Executive Recruiter

Executive Recruiter

El Segundo, California, United States

CHAOS Industries is redefining modern defense with a multi-product portfolio that gives the ultimate advantagedomain dominance. The company's products are powered by Coherent Distributed Networks (CDN), empowering warfighters, commercial air operators, and border protection teams to act faster, adapt rapidly, and stay ahead of evolving threats.

CHAOS Industries was founded in 2022 and has raised a total of $1 billion in funding from leading investors, including 8VC, Accel, and Valor Equity Partners. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, and London. For more information, please visit

Role Overview: We are seeking a seasoned and strategic Executive Recruiter to identify, engage, and close exceptional leadership talent for our growing organization. As a Senior Executive Recruiter, you'll partner closely with our executive team, hiring managers, and other key stakeholders to build strong pipelines of senior and executive talent aligned with our mission and values. If you're passionate about landing transformative leaders and contributing to groundbreaking advancements in defense technology, we want to hear from you!

Responsibilities:

• Partner with executives, hiring managers, and the Recruiting Lead to deeply understand the leadership requirements, team dynamics, and strategic goals for each executive search
• Develop and execute comprehensive search strategies for senior and C-suite level roles, leveraging market mapping, executive networks, referrals, and targeted outreach
• Proactively identify, engage, and cultivate relationships with passive executive candidates through sophisticated sourcing and direct approach techniques
• Manage the full-cycle executive search process, including in-depth candidate assessment, interview coordination, and offer negotiation
• Serve as a trusted advisor to hiring managers and leadership, providing market intelligence, compensation benchmarking, and search strategy guidance
• Partner with Recruiting Coordinators, HR, and Operations to ensure seamless and confidential search processes
• Maintain and analyze pipeline metrics for executive searches, providing regular updates and insights to leadership stakeholders
• Recommend and implement process improvements to enhance executive search effectiveness and efficiency
• Build deep expertise in the competitive landscape, target companies, and industry trends to guide executive search strategy and inform leadership hiring decisions
• Utilize data and analytics to influence senior-level hiring strategies, ensure data integrity, and track progress toward organizational goals
• Work 4-5 days onsite out of our office in Hawthorne, California

Minimum Requirements:

• 7+ years of proven experience in executive/leadership-level search, ideally within a startup, aerospace/defense, or fast-paced technical environment
• Strong track record of successfully closing senior leadership and executive-level hires, including VP and C-suite roles
• Experience with Greenhouse ATS
• Experience partnering directly with C-suite or founder-level stakeholders on critical hires
• Deep understanding of leadership competencies and organizational fit across functions such as engineering, operations, product, and business leadership
• Proficiency in executive sourcing tools and techniques, including LinkedIn Recruiter, market mapping, and ATS platforms
• Exceptional communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills, with the ability to advise and influence senior stakeholders
• Analytical mindset with experience using data to inform executive hiring decisions and optimize search strategy
• A confident, discreet, and consultative approach to executive engagement and pipeline development
• Demonstrated ability to manage confidential and high-stakes searches

Preferred Requirements:

• Existing network of senior leaders and executives within aerospace, defense, or deep tech

Why CHAOS?

• Health Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision benefits 100% paid for by the company
• Additional benefits: 401k (+ 50% company match up to 6% of pay), FSA, HSA, life insurance, and more
• Our Perks: Free daily lunch, 'No meeting Fridays', unlimited PTO, casual dress code
• Compensation Components: Competitive base salaries, generous pre-IPO stock option grants, relocation assistance, and (coming soon!) annual bonuses
• Team Growth: 350 employees and counting across 5 global offices

Salary Range: $140,000 - $175,000

The stated compensation range reflects only the targeted base compensation range and excludes additional earnings such as bonus, equity, and benefits. If your compensation requirements fall outside of the range, we still encourage you to apply. The salary range for this role is an estimate based on a range of compensation factors, inclusive of base salary only. Actual salary offer may vary based on (but not limited to) work experience, education and/or training, critical skills, and/or business considerations.