Founding Recruiter

Swans•Miami, FL

2d•€65,000 - €85,000•Remote

About The Position

Swans is seeking a Founding Recruiter to own the hiring process as the company scales from twelve to over thirty people by the end of 2027. This role involves building the recruiting function from scratch, including process and tooling. The company is focused on transforming law firms from users of software to operations run by software, specifically targeting US personal-injury firms. Swans' platform aims to automate high-volume, admin-heavy tasks currently done manually, addressing challenges like messy data and disconnected systems. The company has a working product in production, is profitable, and is investor-backed. The founders have strong backgrounds in law firm operations and technology. The Founding Recruiter will be responsible for approximately twenty hires over eighteen months across various roles, including product engineers, legal engineers, onboarding and delivery specialists, client success consultants, support staff, and company backbone roles like marketing and executive assistants. The role requires end-to-end ownership, strong outbound sourcing skills, speed, sharp judgment, excellent communication, and startup DNA. The ideal candidate will have at least 3 years of recruiting experience, preferably at a startup, with a proven track record of growth and taking initiative across diverse roles.

Requirements

End-to-end ownership of hiring loops, from sourcing to offer, without a large support team.
Experience at a startup where multiple profiles and multiple open roles were juggled simultaneously.
Proven outbound sourcing skills, successfully engaging passive candidates.
Ability to move fast, test approaches, and adapt processes.
Sharp judgment on people, with the ability to form and defend a point of view based on CVs and interviews.
Strong written and spoken English, with the ability to write crisp, synthesized write-ups and conduct interviews smoothly and confidently.
Startup DNA: thriving in ambiguity, flexibility, and being energized by shifting priorities.
Ambition and a trajectory of fast growth.
At least 3 years of recruiting or talent experience, preferably at a startup.
Evidence of going well beyond requirements, showing real agency (e.g., building, running, fixing, or selling something independently).
Experience hiring across a range of roles, not specializing in a single function; a generalist athlete.
Willingness to make calls and stand behind candidate judgments.
Willingness to run full recruiting loops, including engineering roles over time.
Ability to communicate effectively and assess if a role is worth the candidate's time (screening call with Ana).
Ability to conduct fit, compensation, location, and timing discussions (intro call with Max).
Ability to participate in a working session involving CV review, shortlist creation, and mock intro calls (with Max and Martin).
Ability to engage in team conversations with potential hires.
Ability to participate in a final founders conversation for decision-making.

Nice To Haves

Engineering background that can be brought to bear on assessing candidates.
Experience in the legal tech industry.

Responsibilities

Build the recruiting function from nothing: process, tooling, and in time your own team.
Own hiring at Swans, scaling the team from twelve to over thirty people by the end of 2027.
Hire approximately twenty people over the next eighteen months, across diverse profiles including product engineers, legal engineers, onboarding and delivery specialists, client success consultants, support staff, marketing, and executive assistants.
Manage high-inbound roles, including screening roughly 100 CVs on a heavy day and conducting up to 10 intro calls.
Conduct second and third interviews for advancing candidates.
Perform outbound sourcing for roles, particularly for hard-to-find engineers.
Utilize LinkedIn Recruiter, Wellfound, and other platforms for sourcing.
Manage and own the Ashby ATS.
Collect feedback weekly, calibrate, and improve recruiting processes.
Own the outcome of hiring, not just the activity.
Find AI-native engineers who build systems that build products.
Get hard-to-find candidates to take calls with a company they have never heard of.
Learn enough of the relevant vocabulary to sound credible to potential candidates.
Design the performance bonus scorecard with the CEO in the first month.
Shape every key hire and build the recruiting function from the ground up.
Build your own team over time as Swans scales, with a clear path to Head of Talent.
Utilize provided budget for AI usage and tooling.

Benefits

€65,000 base salary
Performance bonus of up to €20,000
Stock options on a 4-year vest with a 1-year cliff
Fully remote work environment
Same salary band regardless of location
Quarterly in-person team meetups (e.g., Barcelona, Lisbon, Tokyo, London)
Direct partnership with the founders
Clear path to Head of Talent
Budget for executive coaching, conferences, certifications, and training (over $200,000 allocated across the team last year)
Whatever hardware and tooling needed, including uncapped AI usage