Lead Recruiter

About the Role

We are hiring a Lead Recruiter to own full-cycle hiring for active reqs (from sourcing through close). You will partner closely with hiring managers across engineering, GTM, and operations to bring in the people who build and deploy AI systems. The people you hire will ship to real factory production lines and directly impact significant product volume inspected every year.

This is a true owner seat. The current Recruiting Lead is moving on, and the next hire inherits an existing function with full autonomy to rebuild as needed. The role is a one-person team, with a people ops hire flexing into recruiting as needed.

What You'll Own

• Run full-cycle recruiting across active reqs: sourcing, screening, interview coordination, and closing
• Write custom outbound for the hardest technical roles (ML, embodied AI, sim, robotics, controls) to reach candidates who are not on the open market
• Partner with hiring managers to calibrate rubrics, run debriefs, and hold the bar across the loop
• Own the candidate experience end-to-end in Ashby: clean pipelines, fast scheduling, structured scorecards
• Construct offers, model equity, and close candidates against competing options
• Partner with hiring managers and ops on each new hire's Day 1 to make sure they ramp fast
• Operate as a one-person team for your reqs and ship without needing scaffolding

Requirements

Must-Have

• 3–5+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience at a startup or tech company
• Prior founding recruiter or owned-the-function background — pure IC pattern slotting into an existing brand is not the fit
• Personally closed engineering hires at a startup scale
• Strong experience with Ashby (or comparable ATS) and structured interview processes
• Ability to explain tradeoffs, judgment calls, and candidate read-outs clearly to hiring managers and founders
• Comfortable operating in uncertainty and at the pace of an early-stage company
• Direct, concise communicator
• Based in Milpitas or willing to relocate — 5 days a week in office

Nice-to-Have

• Robotics, hardware, applied AI, or deep-tech recruiting experience
• Prior experience at a Series A or B startup that scaled past 200 employees
• Direct experience with capital-equipment GTM hiring (not SaaS)
• Prior technical recruiting for ML, embodied AI, sim, robotics, or controls engineers

Benefits & Perks

• Competitive salary and equity
• Unlimited PTO
• Full medical, dental, and vision coverage
• 401(k)
• Daily meals provided with personal choice

Interview Process

1. Application Review
2. Initial Screen
3. CTO Interview
4. CEO Interview
5. Advisor Interview
6. References
7. Offer