Recruiting Lead (AI scale-up)

Hawkwood; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Hawkwood in New York City is seeking a Founding Recruiting Lead to build the talent function from the ground up, partnering with founders to define hiring strategy and processes. This role will own the full recruiting lifecycle and design scalable interview frameworks as the company scales.

You will lead proactive sourcing, build the internal Talent team, and create an outstanding candidate experience, all within a hybrid model that blends NYC office work with remote flexibility for nationwide

Qualifications

• Experience building or owning recruiting within a high-growth startup or scale-up environment.
• A strong track record hiring exceptional technical talent.
• Thrives in ambiguity and creates structure where none exists.
• Early adopter of AI who uses it to improve productivity and recruiting effectiveness.
• Collaborative, low-ego; works closely with founders and senior leaders.
• Passion for building high-performing teams and talent density.

Responsibilities

• Build and own the company's recruiting function from the ground up.
• Lead full-cycle hiring across Engineering and eventually Corporate functions.
• Develop proactive sourcing strategies to attract top talent.
• Design scalable interview processes, scorecards, and hiring frameworks.
• Partner with founders and hiring managers on workforce planning and strategy.
• Create an outstanding candidate experience from outreach to offer.
• Introduce recruiting systems and tools that scale with the business.
• Build and lead the internal Talent team as hiring accelerates.

Skills

Leadership

Full-cycle recruiting

High-growth startups

Talent sourcing

AI adoption

Stakeholder management

ATS tools

Job description

Working style: Hybrid based out of NYC office, but open to fully remote for candidates outside of the NYC area (with travel to NYC office as needed).

Full Time, Permanent

Hawkwood is partnering with a well-funded, rapid-growth AI scale-up in search for their Founding Recruiting Lead to build the talent function from the ground up.

Having recently raised over $50M in Series A funding from some of the world's leading venture capital firms including Index Ventures and General Catalyst, this company is applying AI to transform one of the world's largest and most traditional industries.

This is a rare opportunity to join at a genuine inflection point and play a defining role in shaping the future of the business by building the team that will build the company.

The Opportunity

As the company's first Recruiting Lead, you'll own the entire recruiting function from day one.

Working closely with the founders and leadership team, you'll build the hiring strategy, sourcing engine, interview processes, and candidate experience that will support the company's next phase of growth.

This isn't a role where you'll inherit established processes or manage existing recruiters. Instead, you'll be responsible for building the function from scratch.

As the business scales, you'll have the opportunity to build and lead the internal recruiting team, while establishing the systems and processes that define how the company hires for years to come.

Key Priorities

• Build and own the company's recruiting function from the ground up.
• Lead full-cycle hiring across Engineering (and eventually Corporate functions).
• Develop proactive sourcing strategies to attract exceptional talent.
• Design scalable interview processes, scorecards, and hiring frameworks.
• Partner closely with founders and hiring managers on workforce planning and hiring strategy.
• Create an outstanding candidate experience from first outreach through to offer.
• Introduce recruiting systems, tools, and operational processes that will scale with the business.
• Build and lead the internal Talent team as hiring accelerates.

What They're Looking For

• Experience building or owning recruiting within a high-growth startup or scale-up environment.
• A strong track record hiring exceptional technical talent.
• Someone who thrives in ambiguity and enjoys creating structure where none exists.
• An early adopter of AI who actively uses it to improve productivity and recruiting effectiveness.
• A collaborative, low-ego individual who enjoys working closely with founders and senior leaders.
• Passion for helping build high-performing teams and maintaining exceptional talent density.