Nelo - Lead / Principal RecruiterWhy This Role ExistsNelo is profitable, scaling, and at a stage where every hire matters. $80M in revenue with 60 people means one bad hire is a real problem -- not a statistic. The recruiting function needs to grow into something real, and this is the hire that does it.
The infrastructure is still evolving: pipelines are not fully built, agency reliance is high, and processes are still forming. This is a senior IC seat -- full-cycle ownership, direct access to the founders, and a mandate to build the capability that lets Nelo keep its bar high as the headcount grows.
The role reports to Libby Hauser, Chief of Staff and VP of Operations, who owns the people function and has the authority and context to move fast.
The RoleTitle: Lead / Principal Recruiter
Location: New York City (hybrid -- regular in-office presence required)
Reports to: Libby Hauser, Chief of Staff and VP of Operations
Type: Senior individual contributor -- no direct reports
What you will own:- Full-cycle recruiting across engineering, data, product, design, go-to-market, operations, finance, legal, compliance, and people roles
- Partner with hiring managers to define role scope, success profiles, scorecards, and interview plans
- Build outbound sourcing strategies for difficult and high-priority searches
- Identify and engage passive candidates through targeted market mapping
- Conduct candidate screens and maintain a consistently high bar for quality
- Drive candidate closing: offer positioning, objection handling, references, counteroffer management
- Provide leadership with clear visibility into pipelines, conversion, risks, and hiring forecasts
- Challenge unrealistic specifications; recalibrate searches using market evidence
- Reduce reliance on external agencies by building repeatable internal sourcing capability
- Support recruiting across both New York and Mexico City as needed
- Expand Nelo's brand awareness in the talent market through LinkedIn presence, targeted hosted gatherings, and inclusion in relevant fintech events
What success looks like at 3 months:- Highest-priority searches are fully owned and producing qualified pipeline
- Hiring managers have weekly visibility into progress and pipeline health
- Outbound sourcing is live and producing candidates for at least two active searches
- Agency dependence is already beginning to decline
What success looks like at 6 months:- You own the full recruiting cycle across technical and business functions without significant support
- Interview processes are disciplined, consistent, and candidate-friendly across the board
- Leadership views recruiting as a reliable, high-output function
- A repeatable sourcing playbook exists for Nelo's most common role types
- Nelo's employer brand is more visible in the New York fintech and tech recruiting community
What We Are Looking ForIdeal:- 6-12+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience with meaningful ownership
- Strong experience recruiting technical talent: software engineering, data, ML, product, or design
- Experience recruiting at least one business function: sales, finance, operations, legal, compliance, or people
- Demonstrated success building passive candidate pipelines through outbound sourcing
- Experience at a venture-backed startup or high-growth technology company
- Comfort operating with limited infrastructure, shifting priorities, and evolving role specs
- Strong judgment when assessing candidate quality and market fit
- Credibility with founders, executives, and senior hiring managers
- Track record of closing difficult candidates in competitive markets
- Ability to work regularly from Nelo's New York City office
Plus skills:- Experience in fintech, payments, lending, or consumer finance
- Experience as a founding or early-stage recruiter
- Experience building recruiting processes from the ground up
- Experience supporting teams across the US and Latin America
- Familiarity with the Mexican talent market
- Spanish fluency
Not a fit:- Looking primarily to manage a large recruiting team
- Only focused on recruiting strategy or workforce planning (no longer sources personally)
- Experience only in highly structured companies with strong inbound applicant flow
- Specializes exclusively in executive search, campus recruiting, or high-volume hiring
- Prefers narrowly defined roles with stable priorities and mature infrastructure
Compensation and Details- Compensation: Competitive base salary, performance-based compensation, and equity
- Location: New York City -- hybrid with regular in-office presence
- Employment type: Full-time
Final package reflects experience, scope, and expected impact.
