Artificial Intelligence (AI), Capital Equipment, Control Engineering, Integrated Circuits (ICs), Robotics, Scaffolding, Scorecarding, Software as a Service (SaaS), Startup, Technical Recruiting
LOCATION
Milpitas, California
POSTED
30+ days ago
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