Founding Recruiter

About the role

This is a founding recruiting position with a fast-growing, New York City-based startup backed by Series A momentum. The company is building an exceptional AI team and is looking for someone who can own recruiting end-to-end from the outset. You will help shape the talent function from scratch, influence how hiring scales, and have opportunities to expand into broader people strategy over time. In this role, you will partner closely with the Head of Operations and contribute meaningfully to company growth.

Compensation and work setup

The package is described as highly competitive and includes equity. The role is primarily in-office five days a week in New York, though the company is noted as being reasonable and flexible when an occasional work-from-home day is needed.

What you will do

• Own the recruiting pipeline from sourcing through outreach, interviews, offer negotiation, closing, and onboarding across engineering, go-to-market, and operations roles.
• Use structured candidate sequences, screening, and hiring manager partnership to keep hiring moving quickly while maintaining strong quality standards.
• Drive outbound recruiting with a highly targeted approach: build prospect lists, craft persuasive outreach, and convert passive candidates into conversations.
• Develop a strong grasp of the company’s hiring bar so you can assess candidates accurately and represent each opportunity credibly.
• Create and improve the recruiting operating system, including outreach messaging, intake workflows, ATS organization, and funnel reporting.
• Act as a strategic talent partner by joining planning discussions, advising on compensation, and contributing to organizational design as the company scales.
• Expand beyond core recruiting as you ramp up by supporting the Head of Operations on people strategy, candidate experience, onboarding, and adjacent operational projects.

Required background

• Between 2 and 7 years of experience in recruiting, talent acquisition, or a strongly people-oriented agency/sales role such as SDR, AE, or partnerships.
• Proven ability to close candidates who have multiple strong options and to sell the opportunity effectively, not just screen resumes.
• Hands-on experience with outbound recruiting or outbound sales and the ability to turn outreach into real conversations.
• Comfort hiring for technical functions such as engineering, infrastructure, or developer tools, or a demonstrated ability to ramp quickly on technical subjects.
• Strong judgment for identifying top talent and explaining why a candidate is strong beyond simply checking boxes.
• A self-directed working style with the initiative to identify what needs to happen and make it happen without waiting for direction.
• Excellent communication skills, including clear writing and strong verbal presence, with the ability to move candidates from interested to enthusiastic.

Preferred experience

• Previous experience recruiting engineers at a venture-backed company, search firm, or VC talent team.
• Comfort working in technical environments and earning the trust of engineers as a credible partner.
• An operator mindset with a habit of improving team workflows and recruiting processes.
• Regular use of AI tools to source faster, write better outreach, and increase output.

Who should apply

• People who see themselves as builders.
• Candidates who are excited to work in person from a New York office.
• Individuals who want to set a high hiring bar in a foundational role.
• Closers who can attract and secure top talent rather than simply coordinate a process.
• Those who enjoy startup environments and, ideally, have experience in one or a strong zero-to-one mindset.
• Professionals who like working with technical, ambitious, caring, and systems-oriented teammates.
• People who thrive in a fast-moving, iterative environment where experimentation matters.