Founding Talent Partner

What You’ll Do

• Own the full recruiting life cycle; including sourcing, screening, coordinating interviews, managing offers, and closing candidates across GTM, Engineering, Product, & Operations roles
• Partner directly with the founders and hiring managers to define role requirements, build scorecards, and calibrate on candidate quality
• Build Kick’s recruiting infrastructure from scratch (e.g., applicant tracking, interview processes, structured & automated feedback loops, and employer branding)
• Source proactively through LinkedIn, networks, events, and creative channels
• Track and report on recruiting metrics (pipeline health, time-to-fill, conversion rates) to continuously improve the process
• Be a stellar first impression of Kick for every candidate

Ideal Candidate

• Has 3-6+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, ideally with 1-2 years at a high-growth startup
• Has personally closed hires across GTM & technical roles (not just one or the other)
• Has experience as a AI-Native recruiter, leveraging the newest technologies to find great candidates
• Scrappy and resourceful sourcer who doesn’t wait for inbound applications
• Strong closer who can sell a mission-driven startup to candidates weighing offers from bigger companies
• Highly organized as this role will manage 8-12 open roles at a time
• Excellent judgement on people with an ability to pattern match on quality, not just credentials
• Comfortable building process from scratch rather than inheriting a playbook
• Based in, or willing to relocate to, Palo Alto, CA (4 - 5 days / week in office)

Bonus if you have

• Recruited for Applied-AI and/or FinTech companies in the Bay Area and/or Toronto
• Experience building the recruiting tech & process stack from the ground up

• Hired for Accounting, Bookkeeping, or Financial Services roles
• Worked at a company during the “20 to 100 employees” growth phase
• A network in the Bay Area and/or Toronto startup ecosystem

Partnered with or managed external recruiting agencies.

• Location
• Downtown Palo Alto, in person, 4-5 days per week
• 1 block from the Palo Alto Caltrain Express stop
• Candidates should be based in the Bay Area or open to relocation

What We Offer

• Top-of-market $160,000–$200,000 total compensation + meaningful equity
• Employee-friendly equity (QSBS eligible)

Benefits

100% employer paid medical, dental, and vision benefits:

• Apple laptop/headset, health/commuter stipends
• Daily lunch and unlimited Verve coffee.

• About Company ---