Strategic Senior Executive Recruiter — Global Leadership

Remote; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Executive Recruiter to own complex senior leadership searches across key corporate functions. You will partner with senior leaders and PX Business Partners to define requirements, map markets, and drive hiring milestones, delivering high-quality hires in a fast-growing defense-tech environment.

You will leverage AI and analytics to enhance sourcing, assessments, and candidate experience while building robust executive pipelines and providing strategic advice to

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• 8+ years of progressive executive recruiting or search experience.
• Experience recruiting VP+ executives across G&A functions, including Sales, Marketing & Communications, Finance & Accounting, Legal, People Experience, Strategy, Operations, and other corporate functions.
• Experience recruiting senior leaders within aerospace, defense, artificial intelligence, autonomy, or related technology industries.
• Strong executive sourcing, market mapping, passive candidate engagement, and assessment capabilities.
• Proven ability to build credibility, advise, and influence senior-level hiring stakeholders.
• Proficiency with applicant tracking systems, candidate relationship management platforms, and recruiting analytics tools.

Responsibilities

• Manage complex executive and senior leadership searches end-to-end.
• Partner with senior leaders to define role requirements, success profiles, assessment criteria, search strategies, and milestones.
• Identify, engage, and cultivate relationships with high-caliber passive executive talent across aerospace and defense, AI, autonomy, software, enterprise technology, and other relevant markets.
• Build targeted executive talent pipelines supporting immediate and anticipated leadership hiring needs.
• Anticipate search challenges, adjust strategies, and maintain accountability for hiring outcomes.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to senior business leaders, hiring managers, and PX Business Partners across assigned functions.
• Provide consultative guidance on talent availability, market dynamics, compensation expectations, and competitive positioning.
• Establish consistent communication and reporting cadences to maintain stakeholder alignment, transparency, and accountability.
• Influence hiring decisions through market intelligence, candidate insights, and evidence-based recommendations.
• Proactively manage expectations, resolve obstacles, and navigate competing priorities constructively.
• Conduct comprehensive executive assessments evaluating functional expertise, leadership capabilities, business impact, and alignment with Shield AI's mission and values.
• Apply structured interviews, competency frameworks, and assessment tools to support informed hiring decisions.
• Deliver clear, balanced candidate evaluations highlighting strengths, development areas, and potential risks.
• Partner with interview teams to drive consistent candidate calibration and effective selection decisions.
• Deliver an exceptional candidate experience while building long-term relationships with executive talent.
• Develop deep knowledge of executive talent markets across G&A functions and relevant industries.
• Partner with Global Talent Sourcing to execute targeted market mapping, competitive research, and candidate identification strategies.
• Provide actionable insights on talent availability, organizational structures, compensation trends, and competitive hiring practices.
• Leverage recruiting technology, research tools, and analytics to improve sourcing effectiveness, candidate engagement, and search outcomes.
• Execute searches using established executive recruiting processes, assessment methodologies, tools, and templates.
• Maintain accurate, timely candidate and pipeline information in applicant tracking and recruiting systems.
• Track and communicate search metrics, including pipeline health, candidate conversion, search velocity, and hiring outcomes.
• Identify opportunities to improve recruiting efficiency, assessment quality, and stakeholder and candidate experience.
• Contribute executive search expertise and best practices to strengthen team processes and execution.
• Collaborate with Talent Sourcing, Recruiting Operations, Total Rewards, PX, and business stakeholders to achieve shared hiring objectives.
• Integrate AI and automation into recruiting workflows to improve speed, quality, and effectiveness throughout the executive search lifecycle.
• Apply AI to talent research, market mapping, sourcing strategy, intake preparation, candidate engagement, interview preparation, and recruiting analytics.
• Identify repetitive or low-value activities that can be automated, creating more capacity for strategic partnership, candidate relationships, and assessment.
• Experiment with emerging AI tools, evaluate their impact, and share successful practices across Talent Acquisition.
• Exercise sound judgment regarding where human expertise, discretion, relationship-building, and decision-making remain essential.
• Build trusted, collaborative relationships across Talent Acquisition, People Experience, Total Rewards, and business leadership.
• Share market intelligence, candidate insights, and executive search best practices to strengthen team effectiveness.
• Demonstrate humility, openness to feedback, and respect for diverse perspectives.
• Contribute to broader recruiting priorities while maintaining ownership and accountability for assigned searches.
• Build trusted executive partnerships and drive results.

Skills

Executive recruiting

Senior leadership search

Stakeholder management

Market mapping

Assessment & interviewing

Talent intelligence

AI in recruiting

Communication & negotiation

Global/matrix experience

Aerospace/defense tech

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent relevant professional experience

Tools

Applicant Tracking Systems

CRM platforms

Recruiting analytics tools

Job description

Shield AI is seeking a Senior Executive Recruiter to own complex senior leadership searches across key corporate functions. You will partner with senior leaders and PX Business Partners to define requirements, map markets, and drive hiring milestones, delivering high-quality hires in a fast-growing defense-tech environment.

You will leverage AI and analytics to enhance sourcing, assessments, and candidate experience while building robust executive pipelines and providing strategic advice to