Sr. Staff Technical Recruiter, Physical AI

Aurora; Mountain View (CA); On-site; USD 179,000 - 287,000; Full time

Job summary

Aurora is seeking a Sr. Staff Technical Recruiter, Physical AI, to lead recruiting for autonomy, ML, perception, and hardware roles across Staff to Principal levels.

You will partner directly with VP- and Director-level engineering leaders to shape hiring strategy, map markets, and close top talent while mentoring junior recruiters.

This high-visibility role requires strong data-driven recruiting of frontier AI talent and deep relationships in academia and industry.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of technical recruiting experience, with deep specialization in autonomous vehicles, robotics, or AI/ML.
• Proven track record of closing Staff and Principal-level engineers and researchers in highly competitive talent markets.
• Experience partnering as a trusted advisor to Director- and VP-level engineering leaders on hiring strategy.
• Demonstrated ability to use data, market intelligence, and AI tools to shape and accelerate searches with quality output.
• Experience with an ATS/CRM such as Ashby and sourcing tools such as LinkedIn Recruiter, Gem, or SeekOut

Responsibilities

• Own full-cycle recruiting for Aurora’s highest-impact Physical AI searches, primarily at the Staff to Principal level, across autonomy, ML/robot learning, perception, simulation, controls, AI infrastructure, and hardware engineering
• Serve as a strategic advisor to VP- and Director-level engineering leaders on market mapping, competitive intelligence, search design, engagement and closing strategies
• Build and maintain deep relationships across the Physical AI talent community, including frontier AI labs, robotics companies, and academic research groups
• Set the talent strategy for the Physical AI market across Talent Acquisition, using data and market insights to influence hiring plans and decisions
• Raise the bar on AI-enabled recruiting practices and mentor recruiters and sourcers on the team

Skills

Technical recruiting

Staff/Principal hiring

Tools

Ashby

LinkedIn Recruiter

Gem

SeekOut

Job description

Who We Are

Aurora’s mission is to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly.

Aurora’s mission is to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly. The Aurora Driver will create a new era in mobility and logistics, one that will bring a safer, more efficient, and more accessible future to everyone. At Aurora, you will tackle massively complex problems alongside other passionate, intelligent individuals, growing as an expert while expanding your knowledge. For the latest news from Aurora, visit aurora.tech or follow us on LinkedIn.

What We Are Looking For

Aurora hires talented people with diverse backgrounds who are ready to help build a transportation ecosystem that will make our roads safer, get crucial goods where they need to go, and make mobility more efficient and accessible for all. We’re searching for a Sr. Staff Technical Recruiter, Physical AI. You will lead recruiting for Aurora’s most critical and hard-to-fill Physical AI searches across autonomy, machine learning, perception, simulation, AI infrastructure, and hardware engineering. This is a high-visibility role where you will partner directly with VP- and Director-level engineering leaders to shape how Aurora competes for - and win - the strongest AI and robotics talent in the market.

In this role you will

• Own full-cycle recruiting for Aurora’s highest-impact Physical AI searches, primarily at the Staff to Principal level, across autonomy, ML/robot learning, perception, simulation, controls, AI infrastructure, and hardware engineering
• Serve as a strategic advisor to VP- and Director-level engineering leaders on market mapping, competitive intelligence, search design, engagement and closing strategies
• Build and maintain deep relationships across the Physical AI talent community, including frontier AI labs, robotics companies, and academic research groups
• Set the talent strategy for the Physical AI market across Talent Acquisition, using data and market insights to influence hiring plans and decisions
• Raise the bar on AI-enabled recruiting practices and mentor recruiters and sourcers on the team

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of technical recruiting experience, with deep specialization in autonomous vehicles, robotics, or AI/ML
• Proven track record of closing Staff and Principal-level engineers and researchers in highly competitive talent markets
• Experience partnering as a trusted advisor to Director- and VP-level engineering leaders on hiring strategy
• Demonstrated ability to use data, market intelligence, and AI tools to shape and accelerate searches with quality output
• Experience with an ATS/CRM such as Ashby and sourcing tools such as LinkedIn Recruiter, Gem, or SeekOut

Desirable Qualifications

• Experience hiring from frontier AI labs or humanoid and general-purpose robotics companies
• Experience building a recruiting function or talent strategy for a new technical domain
• Experience recruiting research scientists, including academic and conference sourcing (e.g., NeurIPS, CVPR, ICLR)
• Experience mentoring recruiters and sourcers

For roles based in San Francisco, CA, Mountain View, CA, and Seattle, WA: The salary range for this position is $179,000 - $287,000 per year.

For roles based in Pittsburgh, PA: The salary range for this position is $162,000 - $259,000 per year.

Aurora’s pay ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, the successful candidate’s starting base pay will be determined based on factors including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, relevant education or training, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future. The successful candidate will also be eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation, and benefits.

Working at Aurora

At Aurora, we bring together extraordinarily talented and experienced people united by the strength of our values. We operate with integrity, set outrageous goals, and build a culture where we win together — all without any jerks.

We believe in-person work increases collaboration, empathy, and our ability to lead effectively. As a result, Aurorans are expected to work from the office at least 3 days per week, with some roles requiring more frequent in-office presence, up to 5 days per week, based on operational needs.

Our Careers page provides insight into what it is like to work at Aurora, and you can find all the latest updates in our Newsroom.

Our commitment to safety

At the core of everything we do is our commitment to safety. Building best-in-class self-driving technology will take time, and we believe that each employee at Aurora has a role in contributing to safety, every step of the way. Aurora expects commitment to our safety policies from every employee, and seeks candidates who take an active responsibility, can contribute to building an atmosphere of trust, and invest in the organization’s long-term success by prioritizing working safely, no matter what.

Our commitment to inclusion

Aurora considers candidates without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, parent or caregiver status, ancestry, political affiliation, veteran and/or military status, physical or mental disability, or any other status protected by federal or state law. Aurora considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at [e-mail].

For California applicants, information collected and processed as part of your application and any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Aurora’s California Employment Privacy Policy.