Talent Lead

About the role

You will own the end-to-end recruitment lifecycle for Squint's most critical roles, shaping how we attract, assess, and hire builders who will define our next chapter of growth. This position is a rare blend of hands-on execution and strategic design, where you will craft the day-to-day experience of candidates as much as the long-term architecture of our talent systems. You will establish the repeatable processes and quality bars that allow Squint to scale its hiring without losing the intimacy and speed that define our culture. You will be the primary point of contact for founders and executives, advising them on hiring strategy and ensuring that every role we open aligns with our mission to accelerate human potential. Ultimately, this role will build the foundation of Squint's people engine, ensuring that we can bring the right talent into the business at the pace required by our Industrial AI ambitions.

Key facts

What you'll do

• Run full-cycle recruiting for priority roles across Engineering, GTM, and beyond, owning sourcing, screening, and closing with hands-on execution.
• Stand up the core machinery of our hiring process, including ATS configuration, scorecard design, and interview training for hiring managers.
• Translate ambiguous headcount plans into clear hiring strategies, defining success criteria and calibrated bars for each role we open.
• Partner directly with founders and executives to advise on role design, market realities, and competitive positioning for key hires.
• Build and maintain the employer brand story that makes Squint a destination for top talent, refining our message on LinkedIn, at events, and in every recruiting conversation.
• Create metrics and dashboards that give visibility into pipeline health, time-to-hire, and quality of hire, enabling data-driven decisions.
• Extend into People Ops where it makes sense, collaborating on onboarding, early performance processes, and systems that support new hires.
• Coach interviewers on best practices and consistency, ensuring every candidate experiences a fair, rigorous, and respectful process.
• Maintain a living map of our hiring needs and priorities, anticipating future demands and adjusting plans accordingly.
• Champion the candidate experience at every touchpoint, ensuring speed, clarity, and empathy from first contact to offer.
• Leverage modern recruiting and ATS tooling such as Ashby or Greenhouse to automate workflows and improve efficiency.
• Build relationships with diverse talent communities and networks, expanding our reach into the broader market.

Requirements

• You have built a recruiting function before, not merely staffed roles within an existing function.
• You move fast while maintaining high standards for candidate experience and hiring rigor.
• You are comfortable partnering directly with founders and executives on their most important, high-stakes hires.
• You thrive in ambiguity and enjoy creating process and structure where none exists yet.
• You bring 6+ years of recruiting experience, including experience building or scaling a recruiting function at a high-growth startup.
• You have a track record of full-cycle recruiting across both technical and go-to-market roles.
• You demonstrate strong stakeholder management skills, including experience partnering with senior leaders and influencing without authority.
• You are familiar with modern recruiting and ATS tooling such as Ashby, Greenhouse, or similar platforms.
• You are based in or willing to relocate to San Francisco, where our office is located.
• You are eligible to work in the United States without sponsorship at this time.

Nice to have

• Experience working in an Industrial AI or manufacturing-focused environment.
• Background in startups that have scaled from early-stage to Series B or beyond.
• Familiarity with competency-based interview frameworks and structured scoring methodologies.
• Knowledge of learning management systems or enablement platforms used for onboarding.

Practical notes

This role is based in our San Francisco office and requires in-person collaboration. The position is full-time with standard business hours aligned with the team. We do not currently offer visa sponsorship for this role.