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
• Screwing
• Negotiation
• Talent metrics management

Requirements

• NYC-based, onsite with the founders
• Experience setting up a hiring function
• Experience hiring 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

Briefing Notes

• Mission & Context
• Candidate Overview
• Green Flags
• Red Flags
• Internal Context
• Vibe Check

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. Fill in the form, we will contact you...