Program Manager, Talent Acquisition

Perplexity; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 130,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Perplexity is scaling at a pace few companies ever experience, and talent is the surface where our biggest bets get won or lost. We're hiring a Program Manager to sit at the center of that motion, owning mission-critical, cross-functional programs that shape planning, prioritization, and hiring.

This role thrives in ambiguity and partners with recruiting leadership, executives, and cross-functional teams to architect systems, operating rhythms, and decision-making frameworks enabling faster,

Qualifications

• 7+ years of program or project management experience with ownership of mission-critical initiatives.
• Experience partnering with and presenting to executives on high-stakes cross-functional work.
• Track record of driving ambiguous programs to measurable outcomes in fast-paced, rapidly scaling environments.

Responsibilities

• Own Perplexity's most consequential talent programs end-to-end, from ambiguous mandate to shipped outcome.
• Partner directly with executives and recruiting leadership to turn strategy into programs with clear owners, milestones, and accountability.
• Drive cross-functional initiatives across Recruiting, People, Finance, and business leadership, aligning stakeholders and clearing blockers before they escalate.
• Design the operating cadence of the org: planning cycles, prioritization, reporting rhythms, and executive updates that keep leadership decisive.
• Build the systems, tooling, and workflows that let recruiting scale, automating the repetitive so human judgment goes to the highest-leverage work.
• Stand up the metrics and dashboards that turn hiring data into faster, sharper decisions.
• Anticipate risk on the highest-visibility programs, communicate crisply under pressure, and drive to resolution when priorities shift.
• Set the bar for program excellence and codify repeatable playbooks the rest of the company can adopt.

Skills

Program management

Executive partnership

Cross-functional leadership

Analytical thinking

Communication

Operational rigor

Stakeholder management

Job description

Perplexity is scaling at a pace few companies ever experience, and talent is the surface where our biggest bets get won or lost. We're hiring a Program Manager to sit at the center of that motion, owning the mission-critical, cross-functional programs that shape how we plan, prioritize, and hire.

This is a uniquely visible seat, reserved for operators who thrive in ambiguity and have a track record of driving companywide initiatives to measurable outcomes. You'll work shoulder-to-shoulder with recruiting leadership, executives, and cross-functional partners to architect the systems, operating rhythms, and decision-making frameworks that let the company move faster and with more clarity. When a complex, high-stakes program needs an owner, you're the person leadership turns to.

What You'll Do

• Own Perplexity's most consequential talent programs end-to-end, from ambiguous mandate to shipped outcome

• Partner directly with executives and recruiting leadership to turn strategy into programs with clear owners, milestones, and accountability

• Drive cross-functional initiatives across Recruiting, People, Finance, and business leadership, aligning stakeholders and clearing blockers before they escal

• Design the operating cadence of the org: planning cycles, prioritization, reporting rhythms, and executive updates that keep leadership decisive

• Build the systems, tooling, and workflows that let recruiting scale, automating the repetitive so human judgment goes to the highest-leverage work

• Stand up the metrics and dashboards that turn hiring data into faster, sharper decisions

• Anticipate risk on the highest-visibility programs, communicate crisply under pressure, and drive to resolution when priorities shift

• Set the bar for program excellence and codify repeatable playbooks the rest of the company can adopt

What You Bring

• 7+ years of program or project management experience, including ownership of companywide, mission-critical initiatives

• Direct experience partnering with and presenting to executives on high-stakes, cross-functional work

• Track record of driving ambiguous programs to measurable outcomes in fast-paced, rapidly scaling environments

• Operational rigor. You build order out of chaos and design systems that outlast you

• Strong analytical instincts, with the ability to structure messy data into clear direction for leadership

• Sharp communication and stakeholder judgment, with the discretion to operate on sensitive, high-visibility work

• A builder's mindset and a bias for action, aligned with Perplexity's ethos of building what hasn't been built before

• Recruiting, talent, or People-org program experience is a plus, but we're optimizing for the best operators first