Recruiting Lead

Build the hiring function that lets MATS double its team: design and manage a scalable process that fills 40+ roles per year with high-quality candidates. Berkeley, California (preferred) or London, UK About the Organization MATS finds and trains talented individuals for what we see as the world's most urgent and talent‑constrained problem: reducing risks from unaligned artificial intelligence. We believe ambitious researchers from a variety of backgrounds have the potential to meaningfully contribute to alignment, control, security, and governance research. Through our research fellowship, we provide mentorship, training, professional network, and financial support to accelerate their careers and increase their impact. Since 2021, we have trained over 446 researchers. 80% now work in AI alignment. 10% have co‑founded organizations. Our fellows have produced 170+ research papers with 9,500+ citations. And we are just getting started: in the coming year we will expand our program to support even more researchers. But we need your help to expand. As our first dedicated recruiter, every hire you make will shape the future of AI safety research. You will join a dynamic organization working to fill 40+ roles over the next year to double our team. About the Role MATS is entering a new stage of growth – transitioning from a small, scrappy team to a durable institution. We are building out our People team for the first time to enable sustainable growth. You will play a key role supporting the HR/People Lead to establish how the People function operates. We are moving fast and in addition to the (Senior) Recruiting Lead role, we are also currently hiring the HR/People Lead (who will manage your team) as well as the COO who will oversee all of the operational teams and organizational build out. As you will all be joining around the same time, we are looking for people who are happy to collaborate, co‑construct, and grow together into a top‑notch team. As the organization's first dedicated recruiter, we’re seeking someone who can hit the ground running to take ownership of the talent pipeline. While any successful candidate must have managed recruitment streams, we can envision this as a Senior role or Mid‑level role depending on experience. The ideal senior candidate will have led talent acquisition in growing teams, balancing hands‑on sourcing and recruiting with process improvement. They have orchestrated full‑cycle recruitment for entire teams while also helping to design and optimize hiring processes, tools, and candidate experiences. The ideal mid‑level candidates will have owned and executed full‑cycle recruitment pipelines, from job‑material development, to sourcing candidates, screening and selection. They have been a high‑impact individual contributor or independent recruitment professional with a strong track record who can bring best‑practice to the organization. What You’ll Do Develop the process architecture: MATS has a recruiting process, but it was designed for a smaller organization and it won’t scale to the growth ahead. You will assess what we have, identify gaps, and build something more durable. That means working with a formal applicant tracking system, designing repeatable workflows for sourcing, screening, and closing candidates, and documenting the process so it can be handed off, delegated, or expanded as the team grows. You’ll act as manager, implementor, and recruiter — often in the same week. Find the right people: MATS aims to double its size by filling 40+ full‑time positions over the next year, many of them new, unusual, and/or highly technical roles. As our (Senior) Recruiting Lead, you will do full‑cycle recruiting. You will draft these job descriptions, find appropriate places to advertise for candidates, screen out unqualified candidates, and design effective interview questions, rubrics, and work tests for MATS to use to assess candidates. Run a rigorous, fast hiring process: You will organize and deploy MATS staff and managers to promptly and efficiently evaluate promising candidates. Prior background with artificial intelligence safety is a plus, but is definitely not required – we will primarily rely on you to be an expert at designing and implementing a high‑quality hiring pipeline and process. We will rely primarily on other MATS staff to decide whether specific candidates have the necessary technical skills and are adequately aligned with MATS’s mission. Show your work: You will build the infrastructure that makes hiring systematic and visible: a live pipeline dashboard, regular reporting on time‑to‑hire and conversion rates, and recurring sourcing loops for our most common roles. Success means that roles get filled on time with high‑quality hires and that leadership can accurately predict how many staff will be available. Give every candidate a professional experience: You will be the first and most frequent point of contact applicants have with MATS. We’ll count on you to make sure candidates have a professional experience – you’ll be in charge of making sure that their interviews are scheduled promptly, that they receive appropriate feedback, and that candidates receive reasonable accommodations for their particular needs. We’ll purchase and support the use of state‑of‑the‑art tools to streamline scheduling, but we’ll need you to provide a human touch. Our Office This position is full‑time, and candidates will typically work in‑person at our office in Berkeley, California (preferred) or London, UK. Our offices are a short walk from bus, bike, and subway routes. We have catering, dedicated desks, flexible hours, and casual attire. MATS is committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming work environment. Your Place on the Team You’ll begin by reporting to Jim Chapman, our Operations Director, but this will evolve as we bring on board the HR/People Lead – we want to be transparent that our org structure is evolving and are looking for candidates who are comfortable navigating this process with us and the new team members we bring on board. The (Senior) Recruiting Lead role will be our first dedicated recruitment position. We plan to scale very rapidly for several years, so it is possible (but not guaranteed) that you may grow to lead a team of other recruiters who will support you by sourcing new candidates and by ensuring that the hiring process you have built runs smoothly and on time. About You We expect to hire someone who has all of the following items: Strong grasp of effective, evidence‑based hiring best‑practices. Able to think critically about which aspects of a hiring process are useful and why, and then proactively communicate and apply those insights to improve on the process’s overall design. 3+ years of professional recruiting/hiring experience. Your title might not have formally been “Recruiter” – but you have done the work and are no stranger to hiring and talent acquisition. Some prior experience recruiting for tech, science, or research roles, OR demonstrated familiarity with machine learning or artificial intelligence. You do not need to be a technical expert, but you do need to be comfortable in this field. Demonstrated experience working with, owning or significantly improving an ATS or a similar hiring pipeline‑tracking system. Strong stakeholder management: able to smoothly and reliably coordinate the competing needs and schedules of hiring managers, interviewers, and candidates. A drive to continually improve, optimize, and iterate upon systems. Clear, proactive written and verbal communication skills. Curiosity and willingness to learn about and support MATS’s technical and mission‑based requirements. A collaborative team‑player who is excited by growth and happy to navigate the rapidly evolving nature of the organization. Desired Skills & Experience We expect highly competitive applicants to have some of the following items: Prior experience as a manager or team lead with some degree of supervisory responsibility. Project management experience, PMI certification, and/or demonstrated experience handling complex stakeholder management. Prior experience in technical recruiting, especially AI/ML‑specific experience. Prior experience recruiting for policy, operations, and/or community health roles. Prior experience with complex and highly structured candidate evaluations. Prior experience drafting rubrics, interview questions, job descriptions, work sample tests, or job advertisements. Comfort and familiarity with designing and scoring written work tests and role‑playing exercises. Familiarity with Industrial‑Organizational Psychology and general research on effective hiring and selection practices. Prior experience building automations and systems to support efficient hiring operations. Expertise in data visualization, data analysis, dashboards, and/or quantitative metrics. Expertise in Airtable. Expertise in Greenhouse and/or similar applicant tracking systems. Who is Qualified for this Role? We know that resumes and careers don’t always fit a particular mold, and we truly welcome applications from individuals with varied backgrounds. For this reason, we do not require any university degrees. However, because of the urgency and importance of our recruiting needs, we do plan to hire someone for this role who can demonstrate that they have significant relevant professional experience. Thus, while you are encouraged to apply even if your experience varies somewhat from the bullet points we’ve listed above, we do not encourage entry‑level recruiters or non‑recruitment professionals to apply for this particular position. About the Compensation Compensation range for this role is $120,000 to $170,000 per year for Berkeley‑based hires and £87,000 to £120,000 for London‑based hires, depending on qualifications and experience. The essential skills listed above contain the basic requirements, and align with the lower end of this range. MATS provides in‑office, catered lunches and dinners to employees on workdays. Paid work trips, including staff retreats, business trips, and relevant conferences. Funding and support for professional development. 17 days of annual paid time off for Berkeley‑based employees, and 20 days of annual leave (not including bank holidays) for London‑based employees. Flexibility for hybrid work (but not for fully remote work). Collaborative and intellectually stimulating work environment. Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance. Both Roth 401(k) and Traditional 401(k) for US‑based employees for Berkeley‑based candidates, or Pension Scheme for London‑based candidates. Visa sponsorship may be possible but is not guaranteed. #J-18808-Ljbffr