Lead Recruiter

About the role

You will own the entire Talent Acquisition strategy for Proxima Fusion as the company transitions from a lean deep-tech start-up to a large-scale industrial organization. In this build-and-lead role, you will personally close the most critical and hardest-to-fill positions in physics, engineering, and software while simultaneously establishing the systems and team required for manufacturing and operations hiring. You will design and run differentiated hiring approaches for two distinct worlds: high-touch recruitment for scientists and engineers, and high-volume, structured processes for manufacturing technicians and production staff. Your leadership will directly accelerate the path to a working stellarator fusion power plant by ensuring world-class talent can enter every discipline at the pace required. You will stand up the employer brand, sourcing pipelines, and TA metrics that allow the organization to scale its headcount roughly fivefold over the coming years. Ultimately, you will build the muscle and culture of the TA function so that Proxima Fusion can continuously attract and select the people who will turn commercial stellarator fusion energy into reality.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Own the Talent Acquisition strategy end-to-end, translating our hiring plan spanning R&D, engineering, and manufacturing into a concrete, resourced recruiting operation.
• Build, lead, and develop a team of recruiters; decide where to deploy in-house capacity versus agency or RPO support, especially for high-volume manufacturing and shop-floor hiring.
• Design and run hiring approaches for two very different worlds at once: high-touch, highly technical recruiting for scientists and engineers, and higher-velocity, structured recruiting for manufacturing technicians, operators, and production roles.
• Partner directly with the leadership team and hiring managers across engineering, science, and manufacturing to forecast headcount, define role profiles, and build hiring plans tied to facility ramp-up and program milestones.
• Own full-cycle recruitment for the most senior, niche, or business-critical roles yourself, modeling the bar and craft you expect from the team.
• Drive top-of-funnel strategy beyond LinkedIn: build sourcing pipelines, talent communities, and employer brand presence in fusion, deep tech, and advanced manufacturing talent pools across Germany and internationally.
• Together with the team, set up and manage manufacturing-specific hiring channels, including technical schools, apprenticeship pipelines, and local labor markets around our production facilities.
• Own TA metrics and reporting - hire vs headcount ratio, time-to-hire/time-to-fill, pipeline health, quality-of-hire - and use them to continuously improve how we hire.
• Champion an outstanding candidate experience at every touchpoint, from a production technician's first interview to a senior physicist's final panel.
• Own strategic TA projects end-to-end, treating each as a leadership deliverable with clear scope, timeline, and success metrics.
• Lead and develop the TA team, setting individual and team goals, coaching recruiters on outside-of-the-box sourcing strategies and stakeholder management, and creating a culture of ownership where each person runs their own reqs and projects with real autonomy.

Requirements

• You have led and scaled a Talent Acquisition function, ideally building or growing a TA team from a very early stage to an industrial build-up.
• You have direct experience recruiting in both deep-tech or highly technical environments and in high-volume industrial or manufacturing settings.
• You are comfortable operating in a fast-moving, ambiguous, mission-critical environment where priorities can change quickly and problem-solving must be autonomous.
• You have a track record of partnering with executive leadership and hiring managers to forecast needs and design hiring strategies aligned with business objectives.
• You understand full-cycle recruitment, from sourcing and screening to closing offers and onboarding, and you hold yourself and others accountable for quality and timeliness.
• You are fluent in employer branding, sourcing channels, and talent pipeline development, with experience using data to guide decisions and demonstrate impact.
• You have strong written and verbal communication skills and can build trust with candidates, stakeholders, and team members at all levels of an ambitious, mission-driven organization.
• You are based in or willing to relocate to Munich and are able to work full-time in alignment with the company's operating hours and growth trajectory.

Practical notes

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