R&D Recruiting Lead

At Klaviyo, we value the unique backgrounds, experiences and perspectives each Klaviyo (we call ourselves Klaviyos) brings to our workplace each and every day. We believe everyone deserves a fair shot at success and appreciate the experiences each person brings beyond the traditional job requirements. If you’re a close but not exact match with the description, we hope you’ll still consider applying. Want to learn more about life at Klaviyo? Visit klaviyo.com/careers to see how we empower creators to own their own destiny.

As an R&D Recruiting Lead, you will act as the senior recruiting partner for the business. You will build the hiring plan, run the most critical searches, advise leaders on talent strategy, and use data to keep hiring on track. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who can both execute searches personally and raise the quality of recruiting across the team.

What You Will Do

• Own the hiring relationship for High-influence Principal roles from planning through delivery.
• Translate org design and headcount plans into a clear, prioritized hiring strategy in partnership with HR.
• Run the most senior or highest-impact searches directly and model a high bar for search quality.
• Partner with HRBP, Talent Branding, and business leaders on workforce planning, hiring risk, market insights, and candidate messaging.
• Use pipeline, conversion, time-to-fill, and forecast data to communicate progress and identify risk early.
• Guide and mentor recruiters supporting the pillar, including prioritization, search strategy, calibration, and stakeholder communication.
• Use AI tools as part of the daily workflow to improve sourcing, screening, market mapping, and pipeline management while applying sound judgment to quality and candidate experience.

Who you are:

• 8+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, including strong experience in leadership-aligned technical hiring.
• Experience owning a full book of business, including delivery, stakeholder relationships, data, employer brand, and hiring strategy.
• Credibility with senior and executive stakeholders, with the ability to advise, influence, and push back when needed.
• Strong business acumen and the ability to connect org strategy, hiring plans, and market realities.
• Experience recruiting for senior leadership or executive-level roles, or partnering closely on those searches.
• Practical AI fluency, with examples of how AI has improved speed, quality, or candidate experience in your own work.
• A track record of mentoring or informally leading recruiters in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment.

Massachusetts Applicants:
It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Our salary range reflects the cost of labor across various U.S. geographic markets. The range displayed below reflects the minimum and maximum target salaries for the position across all our US locations. The base salary offered for this position is determined by several factors, including the applicant’s job-related skills, relevant experience, education or training, and work location.

In addition to base salary, our total compensation package may include participation in the company’s annual cash bonus plan, variable compensation (OTE) for sales and customer success roles, equity, sign-on payments, and a comprehensive range of health, welfare, and wellbeing benefits based on eligibility.

Your recruiter can provide more details about the specific salary/OTE range for your preferred location during the hiring process.

Base Pay Range For US Locations:

$136,000—$204,000 USD

This role may require up to 10% travel for purposes such as new hire onboarding, client or partner work if applicable, team meetings, and industry events. Travel is coordinated in advance.

Get to Know Klaviyo

We’re Klaviyo (pronounced clay-vee-oh). We empower creators to own their destiny by making first-party data accessible and actionable like never before. We see limitless potential for the technology we’re developing to nurture personalized experiences in ecommerce and beyond. To reach our goals, we need our own crew of remarkable creators—ambitious and collaborative teammates who stay focused on our north star: delighting our customers. If you’re ready to do the best work of your career, where you’ll be welcomed as your whole self from day one and supported with generous benefits, we hope you’ll join us.

AI fluency at Klaviyo includes responsible use of AI (including privacy, security, bias awareness, and human-in-the-loop). We provide accommodations as needed.

By participating in Klaviyo’s interview process, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and will adhere to our Guidelines for using AI in the Klaviyo interview Process. For more information about how we process your personal data, see our Job Applicant Privacy Notice.

Klaviyo is committed to a policy of equal opportunity and non-discrimination. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, citizenship, national origin, color, religion or religious creed, age, sex (including pregnancy), gender identity, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, veteran or active military status, marital status, criminal record, genetics, retaliation, sexual harassment or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Our company takes the security and privacy of job applicants very seriously. We will never ask for payment, bank details, or personal financial information as part of the application process. All our legitimate job postings can be found on our official career site. Please be cautious of job offers that come from non-company email addresses (@klaviyo.com), instant messaging platforms, or unsolicited calls.

By clicking "Submit Application" you consent to Klaviyo processing your Personal Data in accordance with our Job Applicant Privacy Notice. If you do not wish for Klaviyo to process your Personal Data, please do not submit an application. You can find our Job Applicant Privacy Notice here and here (FR).