Director of Recruiting

Deep Fission, Inc

About The Position

Deep Fission is a nuclear technology company pioneering the development of a revolutionary deep borehole pressurized water reactor. We recently completed a private placement financing and Alternative Public Offering and are now operating as a public company while maintaining our startup agility and innovation focus. With strategic partnerships in place, strong private and public investment, and active engagement with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), we are executing our next phase of growth as we advance our groundbreaking nuclear technology toward commercial deployment. Hiring at Deep Fission is a strategic function and this role is proof of that. As our first dedicated recruiting leader, you won’t just fill roles. You’ll build the system, the brand, and the culture of hiring that determines who Deep Fission becomes. We’re working on one of the most consequential technology challenges of our time, and we need a team that reflects the full breadth of human talent and perspective to solve it. That means building a recruiting function that doesn’t just move fast but it moves thoughtfully, with equity and inclusion embedded into every stage of the process. You’ll own full-cycle hiring across the organization, build the infrastructure from the ground up, and partner directly with the executive team to turn headcount plans into great hires. This starts as a senior individual contributor role, with a clear path to building and leading a small team as we scale.

Requirements

8+ years of recruiting experience, including at least 3 years owning recruiting strategy at a startup or high-growth company
Demonstrated success building or significantly improving a recruiting function — not just operating within one
Proven experience developing and executing diversity sourcing strategies and embedding equitable practices into the hiring process
Track record of hiring across technical and non-technical functions simultaneously, with high quality and at pace
Comfort operating in an AI-native environment meaning that you use AI tools fluently in your own work, have a perspective on how they’re changing recruiting, and can help the organization think through what that means for how we hire and for what
Strong executive presence and is comfortable advising, challenging, and aligning at the C-suite level
Sharp judgment on candidate quality, offer strategy, and process design

Nice To Haves

Experience recruiting in energy, defense, deep tech, nuclear, or other regulated, capital-intensive industries
Familiarity with government-adjacent talent pools (DOE, DOD, national labs, federal contractors)
Experience scaling a team from ~60 to 150+ employees
Background working with DEI-focused hiring initiatives in technical or STEM-heavy organizations

Responsibilities

Build & Lead the Recruiting Function: Design and own the end-to-end recruiting process — intake, pipeline management, offer approval, and reporting — with a focus on consistency, speed, and quality
Establish structured, bias-mitigated interview frameworks and calibrate hiring managers on what great looks like across functions
Define and track recruiting metrics that matter: time-to-hire, pipeline conversion, source quality, offer acceptance, and diversity of candidate slates
Build a candidate experience that reflects our values at every touchpoint, regardless of outcome
Leverage AI tools and automation to scale your impact from sourcing and screening to scheduling and reporting and bring a point of view on where AI creates leverage and where human judgment is irreplaceable
Drive Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Hiring: Develop and own a proactive diversity sourcing strategy not as a checkbox, but as a core part of how we build the company
Audit and continuously improve job descriptions, interview panels, and evaluation criteria to reduce bias and broaden the candidate pool
Build relationships with organizations, universities, and communities that expand access to underrepresented talent in deep tech, nuclear, and energy sectors
Champion inclusive hiring practices across the organization and coach hiring managers to do the same
Source & Attract Specialized Talent: Develop targeted sourcing strategies for hard-to-find talent: nuclear engineers, NRC-experienced regulatory professionals, DOE/DOD alumni, and energy infrastructure specialists
Build Deep Fission’s presence in the talent communities that matter such as national labs, professional associations, HBCUs and research universities, veterans’ networks, and emerging energy programs
Partner with leadership to articulate a compelling, authentic employee value proposition that resonates across diverse talent pools
Partner with Leadership: Translate headcount plans into actionable hiring roadmaps with realistic timelines, resource requirements, and risk flags
Advise hiring managers on role scoping, leveling, compensation strategy, and when to move (or not)
Serve as a genuine thought partner to the executive team on org design, talent strategy, and the long-term workforce plan