Contrario — Talent Operator

davidjoseph-co; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Premium healthcare

Annual offsites

Free lunches & dinners

Monthly wellness stipend

Unlimited PTO

Job summary

Contrario is hiring a Talent Operator in San Francisco to run full-cycle recruiting for partner companies while stress-testing Contrario's AI and tooling. You’ll grow into broader operational leadership as the company scales from 200 to 1,000+ customers.

The role emphasizes sourcing, screening, and managing high-volume pipelines, with direct input to engineering on AI features and a path to leadership in marketplace operations.

Qualifications

• 0 to 2 years in operations, recruiting, or other high-signal backgrounds (consulting, startup sales, etc.)
• High agency and output-driven execution
• Comfortable managing high-volume, fast-moving workloads
• Low ego and highly coachable
• Based in or relocating to San Francisco

Responsibilities

• Master the funnel: Source, screen, and manage candidates across multiple high-growth startup pipelines.
• Product feedback loop: Act as the primary power user of Contrario's AI features, feeding direct input to engineering.
• Relationship management: Bridge candidates and the elite startups Contrario serves.
• Build the playbook: Refine internal operations and recruiting systems as the company scales from 200 to 1,000+ customers.

Skills

High agency

Output-driven

Managing high-volume work

Coachable

Relationship management

Tools

Ashby

Lever

Calendly

Slack

Job description

Contrario — Talent Operator

Type: Full-time | On-site | San Francisco, CACompensation: Base $80,000–$110,000 + OTE ~$140,000–$170,000+ (uncapped) + Equity 0.01%–0.15%Hiring count: 2Visa sponsorship: None availableReports to: Not specified on role page (initial screen with Will, Chief of Staff)

About Contrario

Contrario (YC W25) is building an AI-powered recruiting marketplace that connects elite startup recruiters with fast-growing companies through software and operational tooling. Backed by Y Combinator and Nexus Venture Partners, with angels from Hudson River Trading, Stanford, and OpenAI. Customers include 150+ YC and venture-backed startups hiring across engineering and GTM roles.

Founded: 2025 | Team size: 11–50 | Total funding: $2.5MIndustry: Consumer Tech / Recruiting MarketplaceWebsite: contrario.aiOffice: San Francisco

Why Candidates Should Join

• Proving ground for leadership: The Talent Operator seat is explicitly a launchpad into Account Management, Recruitment Management, or Marketplace Operations based on where you spike.
• Uncapped, merit-based upside: Earnings tied directly to revenue from successful placements — OTE ~$140k–$170k+, uncapped.
• Ground-floor at a YC W25 marketplace: Be the primary power user shaping Contrario's AI and recruiting tooling as it scales from 200 to 1,000+ customers.

Intake Call Summary

• Not available — no intake summary present on the role page.

The Role

Talent Operators are the engine of Contrario's marketplace: they run full-cycle recruiting for partner companies while actively stress-testing Contrario's internal AI and tooling, then grow into broader operational or leadership scope.

What You'll Be Doing

• Master the funnel: Source, screen, and manage candidates across multiple high-growth startup pipelines.
• Product feedback loop: Act as the primary power user of Contrario's AI features, feeding direct input to engineering.
• Relationship management: Bridge candidates and the elite startups Contrario serves.
• Build the playbook: Refine internal operations and recruiting systems as the company scales from 200 to 1,000+ customers.

Tech stack: Contrario internal AI recruiting platform + ATS; integrations with Ashby, Lever, Calendly, Slack.

Requirements

• 0 to 2 years in operations, recruiting, or other high-signal backgrounds (consulting, startup sales, etc.)
• High agency and output-driven execution
• Comfortable managing high-volume, fast-moving workloads
• Low ego and highly coachable
• Based in or relocating to San Francisco

Green Flags

• Extremely high agency, moves without being told, finds the answer before asking
• Competitive by nature, motivated by output, numbers, and results
• Energized by fast-moving, high-volume environments rather than drained by them
• Low ego and coachable, takes feedback immediately, and applies it
• Curious about recruiting, talent markets, and how startups hire
• New grad or early career with a strong academic foundation (UC Davis, Cal Poly SLO, or equivalent boutique agency background)
• Committed to building diverse, inclusive teams. We strongly encourage candidates from underrepresented backgrounds to apply

Red Flags

• Looking for predictable hours or a structured corporate environment
• Uncomfortable with high-volume, high-repetition workloads
• Needs heavy direction or oversight to execute
• Motivated primarily by title or career ladder over output and ownership
• Not genuinely committed to in-person work in SF

Role Details

Salary Base $80,000–$110,000 · OTE ~$140,000–$170,000+ (uncapped)Equity0.01%–0.15%On‑site policy In‑person, San Francisco Visa sponsorship None available Employment type Full‑time Location San Francisco, CA

Perks: Premium healthcare (medical/dental/vision) · Annual offsites (Hawaii, Cancun, Tokyo) · Free lunches & dinners + unlimited snacks/drinks · Monthly wellness stipend · Unlimited PTO

Screening Questions

• None provided on the role page.

Interview Process

Stage 1 — Pending Approval — Candidates awaiting initial approval.Stage 2 — Initial Screen with Will, Chief of Staff (20–30 min)Stage 3 — Take‑Home Sourcing Exercise (2–3 hours, skippable)Stage 4 — Team Panel InterviewsStage 5 — Onsite Work Trial / Working Session (1–2 days)Stage 6 — Offer ExtendedStage 7 — Candidate Hired — Candidate accepts and starts.

Ideal Companies & Backgrounds

From role page Talent / expert networks & recruiting tech — AlphaSights, GLG, Guidepoint, Third Bridge Group Limited, hireEZ, Mercor, Turing

Ideal Candidate Profiles

For reference only — role page labels these "Ideal Candidates -- DO NOT CONTACT." LinkedIn links appear as buttons on the page; URLs were not captured in this HTML.

• Neema Jamshidian
• Enya Lu
• Katie Yoon
• Radhik Wickramasinghe