Founding Recruiter

Patronus AI•San Francisco, CA

About The Position

As a Founding Recruiter at Patronus AI, you’ll build and own the recruiting function from the ground up, partnering closely with the founders and leadership team to define what great talent looks like and bring it in. You’ll be responsible for hiring across research and engineering, with a focus on identifying and closing high-agency, high-caliber candidates who can operate in a fast-moving, 0→1 environment. This is not just an execution role, you’ll design the hiring strategy, build scalable processes, and act as a true thought partner on how we grow the team. You should be excited about going deep on technical roles, creatively sourcing top 1% talent, and delivering a candidate experience that reflects the ambition and pace of Patronus AI.

Requirements

High agency and ownership mindset; you can take a role from 0→1 and build the recruiting function without heavy direction
Experience recruiting with a strong track record of hiring top talent for technical roles
Strong communication skills with sharp judgment on talent, storytelling, and candidate experience
Scrappy and resourceful; able to experiment, iterate, and move quickly in ambiguous environments
Ability to operate both strategically and tactically, from defining hiring strategy and employer brand to sourcing and closing candidates
Experience with recruiting tools, sourcing strategies, and building scalable hiring processes
Strong project management skills; able to manage multiple roles and pipelines simultaneously
Have good character, integrity, and respect for others!

Responsibilities

Work closely with external recruiting agencies to source and screen candidates, maintain tight communication loops, and provide clear, timely feedback on candidate progress
Track candidates end-to-end through the funnel, ensuring no drop-offs, delays, or communication gaps
Coordinate and schedule interviews (virtual + onsite), managing calendars across multiple team members and keeping the process fast and organized
Run seamless onsite interviews: ensure schedules are tight, interviewers are prepared, and candidates have a high-quality, thoughtful experience
Conduct thorough and thoughtful reference checks, synthesizing insights clearly for the hiring team
Ensure interviewers are aligned, prepared, and submitting feedback on time; help maintain high standards and consistency across interviews
Help build and improve recruiting processes, documentation, and systems as we scale