Head of Recruiting

About the role

Cardless is looking for a Head of Talent to build and lead its recruiting function. The role reports to the Chief Operating Officer and works closely with founders. Leadership is expected to remain deeply involved in hiring because the company views talent acquisition as its highest-use activity. At this stage, each hire made over the next year can alter the business trajectory. The company seeks a person who understands this responsibility. This position is the first full-time recruiting hire on the team, tasked with establishing a foundation where none previously existed at scale. You will shape the function according to your personal vision while building on existing momentum and owning the entire hiring plan from start to finish.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Lead full-cycle recruiting for all departments, with an immediate focus on engineering, operations, and go-to-market roles using unconventional methods to attract out-of-the-box results.
• Create the recruiting function, including hiring plans, processes, tools, employer brand, and candidate experience while refining systems that already exist.
• Build and lead a lean recruiting team that scales thoughtfully with demand, emphasizing efficiency, strong processes, and clear accountability over simple headcount growth.
• Partner with hiring managers to define roles, evaluate candidates, and move offers to closure in a market where competition for strong people is fierce.
• Act as a closer who completes extraordinary actions on a regular basis to secure candidates and ensure the talent pipeline remains robust.
• Work at high speed to meet aggressive hiring goals while managing multiple concurrent searches without losing focus on quality.
• Be based in San Francisco and willing to work in the office five days per week to maintain the in-office arrangement that the company expects.
• Own the sourcing, closing, and team-building responsibilities that come with creating a recruiting function from the ground up.
• Ensure that the function operates with speed and that individuals take outsized ownership, aligning with the company's values of curiosity, humility, and intensity.
• Navigate the early-stage environment where the role involves building systems from the ground up rather than refining existing structures.
• Function as a hands-on contributor who remains immersed in daily work rather than managing from a distance, actively participating in the hiring process.
• Drive the creation of a strong employer brand and candidate experience that reflects the company's mission to engage customers through innovative card programs.

Requirements

• Bring at least five years of recruiting experience from technology companies, with substantial exposure to engineering roles and a deep understanding of the sector.
• Have experience building or significantly expanding a recruiting function, or be a senior individual contributor prepared to own this role end-to-end with full responsibility.
• Remain hands-on and immersed in daily work rather than managing from afar, ensuring direct involvement in every stage of the hiring process.
• Hold a high standard for talent and refuse to accept subpar performance under any circumstances.
• Function as a creative closer who discovers new ways to succeed when standard approaches fail and unconventional thinking is required.
• Stay organized and work quickly while managing multiple concurrent searches across various departments.
• Be based in San Francisco and willing to work in the office five days per week to align with the company's operational needs.
• Thrive in an environment that lacks a detailed playbook or daily check-ins, requiring self-direction and accountability.
• Demonstrate the ability to push personal limits and handle an intense pace while working on ambitious goals that can alter the business trajectory.
• Understand that success requires navigating an early-stage organization serving hundreds of thousands of customers with approximately forty team members.

Practical notes

The company expects in-office work five days each week. This arrangement is not suitable for everyone, and that is acceptable, so candidates must be prepared to commit to this schedule. Cardless is an early-stage organization with about forty people serving hundreds of thousands of customers, meaning the role involves building systems from the ground up, not refining systems that already exist. Individuals who require structured guidance handed to them will not find the right environment here, as the position demands a high degree of autonomy. Success requires pushing personal limits, and the company does not provide a detailed playbook or daily check-ins to monitor progress, so candidates must create their own direction and hold themselves accountable. The pace is intense and the role is hands-on, with the company having ambitious goals and a significant amount of work to complete, including building a team primarily to increase use rather than shift into full-time management. Candidates will source and close candidates themselves rather than only managing others or overseeing processes from a distance, ensuring direct involvement in the recruitment lifecycle. The company expects unconventional thinking, and if the idea of closing a candidate involves only a phone call and an email, this role is not a match; the organization seeks individuals who use out-of-the-box methods to attract out-of-the-box results, both in hiring and across business operations.