Head of Talent

Location: South San Francisco • On-site • Full time

About Phylo

Phylo is an applied research lab building agentic intelligence to accelerate discovery for every biomedical scientist. We believe AI agents will fundamentally transform how biomedical research is done. Our fast-growing team brings together researchers and engineers across AI and biology, commercializing the Biomni platform. Backed by a $13.5M seed round led by a16z, Menlo Ventures and Anthropic, and advised by Nobel Prize laureate and pioneering biologists, Phylo is building the next generation of AI systems for the life sciences.

About The Role

We’re hiring our first in-house Head of Talent—a player-coach who will personally lead our most important searches while building the recruiting function around them. You will own recruiting end to end across business, scientific, and engineering roles, from defining talent profiles and sourcing exceptional candidates through interviews, offers, and close. You’ll work directly with Phylo’s founders and hiring managers to build a rigorous, fast, and distinctly human hiring process. This is a hands-on role. You should be excited to spend much of your time finding and engaging exceptional people—not simply managing agencies or administering a process. Over time, you will build the systems, employer brand, and team needed to support Phylo’s growth.

Responsibilities

• Lead hiring end to end. Own full-cycle recruiting across business, scientific, and engineering roles—from defining talent profiles and building pipelines through interviews, offers, and close.
• Build exceptional outbound pipelines. Develop creative sourcing strategies for senior and specialized roles, building trusted relationships across leading technology companies, research labs, biotech organizations, and academic institutions.
• Build Phylo’s recruiting operating system. Establish role calibration, structured interview loops, clear rubrics, interviewer training, and reliable reporting. Own the ATS as the source of truth and continually improve speed, quality, and candidate experience.
• Protect the bar and close exceptional people. Help hiring teams recognize capability beyond pedigree, maintain consistent standards, and communicate Phylo’s mission and opportunity credibly to candidates from different professional and technical backgrounds.
• Scale our talent function thoughtfully. Build Phylo’s employer brand, use AI and automation to multiply your impact, and determine when additional recruiters, agencies, tools, or programs are needed as the company grows.

Requirements

• A versatile, high-caliber recruiter. You have at least five years of experience and a track record of personally sourcing and closing exceptional business, scientific, and engineering talent in a high-bar, fast-moving environment.
• A builder and operator. You have created recruiting processes, interview systems, tooling, or employer-brand programs from an early stage. Experience as an early or founding recruiter is especially valuable.
• Excellent judgment and partnership skills. You recognize capability beyond credentials, learn unfamiliar domains quickly, and can challenge and calibrate hiring managers without adding unnecessary friction.
• High agency and an AI-native approach. You take ownership from diagnosis through execution, communicate clearly, and use AI, automation, and modern recruiting tools to improve your reach, speed, and effectiveness.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and equity share in building the future of biomedical discovery
• Full medical, dental, and vision coverage, including free therapy sessions and eyewear stipend
• 401(k) to help you build long-term financial security (US only)
• Unlimited PTO to recharge when you need it (US only)
• Lunch and snacks when you're in the office
• Regular team offsites and company events

Pay

Estimated Base Salary: $200K – $250K • Offers Equity