personally sourcing and closing technical hires (engineering, product, or both) as an individual contributor
• Comfort operating without a manager, a team, or established process. You will be the recruiting function on day one.
• Strong instincts for evaluating engineering and product talent at the early stage
• Excellent written and verbal communication, with the judgment to represent a company well to senior candidates

Bonus Points

• Experience hiring at an AI, developer tools, or enterprise SaaS startup between Series A and Series C
• Familiarity with modern recruiting tools like Ashby, Gem, Juicebox, or HireEZ
• Experience in a regulated or traditionally non-technical industry (insurance, legal, healthcare, financial services)
• A network of strong engineering and product candidates in the San Francisco Bay Area
• Prior experience as the first or second recruiter at a startup that scaled meaningfully during your tenure

Why Join

• Genuine 0 to 1 ownership of the recruiting function, with direct partnership with the founders
• Working on a problem that matters: applying AI to an industry that has been waiting decades for it
• A small, senior team with strong technical and operational pedigree
• The chance to build the playbook, not inherit one

Logistics

• Location: San Francisco, in-office
• Full-time, salaried role

Equal Opportunity Statement

My client is an equal opportunity employer. They celebrate diversity and are committed to building an inclusive team. Candidates of all backgrounds are encouraged to apply, and they do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, disability, national origin, or any other protected characteristic.