Head of Talent/Talent Lead

Client Information

We're building an AI-native teammate that works inside the tools your team already uses, connects across your entire stack, and handles real work across finance, marketing, ops, and engineering. The goal: replace half your SaaS stack with a single coworker.

Head of Talent/Talent Lead

Lead talent acquisition for a portfolio of early-stage AI companies — sourcing and closing top talent, designing hiring systems, and partnering with founders on org design. Onsite in NYC.

Required Skills

Sourcing. Screening. Negotiation. Organizational design. Talent metrics management

Requirements

• NYC-based, onsite with the founders
• Experience setting up a hiring function
• Ability to hire across engineering, GTM, and ops
• Experience with AI workflows, scorecards, interview loops, ATS setup
• High taste for talent; ability to recognize A-players

The Role

You will own talent end-to-end across two fast-growing AI companies. This is not a "manage a team of recruiters" role. You'll be sourcing, screening, and closing top 1% talent yourself — while building the system that lets us 5x the team without lowering the bar. Every hire goes through you. You work directly with the founders. You will be the person candidates remember from the process — and the reason A-players say yes.

What You'll Do

Run full-cycle hiring for engineering, GTM, and operations roles across NYC, Warsaw, and Munich.

Source proactively — outbound is the default, inbound is a bonus. Build target lists, write outreach that gets replies, run your own pipeline.

Design the hiring system from scratch: AI workflows, scorecards, interview loops, calibration, ATS setup, referral programs, employer brand — built to scale from 20 to 100+.

Close candidates. Negotiate offers. Sell the mission, the product, the equity, the team.

Partner with founders on org design — who we hire next, when, and why.

Own talent metrics: time-to-hire, source quality, offer acceptance, retention at 6 months.

How You'll Know You're Succeeding

Founders trust your shortlist without re-screening.

Hires you've made are still here, still shipping, 12 months in.

The hiring system runs without you having to be in every loop — but you still are, because you want to be.

We're hiring faster than competitors and losing fewer candidates at offer stage.

How We Work

Small team, high trust, minimal process — but the process you build for talent will be the exception.

Decisions are made by owners, not committees. You own talent.

Onsite in NYC — hiring is a contact sport and the best calibration happens at the whiteboard, not over Zoom.

Expect to run your first search in week one.

You'll work inside products that are already changing how teams operate — you'll see that firsthand from day one.

Briefing Notes

Mission & Context

Our client is an early-stage AI company building autonomous agents to replace the SaaS stack. This is the first dedicated talent role, created to build the entire hiring function from the ground up and scale the team from 20 to 100+ across NYC, Warsaw, and Munich. This person will work directly with the founders as a hands-on, full-cycle recruiter and system-builder.

Candidate Overview

We need a hands-on, full-cycle recruiter who has previously built a talent function from scratch at a high-growth startup. The ideal candidate is a 'doer' who will own sourcing, screening, and closing for technical (engineering), GTM, and operations roles. They must have experience setting up an ATS, designing interview loops, and creating talent metrics. This role is onsite in NYC and requires someone who thrives on proactive, outbound sourcing.

Green Flags

• Was the first or second talent hire at a successful, high-growth tech startup.
• Experience scaling a company from <50 to 100+ employees.
• Demonstrable track record of high-quality outbound sourcing for competitive engineering roles.
• Has personally built and implemented recruiting systems (ATS, scorecards, AI workflows) from zero.
• Experience hiring for other AI or autonomous agent companies.

Red Flags

• Experience is primarily in managing teams of recruiters, with no recent hands-on sourcing.
• Only has experience within large, established corporate environments.
• Not currently based in NYC or unwilling to work onsite full-time.
• Primarily an inbound or agency recruiter without in-house system-building experience.
• Describes their primary skill as 'strategy' rather than 'execution'.

Internal Context

This is a keystone hire. The founders are looking for a partner, not an employee. The success of their scaling plan depends entirely on this person's ability to execute. We should prioritize candidates who have been the sole or first talent person before and are hungry to do it again with more resources.

Vibe Check

The culture is intense, high-ownership, and founder-proximate. The right candidate is a builder who is energized by the 'contact sport' of in-person recruiting and wants to be the single owner of the talent domain. They should be comfortable with ambiguity and ready to start sourcing from day one.

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience with international hiring, specifically in Europe (Poland, Germany).
• Familiarity with using AI tools within the recruiting workflow.
• Experience partnering directly with founders on organizational design and headcount planning.
• A strong existing network of talent in the AI/ML space.

Soft Skills

• High agency and ownership mindset.
• Exceptional sales and closing skills.
• High standards and an intuitive 'taste' for top talent.
• Bias for action and execution-focused.
• Ability to operate with high trust and minimal process.
• Strong conviction and ability to partner with/push back on founders.

Visa & Work Authorization

Candidates must have existing work authorization for the United States. The role is strictly on-site in New York City, and the company is not offering visa sponsorship or relocation support at this time.