Head of Talent

Why We're Hiring

We're scaling our team 4x over the next year and need a talent leader to build a world class recruiting and people function. We have the basics in place (ATS, HRIS, benefits), but we need someone who can build strategic HR infrastructure, shape our culture, and partner with leadership on talent decisions.

The Role

You'll be our first dedicated people leader, evolving our people function from foundational to strategic. You'll own everything from our sourcing and interview process, performance management to compensation frameworks, and employee relations to culture initiatives. You report to the CEO and partner closely with leadership on all people decisions.

What You'll Do

• Manage our recruiting team and partner with leadership on hiring strategy and process improvements
• Own and be responsible for building a recruiting machine that attracts the best talent across engineering, product, GTM, deployments, and operations.
• Build and own our people strategy - performance management, compensation, employee development, and culture
• Partner with leadership on organizational design, headcount planning, and talent decisions
• Evolve HR infrastructure - refine policies, ensure compliance, optimize benefits programs
• Design and implement performance management frameworks - goal-setting, reviews, promotion cycles, career development
• Lead compensation strategy - maintain equitable pay bands, manage equity grants, conduct market benchmarking
• Drive culture and engagement initiatives - team events, values definition, employee feedback loops, DEI programs
• Ensure compliance with employment laws and regulations across all locations

Must-haves

• 5-8+ years in People/HR roles at high-growth startups, with at least 2 years in leadership
• Experience scaling people functions at early-stage companies (50-200 employees)
• Track record designing and implementing people processes (performance management, compensation, onboarding, career frameworks)
• Business partner mentality - you advise leadership on strategic decisions, not just execute HR tasks
• AI Native. Strong experience working with Claude Code, Cursor, etc to build sourcing agents.
• Strong coaching skills - you develop managers and help them navigate people challenges
• Comfort with ambiguity - you build infrastructure without waiting for perfect clarity
• Excellent judgment on sensitive employee matters

Nice to Have

• Experience in fintech, lending, or regulated industries
• Background in AI/ML or technical product companies
• Previous experience scaling a company through hyper-growth (20>200+ employees)
• Knowledge of multi-state employment compliance

Additional information

At Kastle, we’re building at the edge of AI - fast, focused, and with real ownership. Sprints and major launches move quickly, and we look for people who are energized by that pace. Our team typically works around 70 hours per week, beginning at 8:00 AM, with five days spent collaborating in person at our San Francisco office.

Pay and benefits

We also offer a benefits package designed to support our full-time employees: medical, dental, and vision coverage, a 401(k), and catered lunches and dinners.