Head of Talent

Profound•New York, NY

2d•$250,000 - $325,000•Onsite

About The Position

Profound is the marketing platform for the age of AI search. The way brands reach people is being rewritten — AI models like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Mode are now the answer layer between companies and their customers. We built the platform marketers use to understand, measure, and win in that world: the analytics, intelligence, and agent automation that turn AI search from a threat into a competitive advantage. We went from 0 to a $1B valuation in 18 months. Revenue grew 100x last year. Our customers include Ramp, Figma, Spotify, Nike, Apple, AWS, Reddit, and JPMC. We are backed by Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, LSVP, and Khosla Ventures — and we are moving fast enough that the people joining now are building the playbook everyone who comes after them will run. We're hiring our first Head of Talent to help us do it again: doubling the team over the next year without diluting the bar. You'll build the systems, pipeline, and performance culture that let us scale fast while getting sharper, not softer, with size.

Requirements

You've built and scaled a talent function at a high-growth startup before, ideally through a headcount-doubling stretch, and you have the systems and playbooks to prove it
Deeply systems and data oriented; you think about hiring as an engineering problem, including pipelines, funnels, conversion rates, and forecasting, not just relationships
Genuinely energized by high-performance, merit-driven cultures.
Comfortable operating with high agency and ambiguity; you build the plane while flying it
Sharp, fast-moving, and detail-obsessed; nothing about the candidate or employee experience is beneath you
Strong opinions, held loosely; you communicate directly and expect the same from others
Fluent with a modern recruiting and HR stack (ATS, HRIS, sourcing tools); you're comfortable being hands-on, not just strategic
High agency; you identify what needs to happen, scope it, and execute without waiting to be managed

Responsibilities

Own the talent function end to end: build and run the hiring engine (sourcing pipelines, interview processes, offer strategy) needed to roughly double headcount over the next year without lowering the bar
Design and implement scalable, data-driven recruiting systems and dashboards that give leadership real-time visibility into pipeline health, time-to-fill, and quality of hire across every function
Partner directly with the founders and functional leaders to translate headcount plans and growth trajectories into hiring plans, role scorecards, and interview loops that actually predict on-the-job performance
Codify Profound's hiring bar: structured scorecards, calibrated panels, and debrief rituals, so quality holds as the org scales, not just headcount
Own employer brand and top-of-funnel: sharpen how candidates experience Profound before they ever apply, from job descriptions to the careers site to referrals and build Profound's reputation as the place ambitious operators go to do the career-defining work of their lives
Build the recruiting infrastructure for global expansion: optimized ATS for scale, sourcing channels, and compliant interview/offer processes needed to hire as Profound opens new offices and enters new countries, partnering closely with HR/Legal on everything that happens once someone accepts. Lead, coach, and build out a high-leverage talent team as headcount and hiring complexity grow
Stay hands-on, personally sourcing and closing candidates for the roles that matter most (leadership hires, P0 seats) rather than only directing from above