Lead Recruiter / Principal

Nelo; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Nelo is seeking a Lead / Principal Recruiter in New York City, hybrid with in-office presence. You will own full-cycle recruiting across engineering, data, product, design, GTM, and operations, partnering with managers to shape roles, success metrics, and interview plans.

Build outbound pipelines, engage passive candidates, and drive offers while reducing agency reliance. You will report to Libby Hauser and influence the recruiting function across New York and Mexico City, helping scale a

Qualifications

• 6-12+ years of full-cycle recruiting with ownership.
• Strong experience recruiting technical talent: software/data/ML/design.
• Experience recruiting at least one business function (sales/ops/finance).
• Proven success building passive pipelines via outbound sourcing.
• Experience at venture-backed startups or high-growth tech firms.
• Comfort working with limited infrastructure and shifting priorities.
• Strong judgment on candidate quality and market fit.
• Credibility with founders, execs, and hiring managers.
• Proven track record closing difficult candidates in competitive markets.
• Ability to work regularly from Nelo's New York City office.

Responsibilities

• Full-cycle recruiting across engineering, data, product, design, GTM, operations, finance, legal, and people roles.
• Partner with hiring managers to define role scope, success profiles, scorecards, and interview plans.
• Build outbound sourcing strategies for difficult and high-priority searches.
• Identify and engage passive candidates through market mapping.
• Conduct candidate screens and maintain a high bar for quality.
• Drive candidate closing: offers, objections, references, and counteroffers.
• Provide leadership with visibility into pipelines, conversion, risks, and hiring forecasts.
• Reduce reliance on external agencies by building internal sourcing capability.
• Support recruiting across New York and Mexico City as needed.
• Expand Nelo’s employer brand in fintech/tech talent markets.

Skills

Full-cycle recruiting

Tech recruiting

Outbound sourcing

Stakeholder management

Founders credibility

New York office presence

Job description

Nelo — Lead / Principal Recruiter

About the Company

Nelo is a leading fintech in Mexico reimagining credit to expand consumer buying power. Founded in 2019 by former Uber international growth team leads Kyle Miller and Stephen Hebson, Nelo offers credit cards, BNPL loans, bill payments, and its own marketplace – all under one app – designed from first principles for a mobile-first, real-time payments world.

With $80M in annual revenue , $1B in annualized GMV , and $140M+ raised in equity and debt, Nelo is one of the most capital-efficient consumer fintech companies in Latin America. The company is profitable – positive operating profit in both 2024 and 2025. It runs lean and technical: 60 employees, 8 engineers, with AI driving underwriting, collections, and operations.

• HQ: Mexico City, Mexico; commercial and people operations in New York City

• Founded: 2019

• Team size: 70 FTEs

• Open roles: 10+

• Website: nelo.mx

• Stage: Post-Series A; $100M credit facility (Victory Park Capital, 2022); profitable

• HR Systems: Ashby, Rippling, Juicebox

• Benefits: 401k, open PTO, medical, dental, vision, STD, LTD, fertility

Company values:

• Be your best selves: ambition, hard work, intellectual curiosity

• Everyone is an owner: all employees receive equity including customer support; 10-year option expiration; equity refreshers

• Customer first: product decisions grounded in customer benefit

• Open and honest communication: quarterly financials and board presentations shared company-wide; low tolerance for bureaucracy or gossip

• Move fast, learn fast: hundreds of experiments run monthly; rigorous experimentation culture

Why This Role Exists

Nelo is profitable, scaling, and at a stage where every hire matters. $80M in revenue with 60 people means one bad hire is a real problem – not a statistic. The recruiting function needs to grow into something real, and this is the hire that does it.

The infrastructure is still evolving: pipelines are not fully built, agency reliance is high, and processes are still forming. This is a senior IC seat – full-cycle ownership, direct access to the founders, and a mandate to build the capability that lets Nelo keep its bar high as the headcount grows.

The role reports to Libby Hauser, Chief of Staff and VP of Operations, who owns the people function and has the authority and context to move fast.

The Role

Title: Lead / Principal Recruiter

Location: New York City (hybrid – regular in-office presence required)

Reports to: Libby Hauser, Chief of Staff and VP of Operations

Type: Senior individual contributor – no direct reports

What you will own:

• Full-cycle recruiting across engineering, data, product, design, go-to-market, operations, finance, legal, compliance, and people roles

• Partner with hiring managers to define role scope, success profiles, scorecards, and interview plans

• Build outbound sourcing strategies for difficult and high-priority searches

• Identify and engage passive candidates through targeted market mapping

• Conduct candidate screens and maintain a consistently high bar for quality

• Drive candidate closing: offer positioning, objection handling, references, counteroffer management

• Provide leadership with clear visibility into pipelines, conversion, risks, and hiring forecasts

• Challenge unrealistic specifications; recalibrate searches using market evidence

• Reduce reliance on external agencies by building repeatable internal sourcing capability

• Support recruiting across both New York and Mexico City as needed

• Expand Nelo’s brand awareness in the talent market through LinkedIn presence, targeted hosted gatherings, and inclusion in relevant fintech events

What success looks like at 3 months:

• Highest-priority searches are fully owned and producing qualified pipeline

• Hiring managers have weekly visibility into progress and pipeline health

• Outbound sourcing is live and producing candidates for at least two active searches

• Agency dependence is already beginning to decline

What success looks like at 6 months:

• You own the full recruiting cycle across technical and business functions without significant support

• Interview processes are disciplined, consistent, and candidate-friendly across the board

• Leadership views recruiting as a reliable, high-output function

• A repeatable sourcing playbook exists for Nelo’s most common role types

• Nelo’s employer brand is more visible in the New York fintech and tech recruiting community

What We Are Looking For

Ideal:

• 6-12+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience with meaningful ownership

• Strong experience recruiting technical talent: software engineering, data, ML, product, or design

• Experience recruiting at least one business function: sales, finance, operations, legal, compliance, or people

• Demonstrated success building passive candidate pipelines through outbound sourcing

• Experience at a venture-backed startup or high-growth technology company

• Comfort operating with limited infrastructure, shifting priorities, and evolving role specs

• Strong judgment when assessing candidate quality and market fit

• Credibility with founders, executives, and senior hiring managers

• Track record of closing difficult candidates in competitive markets

• Ability to work regularly from Nelo’s New York City office

Plus skills:

• Experience in fintech, payments, lending, or consumer finance

• Experience as a founding or early-stage recruiter

• Experience building recruiting processes from the ground up

• Experience supporting teams across the US and Latin America

• Familiarity with the Mexican talent market

• Spanish fluency

Not a fit:

• Looking primarily to manage a large recruiting team

• Only focused on recruiting strategy or workforce planning (no longer sources personally)

• Experience only in highly structured companies with strong inbound applicant flow

• Specializes exclusively in executive search, campus recruiting, or high-volume hiring

• Prefers narrowly defined roles with stable priorities and mature infrastructure

Compensation and Details

• Compensation: Competitive base salary, performance-based compensation, and equity

• Location: New York City – hybrid with regular in-office presence

• Employment type: Full-time

Final package reflects experience, scope, and expected impact.