Head of Recruiting

K1 Industries • Carson City, NV

18h • Onsite

About The Position

K1 Industries is hiring a Head of Recruiting to build its recruiting function from zero to one. The role partners with the founding team, hiring managers, Finance, and external recruiting firms to translate business priorities into hiring plans and close critical technical, operational, and leadership hires. The Head of Recruiting will initially remain hands-on while establishing recruiting systems, processes, and a team as hiring demand grows.

The position covers recruiting for engineering, production, commercial, manufacturing, and field operations roles, including mechanical, electrical, and controls engineering. It includes calibrating roles with hiring managers, building structured interviews and practical assessments, managing external search partners, and implementing an applicant tracking system, sourcing workflows, and reporting. The role also develops candidate networks and referrals, communicates K1’s opportunity in Nevada, supports competitive offers and relocation discussions, and improves recruiting execution through data and automation.

The role is based at K1’s headquarters in Carson City, Nevada. San Francisco-based candidates are welcome, with relocation preferred. Remote candidates must be willing to spend substantial time onsite regularly. Compensation includes a competitive salary, meaningful early-stage equity, and a standard benefits package including health, dental, and vision insurance.

Requirements

• Has personally built a recruiting function from zero to one, with concrete examples of initial hires, systems, team, and results.
• Has worked in-house at a hardware or energy company and recruited specialized engineers and people who build, manufacture, or deploy physical systems.
• Can quickly understand unfamiliar technical disciplines, ask informed questions, and distinguish relevant experience beyond titles and keywords.
• Has managed recruiting firms and executive search partners, including contracts, fees, search quality, and delivery.
• Remains a hands-on recruiter with a strong record of direct sourcing, candidate assessment, offer negotiation, and closing hard-to-fill roles.
• Uses recruiting data and modern tools confidently and can build practical processes and develop a team in a fast-moving startup.
• Is willing to relocate to Nevada or commit to substantial, regular onsite time with K1’s team.

Nice To Haves

• Experience hiring through the transition from prototype to production.
• Experience recruiting for AI infrastructure or data center power systems.
• Experience convincing candidates to relocate.

Responsibilities

• Translate engineering, production, and commercial milestones into a prioritized hiring plan with leadership and Finance.
• Personally source, assess, and close critical technical, operational, and leadership hires while building a recruiting team as demand grows.
• Learn the company’s technical work and role requirements across engineering, manufacturing, and field operations.
• Partner with hiring managers on role calibration, structured interviews, practical assessments, and clear decision criteria.
• Own external recruiting and executive search relationships, including firm selection, search briefs, fee negotiations, candidate ownership, and performance reviews.
• Hold recruiting partners accountable for quality, speed, and cost, and determine which searches should be handled in-house.
• Build the applicant tracking system, sourcing workflows, and recruiting reports; track pipeline quality, conversion, time to fill, offer acceptance, and recruiting spend.
• Use data and automation tools to identify bottlenecks and improve recruiting execution.
• Build K1’s candidate story and targeted talent networks and referrals; keep candidates informed and partner with leadership on offers and relocation discussions.
• Hire and develop internal recruiters as needed, coach hiring managers, and establish clear ownership and timely feedback.
• Balance direct sourcing and agency support to keep hiring fast, rigorous, and efficient as K1 grows.
• Spend substantial, regular time onsite with K1’s team if not relocating to Nevada.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and meaningful early-stage equity, with equity participation reflecting the role’s impact and ownership.
• Standard benefits package including health, dental, and vision insurance.

What This Job Offers

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