Talent Partner, Technical

Modal Labs; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Modal builds infrastructure for AI workloads; as the first dedicated technical recruiter on the Talent team, you’ll own engineering and AI/ML searches end-to-end and work with Head of Talent, founders, and technical leads to shape hiring.

You’ll run full-cycle recruiting, partner with leaders to define what great looks like, set hiring bars, create top-of-funnel strategies with the community, and ensure a fast, honest, inclusive candidate experience.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise recruiting for engineering and AI/ML roles.
• Curious and asks questions to understand how things work.
• Honest, insightful influence rather than loudness.
• Fast, clear communication even in messy situations.
• Strong closer who builds trust early and sustains momentum.

Responsibilities

• Run full-cycle recruiting for engineering and AI/ML roles.
• Partner with technical leaders to define what great looks like.
• Help set our technical hiring bar and evaluation criteria.
• Execute top-of-funnel strategies to engage experienced engineers.
• Deliver a fast, respectful candidate experience.
• Apply an equity lens at every stage.
• Use data and market context to keep searches on track.
• Support candidates through high-stakes decisions.

Skills

Technical recruiting

Engineering & AI/ML hiring

Stakeholder communication

Closing candidates

People-first approach

Job description

About Us:

AI needs a new infrastructure layer. We're building it at Modal.

Every era of computing brought new workloads that previous infrastructure couldn't support: mainframes, databases, and the cloud. Each time, the company that rebuilt the layer underneath defined the decade. AI is no different, except it touches everything instead of one slice, and the window to build the layer underneath it is open right now.

Our customers include category-defining companies like Lovable, Ramp, Cognition, DoorDash, and Suno. They rely on Modal for instant GPU access, sub-second container starts, and native storage, so it's simple to serve low-latency inference, fine-tune models, and access production-ready sandboxes at scale.

We recently raised a $355M Series C at a $4.65B valuation, led by General Catalyst and Redpoint Ventures. We've crossed $300M+ ARR and grown fivefold since September.

Our team includes creators of popular open-source projects (e.g.,Seaborn,Luigi), academic researchers, international olympiad medalists, and experienced engineering and product leaders with decades of experience.

The Role:

Modal builds the infrastructure that lets engineers run AI workloads without the usual pain. To do this well, we need exceptional people – and that’s where you come in.

As the first dedicated technical recruiter on our Talent team, you’ll own engineering and AI/ML searches end-to-end. You’ll work closely with our Head of Talent, founders, and technical leads to shape how we hire and help bring in the people who will define what Modal becomes.

What you’ll do:

• Run full-cycle recruiting for engineering and AI/ML roles (sourcing, pitching, guiding interviews, and closing candidates)

• Partner with technical leaders to understand the real work and calibrate on what great looks like

• Help set our technical hiring bar and how we evaluate talent

• Execute creative top-of-funnel strategies that resonate with a strong community of talented, experienced engineers

• Deliver a fast, respectful, honest candidate experience

• Bring an equity lens to every stage of the process

• Use data and market context to keep searches on track and expectations aligned

• Support candidates as a trusted guide through high-stakes decisions

Requirements:

• You know technical recruiting inside and out and enjoy the challenge of deeply technical roles

• You’re curious – you ask the right questions and love understanding how things actually work

• You influence with insight and honesty, not by simply having the loudest voice in the room

• You move quickly and communicate clearly, even when things get messy

• You’re a strong closer who builds trust early and stays ahead of concerns

• You’re steady when priorities shift and can recalibrate without losing momentum

• You care about people and want them to have a thoughtful, fair, and human experience throughout the process