Founding Talent

Kepler • New York, NY

10d • $170,000 - $230,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Kepler is seeking a Founding Talent hire to own the talent acquisition strategy and execution for the company. This role will be responsible for identifying, attracting, and closing top engineering and go-to-market talent in a competitive market. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of building recruiting functions from scratch, sourcing and closing senior engineers, and a deep understanding of the AI and data infrastructure landscape. This is a unique opportunity to shape the talent function at a rapidly growing startup backed by industry leaders.

Requirements

• 5+ years of recruiting experience, with a significant portion focused on technical recruiting at fast-growing startups.
• Proven ability to source and close senior engineers against offers from top AI labs and big tech companies.
• Experience running a campaign to win a single, high-priority candidate through relationship-building and tailored offers.
• Ability to build long-term candidate relationships.
• Strong understanding of engineering resumes and the ability to assess technical capabilities.
• Experience building recruiting processes, interview loops, scorecards, and reporting from scratch.
• Data-driven approach to recruiting, with the ability to analyze funnel metrics and identify areas for improvement.
• AI fluency, including the ability to build and utilize AI agents and automations for recruiting tasks.
• Ability to work independently and take initiative, with a willingness to try unconventional ideas.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to provide direct feedback to all levels of the organization, including the CEO.
• Ability to adapt to changing plans and deliver results in a fast-paced environment.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in the AI or data infrastructure space.
• Experience working with investors to leverage their networks.
• Experience hosting technical events or meetups to attract talent.

Responsibilities

• Own talent acquisition strategy and execution, including sourcing, interviewing, and closing candidates.
• Build and nurture a strong network of potential candidates, leveraging existing relationships and developing new ones.
• Develop and execute unconventional recruiting strategies to attract passive candidates, including building roles around exceptional individuals.
• Manage the full recruitment lifecycle for senior engineering and go-to-market roles.
• Design and implement effective interview processes, scorecards, and reporting mechanisms.
• Develop and execute employer branding initiatives to attract top engineering talent.
• Manage relationships with external agency partners and outbound recruiting efforts.
• Analyze recruiting data to identify bottlenecks and optimize the candidate funnel.
• Collaborate closely with the CEO and leadership team on hiring priorities and strategy.
• Build the talent function from the ground up, including processes, tools, and potentially a team as the company grows.

Benefits

• 100% covered top-of-the-line medical, dental, and vision insurance for employees and their families.
• HSA maxed by the company to the IRS limit.
• Automatic coverage for life, AD&D, and disability insurance.
• Daily lunch in office.
• Unlimited PTO policy.
• Development environment budget (latest MacBook Pro, multiple monitors, ergonomic setup, and any development tools).
• "Build anything" budget for tools, libraries, datasets, or infrastructure.
• Learning budget for conferences, courses, or programs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed