Head of Talent

Wafer • San Francisco, CA

8d • Onsite

About The Position

Wafer is building AI systems that automatically optimize inference workloads across silicon. The Head of Talent will find and close exceptional candidates and build the recruiting function and systems needed to help the company scale without lowering its hiring bar. This person will work directly with the founders, Chief of Staff, and hiring managers, while personally owning Wafer’s most important searches.

The role owns recruiting from initial candidate conversations through accepted offers, including direct sourcing, referrals, relationship-building, candidate engagement, interview design, hiring decisions, scheduling, feedback, recruiting data in Ashby, and recruiting partner management. The Head of Talent will also assess recruiting channels and spending, build the talent team as the company grows, and create a clear hiring plan from ambitious goals. The position is on-site in San Francisco five days a week, with autonomy over how to solve problems. Success is measured by the exceptional people who join Wafer and what they help build.

Requirements

• Several years of experience in talent or recruiting.
• Personally sourced and closed exceptional technical hires, and can explain how those candidates were found, how their trust was earned, and how they were helped to make a decision.
• Strong judgment and high standards, including the ability to help hiring managers distinguish great candidates from people who interview well.
• Ability to build trust with candidates and move quickly without losing details.
• Willingness to do sourcing, follow-ups, and coordination personally.
• Ability to work without a predefined specification, turn ambitious hiring goals into a clear plan, and execute it.

Nice To Haves

• Experience at a high-growth startup.
• Experience building recruiting systems to keep up as hiring accelerates.
• Experience recruiting for infrastructure, systems, AI, or similarly demanding engineering roles.

Responsibilities

• Find and recruit exceptional engineers and operators through direct sourcing, referrals, and relationships.
• Own searches from the first candidate conversation through an accepted offer, including understanding candidates’ priorities and what it will take to close them.
• Work with hiring managers to define strong candidate profiles, design useful interviews, and make decisions quickly.
• Help candidates understand Wafer’s technical work, ambition, and the impact they could have at the company.
• Keep recruiting fast and organized through clear ownership, timely feedback, reliable scheduling, and accurate data in Ashby.
• Manage recruiting partners, evaluate which channels produce strong hires, and allocate spending accordingly.
• Build the talent team and recruiting systems as the company grows.
• Personally perform sourcing, follow-ups, and coordination while building the recruiting function.

Benefits

• Fully covered medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Daily lunch and dinner.
• Unlimited PTO.
• Parental leave.
• $1,000 per month post-tax housing stipend for employees living within walking distance (0.5 miles) of the office.
• Covered Uber or Waymo transportation to and from the office.
• Visa sponsorship available.
• Equity.

What This Job Offers

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