5+ years of recruiting experience in new-age tech companies or startups, with a focus on building functions from scratch.
Experience in both go-to-market (GTM) and technical/engineering hiring.
Proven ability to build and promote employer branding through innovative outreach and community engagement.
Expertise in filling mid-to-senior and leadership roles, with less emphasis on junior or volume hiring.
Strong capability to work independently and leverage AI tools for efficient recruiting processes.
Comfortable acting as a thought partner to senior leadership with decision-making autonomy.
Basis in the SF Bay Area, adaptable to a hybrid work model.
Responsibilities
Lead Freehand's talent strategy in the US in a dedicated role, collaborating with executives as a strategic partner.
Conduct in-depth market research to inform job definitions and sourcing strategies for talent acquisition.
Prioritize hiring for Freehand's first SF-based engineering/product team, marketing/sales roles, and professional services upgrade.
Establish the US talent function, creating interview processes, scorecards, and clear role definitions.
Develop and communicate Freehand's employer branding and value proposition to attract top talent.
Utilize creative sourcing techniques beyond LinkedIn to find passive candidates in niche communities and events.
Influence company retention and culture by integrating market insights into people policies.
Benefits
Take what you need vacation policy for work-life balance.
Comprehensive health coverage with options for medical, dental, and vision.
Life insurance and disability benefits provided.
Access to Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA).
401(k) plan with a 4% employer match to support long-term savings.
Fully-paid parental leave for new parents.
Full Job Description
What You'll Do
Own Freehand's talent strategy in the US end-to-end as the first dedicated US hire on the team - working directly with the CEO and Co-Founder(s) as a strategic partner, not just executing reqs
Bring market intelligence to every search: research what talent realistically exists, and sharpen JDs and role definitions with hiring managers before sourcing begins
Lead hiring across three priorities: building Freehand's first SF-based engineering/product team, GTM roles (marketing, sales and pre-sales), and upgrading Professional Services/Deployment Strategists to serve Fortune 100 clients
Build the US talent function from scratch - interview process, scorecards, tooling, and a clear definition of "what good looks like" for each role
Own employer branding and Freehand's EVP for a not-yet-known, technical brand, through audience-tailored storytelling, public presence, and community/event engagement
Source creatively beyond LinkedIn - niche communities, events, alternative platforms, AI-assisted sourcing, and referral programs - to reach top 1-2% talent who aren't actively looking
Partner on retention and culture, feeding market intel back into Freehand's people policies so the company stays a place top talent wants to join and stay
Flex hiring pace to the business - senior/leadership searches are the core mandate, with the ability to scale to higher-velocity hiring pushes without lowering the bar
Who You Are
Based in the SF Bay Area, comfortable with a hybrid setup
5+ years recruiting for new-age tech companies/startups, ideally including at least one 0-to-1 experience building a recruiting function from scratch; also open to ex-Sales candidates now running TA/recruiting for AI startups
A recruiting background spanning both GTM and technical/engineering hiring - comfortable enough with technical detail to earn credibility with engineering hiring managers
A demonstrated track record - not just a stated interest - in independently building employer brand, running or attending events, and finding creative ways to reach talent that isn't easily found. Hunger and willingness to build matter more than polish here.
Experience hiring for mid-to-senior and leadership-level roles as the core focus, not a junior or volume-recruiting background
Thrives as a lean, senior IC: builds systems and process from scratch, and leverages AI tools and partners proactively in their work
A true thought partner to leadership - comfortable having a seat at the table, not just executing what's asked
Working at Freehand
Series C, ~100 people across the US and India. Big enough to have infrastructure, small enough that your work is visible. We run on five core operating principles; these are not values-on-a-wall, this is the exact philosophy we built our AI agents on :
Context Before Confidence. We get in, ask (a ton of) questions, connect the dots ourselves and move fast. No passengers, no hand-holding. The amount of confidence you'll have in Week 1 is directly proportional to the context strive to gain.
Decisions, not Recommendations. Freehand folks decide, they don't present options. You'll have real autonomy, and real accountability to match.
High Agency, High Trust. We won't manage you closely or ask you to escalate every call. Act, share your reasoning, and course-correct when needed. That's the contract.
Accountability is the Product. When something goes wrong - and it will - we name it, learn from it, and move on. No politics, no cover. Just fix it.
The Work That Remains is the Work That Matters. We actively cut low-value work. What lands on your plate is there because it matters - and can only be done by you.
It's a small world. Freehand employees Work Anywhere across the globe (we're remote & travel-first). We also cover your monthly home-internet costs. Every quarter, we arrange for a fully-paid trip to one of our Office Hubs to meet & interact with cross-functional teams.
In addition, we proudly offer the following Benefits to all our full-time employees:
Take what you need Vacation Policy
Full health coverage (with multiple gold-standard carriers across medical, dental & vision)
