Founding Recruiter

Founding Recruiter

Location: San Francisco, CA 94107
Job Type: Full-Time | Permanent
Work Environment: 100% Onsite | 5 Days per Week

Job Summary

We are hiring a Founding Recruiter to build and lead the talent acquisition function for a rapidly growing early-stage startup. This role is ideal for a high-energy recruiter with strong full-cycle recruiting experience who thrives in fast-paced startup environments and has a successful track record hiring engineering, technical, sales, and operations talent.

The ideal candidate will have experience recruiting in early-stage startups, building recruiting processes from scratch, partnering with leadership teams, and scaling organizations from small teams to high-growth environments.

Key Responsibilities

• Own full-cycle recruiting processes from sourcing, screening, interviewing, offer negotiation, and closing candidates.
• Recruit for technical and non-technical roles including Software Engineers, Hardware Engineers, Sales, Operations, and Business functions.
• Partner closely with the CEO, founders, and hiring managers to define hiring strategies and workforce planning.
• Develop and execute sourcing strategies using LinkedIn Recruiter, referrals, networking, talent mapping, and creative sourcing channels.
• Build and manage recruiting pipelines for passive and active candidates.
• Create and improve recruiting workflows, interview processes, scorecards, and hiring systems.
• Implement and manage ATS platforms and recruiting tools, including Ashby or similar applicant tracking systems.
• Conduct candidate screening interviews and evaluate candidates for technical capability, culture fit, communication skills, and startup adaptability.
• Deliver a strong candidate experience throughout the hiring lifecycle.
• Track recruiting metrics, hiring KPIs, time-to-fill, and pipeline performance to improve hiring efficiency.
• Support employer branding initiatives and represent company culture in the talent market.
• Operate independently in a fast-paced, ambiguous startup environment with high ownership and accountability.

Required Qualifications

• 2-6 years of full-cycle recruiting experience in startup or high-growth environments.
• Proven experience recruiting for engineering and technical roles.
• Experience hiring for non-technical positions including sales, operations, customer success, or business functions.
• Experience working at early-stage startups with fewer than 50 employees.
• Strong sourcing and outbound recruiting experience using LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean search, networking, referrals, and alternative sourcing methods.
• Experience building recruiting processes, interview frameworks, and hiring systems from scratch.
• Strong stakeholder management and collaboration skills with executives and hiring managers.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple open requisitions simultaneously.
• Comfortable working onsite 5 days per week in San Francisco, CA.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience as a founding recruiter or first in-house recruiter.
• Experience helping scale a startup from early-stage growth to 50+ employees.
• Experience using Ashby ATS or similar recruiting platforms.
• Background recruiting in technology, robotics, climate tech, SaaS, hardware, or engineering-driven companies.
• Strong understanding of startup hiring strategies and talent market trends.

Key Skills

• Full-Cycle Recruiting
• Technical Recruiting
• Engineering Recruitment
• Talent Acquisition
• Startup Recruiting
• Candidate Sourcing
• Boolean Search
• LinkedIn Recruiter
• Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
• Ashby ATS
• Recruiting Operations
• Interview Coordination
• Offer Negotiation
• Stakeholder Management
• Employer Branding
• Talent Pipeline Development
• Hiring Strategy
• Recruiting Analytics
• Candidate Experience
• High-Growth Startup Hiring