Senior Recruiter

Sonos Inc; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Sonos is seeking a Sr. Recruiter, Executive Search & Talent Intelligence to lead high‑impact, confidential searches across hardware, software, product, AI, and global operations. This role focuses on quality, market knowledge, candidate relationships, and thoughtful execution, not high‑volume recruiting.

You’ll build proactive leadership maps, partner with senior leaders, and manage agency partners, reporting to the Director of Talent Acquisition.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience leading senior executive searches.
• Ability to build talent maps and target company strategies.
• Ability to engage passive leadership talent and manage confidential searches.

Responsibilities

• Lead executive and confidential searches across hardware, software, product, AI, and global operations.
• Develop tailored search plans and market maps translating business needs into target profiles and sourcing channels.
• Build proactive talent relationships before roles open and strengthen tools and processes across TA teams.
• Partner with executives to establish role-specific success profiles and structured assessment plans.
• Manage approved executive-search and agency partners with clear expectations for quality and confidentiality.
• Create reusable executive-search resources and contribute to knowledge sharing within the team.

Skills

Executive search

Talent strategy

Market mapping

Sourcing passive talent

Candidate assessment

Confidential searches

Leadership recruitment

Cross-functional collaboration

Tools

AI-enabled research tools

CRM platforms

Recruiting technology

Job description

Who you are

• Qualified applicants must live within commuting distance of our Boston office and should expect to be in the office a minimum of three days per week
• 8 or more years of progressive recruiting or executive-search experience, including substantial ownership of senior, Director, Vice President, or executive-level searches during that tenure
• 4 or more years of experience directly leading complex or confidential searches from initial research and candidate identification through assessment, offer, and close
• 2 or more years of experience developing market maps, target-company strategies, talent-pool research, with clear written insights from complex or incomplete information
• Demonstrated experience identifying and engaging passive leadership or highly specialized talent through original market research, direct sourcing, referrals, and professional networks
• Experience recruiting across multiple business or talent areas, such as consumer technology, hardware, software, product, design, AI, operations, commercial functions, or corporate leadership
• Experience advising senior hiring leaders on talent availability, search strategy, candidate quality, market conditions, and recruiting risk
• Experience designing and applying structured candidate‑assessment and calibration practices for senior or highly specialized roles
• Experience managing sensitive candidate information and confidential searches with sound judgment, discretion, and attention to detail
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to create clear candidate briefs, market insights, search updates, and recommendations for senior audiences
• Qualified applicants must be able to work from the Boston office a minimum of three days per week
• Experience recruiting within a consumer technology, hardware, software, product, design, or similarly complex global organization
• A combination of in‑house executive recruiting and retained executive‑search experience
• Experience building an executive‑search, talent‑intelligence, or proactive pipeline capability within an evolving Talent Acquisition function
• Experience hiring leaders and scarce talent across multiple geographies, including the US, EMEA, or APAC
• Strong knowledge of the talent markets supporting connected products, consumer electronics, audio, embedded systems, AI, software platforms, product development, or global operations
• Experience using recruiting technology, AI‑enabled research tools, CRM platforms, and data to improve search quality and recruiter effectiveness
• Experience coaching recruiters or sharing advanced sourcing, assessment, candidate‑engagement, or executive‑search practices without direct people‑management responsibility
• A builder mindset: you enjoy creating a capability, testing new approaches, and leaving behind tools and practices that make the entire team stronger
• We ask that applicants be authorized to work for us in the United States, both now and in the future
• Research shows that some candidates may not apply for roles if they don't meet all the criteria. If you don’t have 100% of the skills listed, we still strongly encourage you to apply if interested

What the job involves

• The talent we bring into Sonos will help shape the next chapter of our company. We are looking for a deeply experienced recruiter and talent strategist to help us identify, engage, and hire exceptional leaders and highly specialized talent across our most important business priorities
• As our Sr. Recruiter, Executive Search & Talent Intelligence, you will lead a select portfolio of high‑impact, confidential, and difficult‑to‑fill searches across areas such as hardware, software, product, design, AI, global operations, and corporate leadership. This is not a traditional high‑volume recruiting role
• You will focus on the searches where talent quality, market knowledge, candidate relationships, and thoughtful execution matter most
• Most of your time will be spent leading executive and critical searches from initial market exploration through close. You will also build proactive talent maps and relationships before roles open and help strengthen the tools, insights, and search practices used across our global Talent Acquisition team
• You’ll report to the Director of Talent Acquisition and work closely with senior leaders, People Partners, Talent Programs, TA Operations, and our portfolio recruiters
• This is an opportunity to help build an internal executive‑search and talent‑intelligence capability while remaining close to candidates and the craft of recruiting
• Lead the full lifecycle of assigned Director, Vice President, confidential, and business‑critical searches, from search launch and market mapping through assessment, offer, and close
• Develop tailored search plans that translate business needs into target profiles, priority companies, sourcing channels, candidate‑engagement strategies, and clear measures of search progress
• Identify and engage high‑caliber passive talent through original research, trusted networks, thoughtful outreach, and long‑term relationship building
• Create compelling, high‑touch candidate experiences that reflect the Sonos brand and meet the discretion and care required for senior and confidential searches
• Build proactive leadership and niche‑talent maps aligned with Sonos’s future capability needs, including competitor, skills, location, and talent‑supply research
• Turn market signals and candidate intelligence into clear insights that help TA leadership and hiring leaders evaluate talent availability, role design, location, compensation, and search risk
• Partner with executives and hiring teams to establish role‑specific success profiles, structured assessment plans, candidate‑calibration practices, and high‑quality selection decisions
• Manage approved executive‑search and agency partners during assigned searches, maintaining clear expectations for quality, pace, candidate experience, confidentiality, and results
• Build reusable executive‑search resources, including intake frameworks, market‑map formats, candidate briefs, search updates, assessment materials, and completed‑search retrospectives
• Strengthen the broader TA team through search‑specific coaching, knowledge sharing, advanced sourcing practices, and partnership on particularly complex or difficult searches