Founding Technical Recruiter

Founding Technical Recruiter

Onsite in San Francisco

Competitive Salary + Equity

Who We Are

UniversalAGI is building OpenAI for Physics. AI startup based in San Francisco and backed by Elad Gil (#1 Solo VC), Eric Schmidt (former Google CEO), Prith Banerjee (ANSYS CTO), Ion Stoica (Databricks Founder), Jared Kushner (former Senior Advisor to the President), David Patterson (Turing Award Winner), and Luis Videgaray (former Foreign and Finance Minister of Mexico). We're building foundation AI models for physics that enable end-to-end industrial automation from initial design through optimization, validation, and production.

We're building a high-velocity team of relentless researchers and engineers that will define the next generation of AI for industrial engineering. If you're passionate about AI, physics, or the future of industrial innovation, we want to hear from you.

About the Role

As our founding Technical Recruiter, you'll be in the arena from day one, building the talent engine that will power UniversalAGI's hypergrowth. This is your chance to take everything you've learned about technical recruiting and use it to build a world-class team that will transform industrial engineering.

You'll work directly with the CEO and founding team to identify, engage, and close the most specialized technical talent in the world: AI researchers, CFD engineers, physicists, applied mathematicians, and deep tech builders who are currently defining the cutting edge at places like OpenAI, NVIDIA, ANSYS, Siemens, Tesla, SpaceX, and top research labs.

This isn't passive recruiting. This is strategic talent acquisition at the highest level—finding needles in haystacks, building relationships with people who aren't looking, and closing candidates who have multiple competing offers.

What You'll Do

• Identify, engage, and close specialized technical talent spreading across AI/ML researchers, physics simulation engineers, CFD/FEA experts, and deep tech engineers at unprecedented speed

• Design and optimize recruiting workflows, tools, and processes that scale with our hypergrowth while maintaining quality—you'll build the playbook that future recruiters will follow

• Create a world class candidate experience where candidates can clearly see the truly unique opportunity of joining UniversalAGI

• Build and execute creative sourcing strategies to identify talent in highly specialized niches: AI researchers working on physics-informed neural networks, CFD engineers from automotive/aerospace/maritime, computational physicists, applied mathematicians, and systems engineers

• Own the entire candidate pipeline from initial identification through offer acceptance, managing 50+ active candidates simultaneously while maintaining exceptional candidate experience

• Develop deep technical fluency in our domains (AI, CFD, physics simulation, numerical methods) to have credible conversations with senior technical talent and assess fit

• Partner directly with the CEO & People Partner to understand role requirements, ideal candidate profiles, and competitive landscape—then execute with relentless urgency

• Build and maintain a robust talent pipeline that stays weeks ahead of hiring needs, ensuring we never slow down due to lack of qualified candidates

• Track, analyze, and optimize key recruiting metrics: pipeline conversion rates, time-to-hire, source effectiveness, offer acceptance rates, and candidate quality scores

• Represent UniversalAGI at conferences, meetups, and technical communities, building our employer brand and talent network in AI and deep tech circles

• Mentor and help grow our talent team and expand our recruiting footprint

This is a role for someone who's ready to solve some of humanity's hardest recruiting challenges, build a world-class talent engine from scratch, and define what exceptional technical recruiting looks like in the age of AI.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of high-volume technical recruiting experience with proven track record of closing specialized talent quickly. You've personally closed dozens of highly sought after technical hires and can demonstrate rapid pipeline-to-offer conversion.

• Expert in sourcing strategies and tools (LinkedIn Recruiter, JuiceBox, GitHub, Boolean search, X-ray searches, AI sourcing tools, research paper databases, conference attendee lists, etc.).

• Demonstrated success recruiting for technical roles: AI/ML engineers, research scientists, simulation engineers, computational specialists, or similarly specialized technical talent.

• Strong technical fluency and ability to quickly learn complex technical domains to have credible conversations with senior engineers and researchers.

• Outstanding execution velocity and delivery—you move fast, manage multiple pipelines simultaneously, and consistently hit aggressive hiring targets.

• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills capable of engaging passive candidates and building long-term talent networks.

• Data-driven mindset with strong analytical skills to optimize recruiting funnels and improve conversion rates.

• Comfortable working in high-intensity, fast-paced startup environments with evolving priorities, ambitious hiring goals, and tight deadlines.

Bonus Qualifications

• Prior experience recruiting for AI startups (Seed to Series C) during hypergrowth phases (0-50+ employees).

• Experience recruiting for simulation software companies (ANSYS, Siemens, Dassault Systèmes, Altair, etc.) or physics-heavy engineering roles.

• Background recruiting for research-focused roles (PhDs, postdocs, research scientists) from top universities and labs.

• Experience building recruiting processes and infrastructure from scratch at early-stage startups.

• Technical background or engineering degree that enables deeper technical conversations.

• Existing talent network in AI research, computational physics, or simulation engineering communities.

• Experience with employer branding initiatives and representing companies at technical conferences.

Cultural Fit

• Technical Respect: Ability to earn respect through deep technical curiosity and genuine understanding of what makes engineers tick

• Intensity: Thrives in our unusually intense culture - willing to grind when needed to close critical hires

• Mission Obsession: Passionate about finding the absolute best talent to solve real problems, not just filling seats

• Deep Work: Values long, uninterrupted periods of focused sourcing and candidate engagement over meetings

• High Availability: Ready to be deeply involved whenever critical candidates are in play—evenings, weekends when needed

• Communication: Can translate complex technical requirements into compelling narratives that attract top talent

• Growth Mindset: Embraces the compounding returns of building talent networks and continuous process improvement

• Startup Mindset: Comfortable with ambiguity, rapid change, and wearing multiple hats (sourcing, coordinating, closing, employer branding)

• Work Ethic: Willing to put in the extra hours when needed to close game-changing hires

• Team Player: Collaborative approach with low ego and high accountability—you win when the team wins

What We Offer

• Opportunity to build the talent engine for a rapidly growing foundational AI company from the ground up.

• Work on cutting-edge talent acquisition challenges finding the world's most specialized technical talent.

• Direct collaboration with the founder & CEO and ability to influence company strategy and culture.

• Competitive compensation with significant equity upside.

• In-person first culture - 5 days a week in office with a team that values face-to-face collaboration.

• Access to world-class investors and advisors in the AI space who can open doors to top-tier talent networks.

Benefits

We provide great benefits, including:

• Competitive compensation and equity.

• Competitive health, dental, vision benefits paid by the company.

• 401(k) plan offering.

• Flexible vacation.