Founding RecruiterLocation: San Francisco, CA (in-office). Local candidates only.
The RoleThis is a rare chance to build the talent function at CAIS from scratch. As our Founding Recruiter, you'll be the driving force behind who joins CAIS, running the full arc from first outreach to signed offer across research, engineering, policy, and operations roles that shape where AI safety work goes next. You won't be handed a playbook and asked to run it; you'll decide what good hiring looks like here and build the muscle behind it as we grow.
You'll work in close, direct partnership with our Leaders and hiring managers, with real trust and autonomy in how you source, screen, and close candidates. If what excites you is building something that scales, rather than managing headcount for its own sake, this role is built for you.
We're looking for someone all-in: full-time, high-leverage, and genuinely excited to grow alongside us.
What You'll Do- Own the full recruiting lifecycle for CAIS's open roles: sourcing, outreach, screening, interview coordination, offer negotiation, and close.
- Build sourcing strategies and pipelines from scratch for hard-to-fill technical, research, and policy roles, rather than relying solely on inbound applicants.
- Design and continuously improve our interview process: structured rubrics, scorecards, and calibration so hiring decisions are consistent and defensible as we scale.
- Set up the recruiting infrastructure underneath it all: ATS configuration, sourcing tools, and reporting so we always know where every req stands.
- Partner directly with leadership and hiring managers to translate ambiguous role needs into clear job descriptions, leveling, and hiring plans.
- Act as the primary point of contact for candidates throughout their process, representing CAIS's mission and culture well in every interaction.
- Develop CAIS's employer brand and sourcing presence, particularly within AI safety, technical research, and adjacent policy communities.
- Partner with the People Operations function on offer construction, compensation benchmarking, and a clean handoff into onboarding.
- Look for opportunities to scale and automate recruiting workflows, including through AI tools, so hiring gets faster and more reliable as volume grows.
- Prioritize exceptionally across concurrent open reqs: not everything can be built or filled at once, and part of the job is knowing what matters most right now.
What We're Looking For- Prior experience building or substantially improving a recruiting function at a scaling organization, ideally a startup, high-growth nonprofit, or research organization.
- Demonstrated ability to design sourcing strategies and hiring processes from scratch, not just operate ones already in place.
- Track record of successfully closing candidates for hard-to-fill or highly technical roles, including passive candidates who weren't actively job-searching.
- Strong judgment on prioritization across multiple open roles at once: able to tell what's urgent, what's important, and what can wait.
- Comfort operating as an individual contributor with high autonomy; this role builds the foundation, it doesn't yet manage a team.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to represent CAIS's mission compellingly to a wide range of candidates.
- Comfort with ATS and sourcing tools (Greenhouse, LinkedIn Recruiter, or similar).
- Track record of using AI tools to streamline sourcing, screening, or scheduling, rather than just adding process to handle volume.
- Able to move at the pace of a fast-scaling, well-funded, early-stage organization: fast decisions, frequent re-prioritization, and high ownership.
- Genuine interest in AI safety and CAIS's mission.
Nice to Have- Experience recruiting for technical or research-heavy organizations (ML research, academic labs, or deep-tech startups).
- Experience building a recruiting function ahead of a hiring ramp, rather than in response to one.
- Startup experience at early-stage (50-150 person) companies.
- Existing network within the AI safety, AI policy, or ML research communities.
Salary Range$135,000 - $165,000 base, depending on experience.
Benefits- Health insurance for you and your dependents
- 401K plan + 4% matching
- Unlimited PTO
- Lunch and dinner at the office
- Annual Professional Development Stipend
- Access to some of the top talent working on technical and conceptual research in AI safety
