Head of Talent

Kastle•San Francisco, CA

20h•$200,000 - $250,000•Onsite

About The Position

Kastle is hiring its first dedicated people leader to build a strategic recruiting and people function as the company scales its team. The role reports to the CEO and partners closely with leadership on talent and people decisions. The Head of Talent will manage the recruiting team, build recruiting capabilities across engineering, product, go-to-market, deployments, and operations, and develop people strategy and infrastructure. Responsibilities span recruiting, performance management, compensation, employee development, organizational design, compliance, employee relations, culture, and engagement. The position is based around in-person collaboration at Kastle’s San Francisco office, with a typical schedule of about 70 hours per week beginning at 8:00 AM.

Requirements

5–8+ years in People/HR roles at high-growth startups, including at least 2 years in leadership.
Experience scaling people functions at early-stage companies with 50–200 employees.
Track record designing and implementing people processes, including performance management, compensation, onboarding, and career frameworks.
Business-partner mentality, advising leadership on strategic decisions rather than only executing HR tasks.
Strong experience using AI tools such as Claude Code and Cursor to build sourcing agents.
Strong coaching skills to develop managers and help them navigate people challenges.
Comfort with ambiguity and building infrastructure without waiting for perfect clarity.
Excellent judgment on sensitive employee matters.

Nice To Haves

Experience in fintech, lending, or regulated industries.
Background in AI/ML or technical product companies.
Experience scaling a company through hyper-growth, such as from 20 to 200+ employees.
Knowledge of multi-state employment compliance.

Responsibilities

Manage the recruiting team and partner with leadership on hiring strategy and process improvements.
Build and own recruiting processes to attract talent across engineering, product, GTM, deployments, and operations.
Build and own the people strategy, including performance management, compensation, employee development, and culture.
Partner with leadership on organizational design, headcount planning, and talent decisions.
Evolve HR infrastructure by refining policies, ensuring compliance, and optimizing benefits programs.
Design and implement performance management frameworks for goal-setting, reviews, promotion cycles, and career development.
Lead compensation strategy, including maintaining equitable pay bands, managing equity grants, and conducting market benchmarking.
Drive culture and engagement initiatives, including team events, values definition, employee feedback loops, and DEI programs.
Ensure compliance with employment laws and regulations across all locations.
Coach managers and help them navigate people challenges.