Recruiter

Havoc; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Life Insurance

401k matching

Unlimited PTO

Equity package

Work/Home Office stipend

Global Entry

16 weeks parental leave

Wellness stipend

Job summary

HavocAI in San Diego seeks a Senior Recruiter to own full-cycle recruiting across technical and non-technical roles. You will partner with hiring managers to define requirements, craft descriptions, and build hiring profiles, while proactively sourcing exceptional candidates.

Source talent via LinkedIn, referrals, networks, and communities, and manage pipelines for immediate and future openings. You will deliver a high-touch candidate experience in a fast-growth environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of recruiting experience in-house, agency, or high-growth settings.
• Experience recruiting in defense technology, aerospace, robotics, autonomy, software, hardware, or other technically complex industries preferred.
• Proven ability to manage multiple searches and adapt quickly to shifting priorities.

Responsibilities

• Own full-cycle recruiting across technical and non-technical roles from intake to offer.
• Partner with hiring managers to define requirements, create job descriptions, and build hiring profiles.
• Recruit across a broad mix of roles including software, autonomy, hardware, operations, finance, legal, and more.
• Source exceptional passive talent through LinkedIn, referrals, networking, and industry communities.
• Build strong pipelines for immediate openings and future needs.
• Manage candidate lifecycle, including outreach, screening, interviews, feedback, and offers.
• Deliver a high-quality candidate experience with speed in a fast-growing company.
• Maintain candidate data in Ashby, pipeline reporting, and compliance.

Skills

Full-cycle recruiting

Sourcing passive candidates

Stakeholder management

Technical recruiting

High-speed environment

Tools

Ashby

Job description

About Us:

Havoc is a leader in all-domain collaborative autonomy. Its software-defined hardware approach powers military and commercial-grade autonomous systems across sea, air, and land to sense, decide, and act together in complex and contested environments. Havoc connects assets, enabling them to share information, adapt in real time, and continue operating even when communications are disrupted or denied. Havoc optimizes mission performance and minimizes human risk.

Havoc was founded in 2024 and headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Learn more at Havoc: All-Domain Collaborative Autonomy.

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Recruiter to help build the team that will define HavocAI’s next stage of growth. This is a high-ownership, full-cycle recruiting role supporting both technical and non-technical hiring across the business.

You’ll recruit across a wide range of disciplines, including engineering, product, mission operations, finance, legal, People, and go-to-market. Priorities can shift quickly based on customer demand, program needs, and company growth, so success in this role requires someone who is comfortable moving fast, operating with limited structure, and changing direction without losing momentum.

You will partner closely with hiring managers and leadership to understand evolving talent needs, build recruiting strategies, source exceptional candidates, and close critical hires. This is not a role for someone who needs a highly defined requisition load or established process. You should be comfortable building the process while executing it.

We are looking for a recruiter who is proactive, resourceful, highly organized, and motivated by the challenge of hiring exceptional people in a competitive market.

Key Responsibilities

• Own full-cycle recruiting across multiple technical and non-technical functions, from initial intake through offer acceptance.

• Partner directly with hiring managers and business leaders to define requirements, develop job descriptions, establish hiring profiles, and build recruiting strategies.

• Recruit across a broad and evolving mix of roles, including:

  • Technical: software, autonomy, robotics, hardware, systems, maritime, manufacturing, and related engineering disciplines.

  • Non-Technical: mission operations, program management, finance, legal, People, operations, and go-to-market.

• Quickly pivot between searches and hiring priorities as business and program needs evolve.

• Proactively source and engage exceptional passive talent through LinkedIn, GitHub, referrals, networking, industry communities, and creative sourcing strategies.

• Build strong pipelines for both immediate openings and anticipated future hiring needs.

• Manage the entire candidate lifecycle, including outreach, screening, interview management, feedback, candidate communication, and offer closing.

• Deliver a high-quality, high-touch candidate experience while maintaining the speed required in a fast-growing organization.

• Maintain disciplined recruiting processes and accurate candidate data in Ashby, including pipeline management, reporting, and compliance.

• Drive interview processes forward, identify bottlenecks, and hold stakeholders accountable for timely feedback and decision‑making.

• Develop strong relationships with passive candidates and talent communities across defense technology, robotics, autonomy, aerospace, and adjacent industries.

• Partner with People and leadership on employer branding and recruiting initiatives that strengthen HavocAI’s ability to attract exceptional talent.

• Use pipeline data, market intelligence, and recruiting metrics to identify challenges, recommend solutions, and inform hiring decisions.

• Continuously improve recruiting processes without allowing process‑building to slow execution.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of recruiting experience in an in‑house, agency, or high‑growth environment.

• Experience recruiting in defense technology, aerospace, robotics, autonomy, software, hardware, or another technically complex industry strongly preferred.

• Demonstrated ability to recruit across both highly technical and business-focused disciplines.

• Proven ability to manage multiple searches simultaneously while adapting quickly to changing priorities.

• Strong direct sourcing capabilities and confidence engaging passive candidates in competitive talent markets.

• Experience partnering with senior hiring managers and executives on difficult or high-priority searches.

• Strong candidate assessment, relationship management, negotiation, and closing skills.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Highly organized with the ability to maintain urgency without sacrificing candidate experience or hiring quality.

• Comfortable operating in ambiguity, making decisions with incomplete information, and solving problems without waiting for extensive direction.

• Strong sense of ownership and a bias toward action.

• Experience with modern applicant tracking systems; Ashby experience preferred.

• Ability to thrive in a fast‑paced, high‑growth environment where priorities can change quickly and the recruiting team is expected to keep pace with the business.

• U.S. Citizenship required; eligibility to obtain a security clearance preferred.

What Success Looks Like

You move quickly without lowering the bar. You build strong relationships with hiring managers, understand what great talent looks like, and consistently create momentum across your searches. When priorities change, you adapt quickly. When a process is broken, you improve it. When a difficult role needs to be filled, you take ownership and find a way forward.

At HavocAI, recruiting is a critical part of how we scale the mission, and this role will have a direct impact on the people and capabilities we build next.

Benefits:

• 100% Employer paid Health, Dental and Vision Insurance for you and your families

• Life Insurance (Employer Paid)

• Ability to participate in the companies 401k program (Matching)

• Unlimited PTO policy with an enforced 2 week minimum

• Equity Package

• Work / Home Office Stipend

• Global Entry

• 16 Week Paid Parental Leave

• Monthly Health and Wellness Stipend

Our Values:

• Innovation: We are driven to break new ground. Every day presents an opportunity to challenge the status quo, think boldly, and deliver advanced solutions that transform the future of defense technology.

• Integrity: We hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards, ensuring transparency, accountability, and trust in all our actions and partnerships.

• Mission-Driven: We are focused on achieving impactful outcomes that align with our core mission—protecting lives through innovation.

• Forward-Leaning: We continuously seek out new opportunities and remain at the forefront of technological advancements. We embrace change and anticipate the challenges of tomorrow with confidence and creativity.

• Ownership of All Tasks: At HavocAI, no problem is too complex or too trivial. We believe that greatness comes from tackling the hardest challenges, but also in handling the smallest, sometimes thankless, tasks with the same level of commitment and care.

• Servant Leadership: We lead by serving others, whether it’s supporting our employees, partners, or the broader community. Empowering those around us is key to achieving long‑term success and making a lasting impact.

HavocAI is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is committed to creating an inclusive and diverse workplace. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and do not discriminate based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status.