Senior Talent Acquisition Lead — AI & Robotics

Thorndale Partners; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Thorndale Partners is seeking a Talent Acquisition Recruiter for a rapidly scaling AI robotics startup, based in Cambridge, MA or San Francisco, CA, on a 12-month contract. You will own full-cycle recruiting for AI/ML, robotics hardware/software, and operations, partnering with technical leaders to shape the company’s engineering DNA.

You’ll leverage modern recruiting stacks and AI-assisted workflows, build targeted talent maps, and move fast to attract elite candidates while navigating equity,

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in full-cycle recruiting for technical roles.
• Experience recruiting in AI, robotics, or deep-tech.
• Ability to read a research paper and discuss with engineers.
• Daily use of AI workflows in recruiting.
• Strong sourcing skills with advanced search techniques.
• Experience navigating equity, relocation, and visa considerations.

Responsibilities

• Own the cycle end-to-end from intake to close.
• Drive pipelines across AI/ML, robotics hardware/software, simulation, operations, product, and business functions.
• Build targeted talent maps via outbound outreach, referrals, labs, universities, open-source communities, and competitors.
• Partner with engineering leaders and calibrate on technical signal to maintain momentum.
• Develop and refine AI-assisted workflows for sourcing, outreach, and pipeline reporting.
• Track pipeline health, conversion, and source effectiveness to pivot strategies.

Skills

Full-cycle recruiting

Closing senior technical roles

AI workflows in recruiting

Sourcing strategies

Cross-functional partnering

Equity/visa knowledge

Tools

Boolean search

X-Ray

LinkedIn Recruiter

GitHub

Google Scholar

Claude / AI agents

Job description

Thorndale Partners is seeking a Talent Acquisition Recruiter for a rapidly scaling AI robotics startup, based in Cambridge, MA or San Francisco, CA, on a 12-month contract. You will own full-cycle recruiting for AI/ML, robotics hardware/software, and operations, partnering with technical leaders to shape the company’s engineering DNA.

You’ll leverage modern recruiting stacks and AI-assisted workflows, build targeted talent maps, and move fast to attract elite candidates while navigating equity,