Senior Technical Recruiter

Socket.dev; California (MO); On-site; USD 107,000 - 161,000; Full time

Job summary

Inversion is seeking a Senior Technical Recruiter to partner with engineering leadership and hire highly specialized talent across engineering, software, hardware, manufacturing, and other critical functions. This is a full-time onsite role embedded with our teams, driving hiring strategy and execution in a fast-paced startup environment.

The California base salary range is $107,000–$161,000 per year, with pay grades determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of technical recruiting experience in engineering, hardware, manufacturing, or related fields.
• Proven ability to recruit for specialized and difficult-to-fill roles.
• Strong capability to translate complex technical requirements into sourcing strategies.
• Experience building credibility with senior technical leaders and candidates.

Responsibilities

• Own full-cycle recruiting for highly technical roles across the company.
• Partner with hiring managers to define role requirements, leveling, and scope.
• Develop interview and assessment strategies.
• Calibrate candidate profiles and align hiring processes.
• Provide market insights on talent availability and compensation.
• Source proactively through creative, high-touch outreach.

Skills

Technical recruiting

Sourcing strategies

Stakeholder management

Interview strategy

Negotiation

Data-driven insights

Tools

Greenhouse ATS

Job description

Turning Space into a Transportation Layer for Earth

Who We Are: Inversion builds advanced reentry systems to deliver next-generation capabilities from space. Our mission is to make Earth radically more accessible by turning Low-Earth Orbit into an on-demand logistics domain. We see space not as a destination, but as a platform — one that unlocks unprecedented speed and global reach. Our spacecraft are designed to deliver payloads anywhere on Earth in under an hour, operating through extreme reentry conditions and landing with high precision. These systems open the door to new ways of testing, delivering, and operating at hypersonic speeds. Inherently dual-use, our technology is built to meet urgent national security needs while laying the groundwork for future commercial applications. Backed by leading investors including Y Combinator, Spark Capital, and Lockheed Martin Ventures, and working with partners such as the U.S. Space Force and NASA, Inversion is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in space-based defense and logistics.

Position Overview

We’re looking for a Senior Technical Recruiter who can operate as a true partner to technical leadership while helping build world-class teams from the ground up. This role goes beyond traditional recruiting. You will be responsible for hiring highly specialized technical talent across engineering, software, hardware, manufacturing, and other critical functions. Success requires the ability to quickly understand complex technical requirements, identify niche talent pools, and engage credibly with highly sought-after candidates. This is a full-time, onsite role where you’ll be embedded with our teams, working closely with hiring managers and technical leaders to drive hiring strategy and execution in a fast-paced startup environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Own full-cycle recruiting for highly technical roles across the company


• Partner closely with hiring managers and technical leaders to: Define role requirements, scope, and leveling


• Develop effective interview and assessment strategies


• Calibrate candidate profiles and ensure alignment throughout the hiring process


• Provide market insights and recommendations on talent availability, compensation, and hiring strategy


• Build and execute targeted sourcing strategies across: High-growth technology companies and startups


• Aerospace and defense organizations


• Advanced manufacturing and hardware companies


• Research organizations and national laboratories


• Top engineering and technical universities


• Proactively source and engage passive candidates through creative, high-touch outreach


• Build strong pipelines for niche, specialized, and hard-to-fill positions


• Deliver a high-quality candidate experience from initial outreach through offer and close


• Drive offer strategy, negotiation, and closing for highly competitive talent


• Track recruiting metrics, identify pipeline trends, and provide data-driven insights to hiring managers and leadership


• Continuously improve recruiting processes, tools, sourcing strategies, and hiring practices

Required Qualifications

• 5+ years of technical recruiting experience, ideally supporting engineering, technology, hardware, manufacturing, aerospace, defense, or other highly technical organizations


• Proven track record recruiting for specialized and difficult-to-fill technical roles


• Strong ability to understand complex technical requirements and translate them into effective recruiting and sourcing strategies


• Ability to learn technical terminology quickly and credibly screen and engage technical candidates


• Demonstrated experience sourcing passive talent through a variety of channels and creative sourcing methods


• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to effectively partner with technical leaders and hiring managers


• Experience managing multiple searches and competing priorities in a fast-moving environment


• Strong communication, organizational, and candidate management skills


• High ownership mentality with the ability to identify problems, develop solutions, and drive work forward without waiting for direction


• Comfortable operating in an ambiguous, rapidly changing startup environment


• Must have the ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government Secret/Top Secret security clearance

Desired Qualifications

• Experience recruiting within aerospace, defense, robotics, autonomous systems, advanced manufacturing, hardware, or other deep-tech environments


• Experience recruiting cleared or clearance-eligible talent


• Experience with Greenhouse ATS


• Experience helping build or scale recruiting processes within a growing organization

The California annual base salary for this role is currently $107,000-$161,000 Pay Grades are determined by role, level, location, and alignment with market data. Individual pay will be determined on a case-by-case basis and may vary based on the following considerations: interviews and an assessment of several factors that are unique to each candidate, job related skills, relevant education and experience, certifications, abilities of the candidate and internal equity.

ITAR Compliance: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here .

Equal Employment Opportunity: Inversion provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status, or disability.

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