Technical Recruiter

Hop Aero is a venture-backed startup building rockets that deliver cargo anywhere on Earth in minutes.Our mission is to enable resilient global logistics to protect and improve our way of life.Our founding team has prior experience founding a satellite startup and taking it to orbit, launching 20+ Falcon 9 missions at SpaceX, and leading engineering teams at some of the world’s most advanced aerospace organizations. The company is well-capitalized through venture funding and government contracts. About the roleWe're hiring a Technical Recruiter to build and own Hop Aero's recruiting function from the ground up. This is a foundational role for someone who knows how to find exceptional people, build relationships, and convince them to join an ambitious company doing something that hasn't been done before. You'll report directly to the CEO, and work with the core team to recruit across engineering, operations and other key roles. You'll own the entire recruiting process, from sourcing candidates, running interviews across the pipeline and owning the candidate experience through the hiring funnel. We're looking for someone who wants to work with the best people, and has the skills to attract them to Hop Aero. We are not considering contract recruiters, staffing agencies, or external recruiting firms for this role. What you'll doOwn full-cycle recruiting across technical and non-technical positions, from sourcing and initial outreach through interviews, offers, and closingWork directly with founders and engineering leadership to define hiring priorities, candidate profiles, and recruiting strategiesProactively identify and engage exceptional engineering talent across aerospace, defense, robotics, and other advanced technology industriesBuild and maintain long-term talent pipelines for future hiring needs, developing relationships with high-potential candidates well before positions become availableDevelop creative sourcing strategies beyond traditional job boards, including industry events, technical communities, professional networks, and direct outreachBuild and maintain a database of exceptional candidates, tracking relationships and engagement over timeOwn candidate experience throughout the hiring process, ensuring clear communication, efficient coordination, and a positive impression of Hop AeroEstablish and improve recruiting infrastructure, including applicant tracking systems, sourcing tools, interview processes, and hiring workflowsHelp build Hop Aero's employer brand through engineering content, university outreach, industry engagement, and recruiting campaignsTrack and improve recruiting metrics, including time-to-hire, sourcing effectiveness, pipeline quality, and offer acceptance ratesDevelop relationships with universities, engineering organizations, and technical communities to establish sustainable sources of future talentBuild the processes and systems that enable Hop Aero to scale its engineering team without compromising on talent qualityAct as a strategic partner to leadership on workforce planning, compensation benchmarking, and long-term hiring strategy Requirements3+ years of proven experience in technical recruiting, talent acquisition, or executive searchDemonstrated success independently sourcing, engaging, and closing highly technical candidates in aerospace, defense, robotics, or hardware startups.Strong understanding of technical recruiting, with the ability to evaluate engineering backgrounds and identify exceptional candidatesExperience proactively sourcing passive candidates rather than relying exclusively on inbound applicationsPrior experience using LinkedIn Recruiter, applicant tracking systems (ATS), and other sourcing and recruiting toolsWillingness and ability to take end-to-end ownership over the entire talent acquisition process across multiple roles in parallelMust be based in the United States, with remote work availableMust be a US Person under ITAR. Hop Aero will not sponsor visas for this role. Nice to haveExisting professional networks within the US aerospace and defense engineering communitiesExperience recruiting engineers from leading aerospace and defense startups and companies.Experience establishing recruiting processes or talent acquisition functions at early-stage startupsFamiliarity with specialized engineering disciplines such as propulsion, GNC, avionics, hypersonics, and advanced manufacturingExperience with employer branding, university recruiting, or technical community engagementExperience scaling engineering teams from fewer than 20 employees to 100+ What we offerCompetitive salary and meaningful equity compensationRemote work flexibility, with opportunities to visit our Orange County HQ and Oklahoma test siteHealthcare and other employee benefitsDirect access to founders and early influence over how the company growsFull ownership of recruiting strategy, tools, and processesA clear path from individual contributor to talent acquisition leadership as the company scales Even if you don't meet every requirement, we'd still love to hear from you. Greatness looks different in everyone, and we need people who make teams move faster.