Onhires
Director of Recruiting
5d ago
USADirectorfull-cycle recruitingsourcinginterviewsreferrals
Lead and build the recruiting function from scratch at an early-stage robotics company.
Responsibilities
- Reports directly to the CEO. Owns recruiting end-to-end — sourcing, outbound, referrals, interviews, closing — for a company scaling from a handful of people to hundreds.
- Build the outbound and referral engine from scratch
- Hire exceptional engineers who aren't actively looking
- Create a recruiting experience that makes top talent want to bring the next 10 people with them
- Build and eventually lead the internal recruiting function
Conditions
- Our client is an early-stage robotics company based in Palo Alto, building advanced hardware for mission-critical environments. The company is currently operating in stealth mode, with more details shared during the introductory call.
- First Director of Recruiting hire. Greenfield opportunity. No existing recruiting function, no established processes, no inherited pipeline. You'll build it from the ground up.
Other
- Fascinating human first. Sharp technical recruiter second.
- Recently ran full-cycle technical recruiting at a boutique firm or early startup — hands-on, no big-company bureaucracy.
- The founder strongly values candidates with unconventional life experience. Think expedition guides, wildland firefighters, military veterans, Peace Corps, conflict-zone NGOs, mountain or dive guides, elite hospitality, endurance athletes.
- Example: at a previous company, the founder was hired by a recruiter who had run National Geographic expeditions in Sumatra, fought wildfires, managed refugee cases, and bartended at a World's 50 Best bar — before ever recruiting an engineer.
- You don't need to match exactly. The point is the mindset: resourceful, intense, curious, unafraid to take the harder path.
- This is an early-stage startup. The pace is intense. Long hours and occasional weekends are part of the journey. If the best candidate needs to be met tomorrow, you're already booking the flight.
- On-site, Palo Alto. Relocation support available. Travel expected.
- • First recruiting hire
- • Direct partnership with the CEO
- • Greenfield opportunity
- • Build the recruiting function from scratch
- • Shape every critical hire during the company's most important stage
- We're not looking for a traditional recruiter. We're looking for someone who's always chosen the harder path — and is ready to use it.