Founding Lead Recruiter

About the Company

This is a Series A, Y Combinator-backed robotics startup operating at the intersection of automation and renewable energy. The company builds robots that automate the most labor-intensive aspects of solar farm construction — directly addressing one of the biggest bottlenecks slowing the world's transition to clean energy. The team moves fast, thinks big, and is tackling a technically hard problem with real climate impact.

About the Role

As the Founding Lead Recruiter, you'll be the first dedicated recruiting hire and a founding member of the people function. You'll own talent acquisition from the ground up — building processes, pipelines, and candidate experiences that reflect the quality and ambition of the team. This is a high-ownership, high-impact role that will directly shape the company's growth trajectory.

What You'll Do

• Build the talent function and recruiting processes from scratch

• Own the full end-to-end recruitment lifecycle — sourcing, screening, interviews, offer negotiation, and closing

• Partner closely with hiring managers across engineering, product, and leadership to prioritize roles and calibrate on candidate profiles

• Source and attract top-tier candidates for technical roles including embedded systems, mechanical engineering, and software engineering

• Design and deliver a standout candidate experience throughout the interview and hiring process

• Lead and iterate on the employee onboarding process for new hires

• Track and report on recruiting metrics to continuously improve pipeline health and time-to-hire

• Build employer brand and candidate pipeline for a fast-scaling hardware/robotics startup

What We're Looking For

Required:

• 5–10 years of recruiting experience, with a strong track record in hardware and/or robotics engineering roles (embedded systems, mechanical, software)

• Experience recruiting in fast-paced, early-stage startup environments (Series A or equivalent scale)

• Demonstrated ability to build and scale recruiting functions from an early stage

• Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills — you can work effectively with engineers, product managers, and executives

• Experience designing and leading onboarding processes for new hires

• Metrics-driven mindset with the ability to track, analyze, and act on recruiting data

• Proficiency with ATS platforms and modern HR technologies

• Excellent communication, negotiation, and relationship management skills

Nice to Have:

• Passion for climate tech, renewable energy, or deep tech

• Experience with employer branding initiatives at an early-stage company

• Background recruiting from the robotics, autonomous systems, or advanced manufacturing space

Location

This role is on-site in San Leandro, California. Remote work is not available for this position. Visa sponsorship is not available.

Why This Role

• Foundational impact — you'll shape the people function and culture of a technically ambitious company

• Work on a problem with direct, measurable climate impact

• Significant equity compensation reflecting your outsized contribution

• Fast-moving environment with constant opportunities for learning and growth