The OpportunityLiquid AI is hiring fast across the business, and our high-output recruiting team is how we win the talent that defines us. This is a full-cycle role in San Francisco, owning hiring across the full spectrum: engineering and research, product, solutions architecture, GTM, and G&A.
Recruiting here is a highly ambiguous, build-from-scratch environment. We are hiring for most of these roles for the first time, so you will define brand-new roles, build the rubrics, coach stakeholders, and bring in exceptional people. You will run your searches with high agency and minimal supervision, with a manager who will still mentor you.
What We're Looking ForWe need someone who:
- Operates as a talent partner, not just a recruiter: You measure yourself by what is best for the business, not seats filled.
- Builds in ambiguity: You are energized by undefined problems and create structure where there is none.
- Thinks strategically and proactively: You read the data, anticipate where a search will stall, and unblock it before it becomes a problem, rather than reacting after the fact.
- Prioritizes ruthlessly: In a high-noise environment with endless problems to solve, you know exactly where your time creates the most leverage, and you protect it.
- Brings genuine passion for the craft: You are eager to learn and grow. You may not have the full strategic scope on day one, but it is obvious you will get there.
- Runs autonomously, with high agency: You thrive with minimal supervision, while still wanting a manager who will mentor and stretch you.
The Work- Own full-cycle hiring across the spectrum as the in-person anchor in San Francisco, running on-sites and closing senior and executive hires face-to-face.
- Coach stakeholders and partner with senior leaders and the C-suite to define brand-new roles before they kick off.
- Identify the best talent: go beyond LinkedIn and build the evidence for why a candidate is the best, not just available.
- Build rigorous, role-specific evaluation from scratch: define what 'good' looks like, assessing for the attributes and values that predict success, not just skills, and make the process itself a reason candidates want to join.
- Win and close the candidates that matter, and prioritize ruthlessly: sharpen the value proposition, read the data to unblock stalling searches before they become problems, and gather market intel.
- Close the loop on quality and run a clean operation: measure quality of hire and run look-backs, keep Ashby data reportable, document process in Notion, and use AI-enabled workflows to move faster.
Desired ExperienceMust-have:- Proven depth in full-cycle recruiting for research, engineering, or other deeply technical roles, with the seniority to own complex searches end-to-end.
- A track record of winning competitive closes: competing offers, equity education, total-compensation narrative, creative engagement, and in-person closes
- Builder in ambiguity: you have defined roles, rubrics, and evaluation processes from scratch and coached hiring managers, including first-timers
- Strong ATS discipline (Ashby or comparable) plus recruiting-data rigor: structured screens, scorecards, calibrated loops, and accurate, reportable metrics (time-to-fill, pass-through, quality of hire)
- Based in San Francisco and able to work from the office 4+ days per week and host candidate onsites
Nice-to-have:- AI / ML or deep-tech recruiting experience
- Early-stage (seed to Series C) team-building experience, where you helped build the motion rather than execute a mature playbook
- Experience building quality-of-hire and retention loops: onboarding check-ins, hire look-backs, and calibration back into evaluation
- Demonstrated range across product, GTM, G&A, and customer-facing technical roles (or a clear, evidenced ability to flex into them)
What Success Looks Like (Year One)- You own and close a full book across engineering, product, solutions architecture, GTM, and G&A end-to-end
- You run independently, trusted with judgment calls, sustaining hiring quality and pace
- New and ambiguous roles get clear, role-specific rubrics and evaluation loops, and hiring managers are measurably better at hiring because of how you coach them.
- P0 roles close faster, and you have quality-of-hire and look-back loops running that feed back into our evaluation.
What We Offer- Real ownership with a direct mentor and room to grow: Run your searches end to end, and your judgment directly shapes who joins Liquid as we scale.
- Compensation: Competitive base salary with equity in a unicorn-stage company
- Health: We pay 100% of medical, dental, and vision premiums for employees and dependents
- Financial: 401(k) matching up to 4% of base pay
- Time Off: Unlimited PTO plus company-wide Refill Days throughout the year
