Talent Partner

OpenKrill; United States; On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Pogo is hiring its first Talent Partner to help build the People function as the company scales. You’ll own end-to-end recruiting across engineering, design, GTM, and other business functions while also taking ownership of People programs and systems that support the broader team.

This is a great fit for someone who loves recruiting and wants to broaden into People Ops, learning how to build a People function at a startup.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years of full-cycle recruiting experience, preferably in a fast-growing startup or high-ownership environment.
• Experience recruiting across engineering, design, GTM and other business functions.
• Interest in building a People function from an early stage and expanding scope over time.
• Strong communication and ability to represent the company well to candidates and managers.

Responsibilities

• Own full-cycle recruiting across all functions.
• Partner with hiring managers to define roles, candidate profiles, and interview processes.
• Build sourcing strategies and pipelines for recurring roles.
• Drive candidate experience from first contact to offer and close, and help build People programs and systems.

Skills

Full-cycle recruiting

Sourcing strategies

Interviewing

Stakeholder management

People ops basics

Job description

ABOUT YOUR ROLE

We’re hiring our first Talent Partner to help us build an exceptional team and the foundations of our People function as Pogo scales.

You’ll own recruiting across the company, running searches end-to-end across engineering, design, GTM, and other business functions. As hiring needs ebb and flow, you’ll also take ownership of the People programs and systems that support the broader team.

This is a great fit for someone who loves recruiting but also wants to broaden into People Ops and learn how to build a People function at a startup.

Specifically, you will:

• Own full-cycle recruiting across all functions.
• Partner with hiring managers to define roles, ideal candidate profiles, and interview processes.
• Build sourcing strategies with our in‑house sourcer and develop pipelines for recurring roles.
• Conduct initial interviews, manage the candidate experience, and drive searches from first conversation through offer and close.
• Build and improve the recruiting systems, workflows, and metrics we need as the company grows.
• Own key People programs, including onboarding, performance reviews, employee experience, offsites, and internal HR policies.
• Over time, help build programs like co‑ops/internships, new grad recruiting, employee referrals, and other long‑term talent pipelines.

ABOUT YOU

• You have 3–5 years of full-cycle recruiting experience, ideally at a fast‑growing startup or similarly high‑ownership environment.
• You’ve recruited across multiple functions and are comfortable moving between engineering, design, GTM, and other business roles.
• You’re excited by the opportunity to help build a People function from an early stage and grow your scope over time.
• You have strong judgment about people and can quickly learn what “great” looks like in an unfamiliar function.
• You’re a strong communicator who can represent Pogo well to candidates and partner effectively with hiring managers.
• You’re highly organized and comfortable building systems where none exist.
• Bonus: You’ve been an early Talent hire at a startup before and have built recruiting or People systems and processes from scratch. You enjoy building systems with AI.

WHY YOU MIGHT BE EXCITED ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY

• Build the People function from the ground up. As our first in‑house People hire, you’ll help define how Pogo hires, onboards, develops, and supports people as we scale.
• Recruit across the entire company. You’ll work on everything from engineering and design to sales, marketing, and operations, giving you exposure to how every part of a fast‑growing startup gets built.
• Grow beyond recruiting. Recruiting will be a core part of the role, but not the ceiling. You’ll build experience across onboarding, performance reviews, People systems, and employee experience — with a path toward broader People leadership as Pogo grows.
• Work directly with the people building the company. You’ll partner closely with founders and functional leaders on some of Pogo’s most important hiring and People decisions, rather than operating several layers removed from the business.

WHY YOU MIGHT NOT BE EXCITED ABOUT US

• Priorities may shift quickly. Hiring needs can change fast, and the People programs that matter most will evolve as the company grows. You should be comfortable balancing immediate recruiting needs with longer‑term work across onboarding, performance, policies, and employee experience.
• This is an individual contributor role. You’ll be expected to be hands‑on — running first calls, driving searches, partnering with hiring managers, and building People programs yourself. If you’re looking for a role where you primarily design systems or manage a recruiting/People team to execute the work, this probably won’t be the right fit.
• We expect more than 9 to 5. Raw hours make an impact at our current stage. That said, we trust each team member to create a flexible schedule that allows them to be most productive while accommodating priorities outside of work. We also strongly encourage time off: in addition to unlimited PTO, we have a minimum 20‑day vacation policy.