PhD Recruiter

Figma•San Francisco, NY

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

Figma is growing its team of passionate creatives and builders on a mission to make design accessible to all. Figma’s platform helps teams bring ideas to life—whether you're brainstorming, creating a prototype, translating designs into code, or iterating with AI. From idea to product, Figma empowers teams to streamline workflows, move faster, and work together in real time from anywhere in the world. If you're excited to shape the future of design and collaboration, join us! We're excited to grow our Early Career team with a unique opportunity! Figma's AI and research strategy is a critical company priority, and attracting exceptional research talent is central to how we deliver on it. We're looking for an experienced PhD Recruiter to own hiring strategy across Engineering and evolve our existing program into a scalable, year-round function. In this role, you'll lead end-to-end recruiting, shape hiring strategy with engineering leaders, and drive Figma's presence at top research conferences. You'll be a trusted strategic partner with a genuine seat at the table, helping define how Figma competes for some of the most sought-after AI and research talent in the world. This is a full time role that can be held from one of our US hubs or remotely in the United States.

Requirements

6+ years of full-lifecycle technical recruiting experience in a high-growth organization, including 3+ years focused on PhD/research hiring
A track record of hiring PhD candidates through self-sourced pipelines, including conferences, research labs, and professor connections
Experience building and running PhD programs
Demonstrated success partnering with senior engineering leaders and executives on high-priority, high-touch candidate and offer scenarios
Willingness to travel internationally to conferences, universities, and labs, roughly 3-4 trips per year

Nice To Haves

Familiar with Figma & FigJam

Responsibilities

Manage the full-cycle recruiting process for intern and full-time PhD roles across Engineering including but not limited to Data, AI, Graphics, and Security
Partner with Eng VPs and Directors to own PhD hiring strategy, shaping how Figma approaches and scales research talent across the org
Lead Figma's presence at research conferences like NeurIPS, aligning stakeholders and running on-site logistics from booth setup to interviewer prep
Own the publication process for PhD roles, partnering with hiring teams, legal, and senior leadership
Mentor recruiters on the team supporting PhD efforts, growing the bench as the function scales
Lead the strategic direction of the PhD recruiting function, building processes from scratch and closing offers with a rare, highly sought-after pool of research talent