Founder's Office Talent

Different Inc.; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Different Inc. in San Francisco is seeking a hands-on recruiter to grow the SF team, hiring applied AI engineers, sales and marketing, and founder's office roles. You will sit in the founder's office and work directly with Ajeet to shape who joins us.

This role is not a traditional funnel; you will meet people, assess fit, and persuade top talent to join a startup with significant growth. You will lead planning, hiring, and building a strong SF network.

Qualifications

• 1–4 years of work experience overall.
• Strong operator mindset with fast execution.
• Excellent interpersonal and networking skills. Implementing hiring plans and interview loops.

Responsibilities

• Agree on a hiring plan with Ajeet and each hiring lead.
• Close your first SF hires and keep a live pipeline for all roles.
• Hire 15–20 people across applied AI, sales, marketing and ops.
• Build the SF network: host events, meet people, and drive referrals.
• Keep a bench: start openings with names, not blank pages.
• Move fast: offers in under 45 days; candidates hear back within 48 hours.
• Run it with AI tools for sourcing, screening, and scheduling.

Skills

People networking

Interviewing

Hiring strategy

Recruiting ops

Job description

About Us
Different is a marketing system that runs demand generation for B2B companies. It handles campaign creation, personalization and optimization in one place. Lean teams do more without adding headcount, agencies or point AI tools.

Between them, our founders have founded two unicorns, led AI at a global marketing software company, and built platforms used by millions. We are backed by General Catalyst and Lightspeed.

Our San Francisco office has 9 people today, including two of our founders. We also have a larger engineering team in Bangalore.

The role

You will grow our San Francisco team. Over the next year, you will hire the next wave of people for the SF office: applied AI engineers, sales and marketing, and founder's office and ops roles.

You will sit in the founder's office and work directly with Ajeet. Building the team is your main job. You will also see how a company gets built up close, and you will help with other founder's office work as it comes up.

This is not a classic recruiting job. We are not looking for someone to run a funnel from behind a screen. We want someone who meets people, learns what makes them great, and convinces the best of them to join us.

What you'll do in your first year

• First 30 days: Agree on a hiring plan with Ajeet and each hiring lead. Set up a scorecard and interview loop for every open SF role.
• First 90 days: Close your first SF hires. Keep a live pipeline of strong people for every open role.
• First 12 months: Hire 15 to 20 people across applied AI, sales, marketing and ops.
• Build the network: Become known in SF AI circles. Host events, meet people, and bring in at least a third of our hires through referrals and the community you build.
• Keep a bench: Know the people we want before we need them. A new opening should start with names, not a blank page.
• Move fast and treat people well: Most roles go from first contact to signed offer in under 45 days. Every candidate hears back within 48 hours.
• Run it with AI: Use AI tools for sourcing, screening notes and scheduling, so you can run more roles than a typical recruiter.

Who you are

You are the person who knows everyone. You remember what people told you months ago. You introduce friends to each other because you think they should meet, not because someone asked.

• A strong operator. You are organized, fast, and you follow through without reminders.
• Sharp. You have real intellectual horsepower. Founders, engineers and senior candidates respect you after one conversation.
• Tech-native. You are at home in tech and AI, and you use AI tools every day.
• Hungry. You see this role as a launch pad, and you want to learn how a great company gets built.
• High ownership. You treat SF hiring as your own business.
• High energy and very social. You love meeting new people and learning what drives them.
• A closer. You have talked someone into a big decision, like joining a startup or leaving a good job. You don't mind hearing no.
• Curious. You want to understand what a great applied AI engineer or a great sales rep actually does. You can talk to engineers as a peer, not a gatekeeper.
• Clear. You write sharp outreach notes and short, clear candidate summaries.
• Honest. You tell candidates the truth about the role and the company. People trust you.

You probably have 1 to 4 years of work experience. Many of the best people for this role have never had "recruiter" in their title.

Backgrounds we love
You might have done one of these:

• Built a community. You ran a meetup, a founder group, an alumni network or a hacker house. People still show up because of you.
• Worked at an investment firm. You worked in portfolio ops or platform at a VC or PE fund, or you were a scout. You spent your days meeting founders and talent, and you cared more about the people than the deals.
• Built something early. You were an early employee or a founder at a tech startup. You have talked people into joining something unproven.
• Came from the technical side. You studied CS or worked as an engineer, solutions engineer or technical PM. You found you like the people side more than the code.

If you have built something from nothing that others still use, or persuaded people to commit to something new, we want to hear from you.

After the first year

After a year, you choose what comes next. You can keep building and lead recruiting as we grow. Or you can move into ops, sales, marketing or another part of the company, based on what you want to learn. Either way, you will have built the team you work with.
Annual compensation range:
$90k-$150k
Actual compensation will depend on the candidate's experience, skills and the scope of the role. In addition to base salary, Different offers equity and benefits.