Director of Talent Acquisition

About Helion

We are a fusion power company based in Everett, WA, with the mission to build the world's first fusion power plant, enabling a future with unlimited clean electricity. Our vision is a world with clean, reliable, and affordable energy for everyone.

Since Helion's founding in 2013, we have raised $1.5 billion from long-time investors such as Sam Altman, Mithril, and Capricorn Investment Group as well as new investors including Thrive Capital, LightSpeed Venture Capital, SoftBank, and others to propel us forward. Our current prototype, Polaris, has reached record-breaking plasma temperatures of 150 million degrees Celsius (13 keV). Helion is continuing to iterate and on the path to the world's first fusion power plant, Orion.

This is a pivotal time to join Helion. You will tackle real-world challenges with a team that prizes urgency, rigor, ownership, and a commitment to delivering hard truths – values essential to achieving what no one has before. Together, we will change the future of energy, because the world can't wait.

What You Will Be Doing:

As the Director of Talent Acquisition, you will define and advance the talent acquisition strategy behind Helion's mission to fully satisfy the world's need for clean, abundant energy. You will lead teams across all industry recruiting efforts - from niche technical roles to business functions and non-exempt populations - as well as executive recruiting, talent sourcing, and talent operations and programs. You will report to the Senior Director of Talent and People Operations. This is an onsite role located at our Everett, WA location.

You Will:

• Lead the talent acquisition team across executive recruiting, industry hiring, talent operations, and key talent programs

• Own recruiting outcomes for niche technical roles across engineering, materials, nuclear, plasma physics and R&D, in addition to non-exempt hiring for our production and manufacturing teams and business functions

• Build scalable recruiting systems, operating rhythms, and performance metrics that enable the organization to hire efficiently as the company grows

• Work directly with technical leadership to ensure that Talent operates as a credible, trusted partner to the teams building and operating our fusion generators

• Collaborate with Finance on workforce planning - translating growth plans into headcount forecasts, hiring budgets, and hiring capacity across the company

• Drive talent branding efforts with Communications that build durable candidate pipelines and position Helion as the employer of choice for top talent

• Introduce innovative approaches to attract, engage, and close top technical talent, giving Helion the edge in the most competitive searches

• Stay on top of the latest AI tools, building workflows and automations that give every member of the team higher leverage in their work

Required Skills:

• 12+ years of relevant talent acquisition experience, including 5+ years leading talent teams and experience as a manager of managers

• Demonstrated success across multiple hiring domains: niche technical and engineering, production and manufacturing, business, executive, early career, and non-exempt workforce

• Expertise in talent operations, directly building systems and processes that enable teams to hire the best talent with urgency and rigor

• Highly analytical, with a track record of using funnel data, market intelligence, and hiring metrics to drive decisions and hold the organization accountable to outcomes

• Experience developing employer brand and recruitment marketing strategies that measurably strengthen talent pipelines

• Proven ability to partner with critical stakeholders (Finance, Communications, People Operations, People Business Partners, etc.) to align hiring plans with business strategy

• Experience building and scaling talent acquisition functions in a high-growth startup or rapidly scaling technology company

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Benefits

Our total compensation package includes benefits, including but not limited to:

• Medical, Dental, and Vision plans for employees and their families

• 31 Days of PTO (21 vacation days and 10 sick days)

• 10 Paid holidays, plus company-wide winter break

• Up to 5% employer 401(k) match

• Short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance

• Paid parental leave and support (up to 16 weeks)

• Annual wellness stipend

Helion is an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. If you need assistance or an accommodation during the interview process, please let us know.