Founding Recruiter

About Us

Great Sky is a technology startup with a mission to rebuild AI from first principles. We are pursuing neuroscience-inspired hardware and algorithms that overcome the greatest challenges in scaling AI systems. Learn more at greatsky.ai.

Job Overview

This is Great Sky's first dedicated recruiting hire. You'll own talent acquisition across the company — building the function from scratch while running full-cycle searches across some of the most specialized technical disciplines in deep tech.

The majority of our hiring is highly technical: photonics, superconducting electronics, systems integration, AI/ML, and fabrication. These are rare skill sets, and finding the right people requires genuine curiosity about the science, the patience to build relationships in small communities, and the judgment to assess candidates who don't follow a standard career path.

You'll also support hiring on the business side (e.g., commercial strategy, finance, operations, and communications) as the company builds out the functions needed to take its technology to market.

This role reports to the Chief of Staff and is based in Boulder, CO or Palo Alto, CA

What You’ll Do

• Own searches end-to-end from intake and job description through sourcing, screening, interview coordination, offer, and close
• Partner closely with hiring managers and company leaders to understand role requirements, team context, hiring strategies, interview plans, and what great actually looks like for each role
• Build and execute sourcing strategies for highly specialized and business roles for current and future hiring needs
• Coordinate interview scheduling, onsite visits, candidate travel, and hiring logistics
• Serve as the primary point of contact for candidates throughout the interview process and deliver an exceptional candidate experience
• Coordinate interview scheduling, onsite visits, candidate travel, and hiring logistics
• Build and maintain scalable recruiting programs and processes (e.g., ATS setup, pipeline tracking, interview process documentation, candidate experience standards) to support the company's long term growth.
• Continuously improve recruiting operations, candidate experience, and hiring efficiency through AI processes, market intelligence, and routine retrospectives

What We're Looking For

• 5+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, with a track record of closing hard-to-fill technical roles, including deep tech (e.g., hardware, semiconductors, quantum, photonics)
• Strong sourcing skills, especially for candidates with specialized expertise
• Genuine intellectual curiosity about the science and technology behind what you're hiring for
• Comfort managing multiple searches simultaneously in a fast-moving, resource-constrained environment
• Strong judgment to assess candidate fit honestly and help hiring managers do the same
• Builder mentality: comfortable with ambiguity, excited to create structure where none exists, and don't need a playbook to get started
• Excellent communication, organization, and stakeholder management skills.
• AI-native in your workflow

Nice to have

• Familiarity with government, national lab, or academic talent pipelines
• Experience building a recruiting function from scratch at startup company

Benefits & Perks

• Competitive compensation package (base salary $150K-$185K)
• Equity in our rapidly growing company
• Health, dental, vision, and life insurance options
• Flexible PTO
• Support for learning and conferences
• Collaborative, high-ownership environment in Boulder, CO or Palo Alto, CO

How to Apply

Send your resume and a cover letter to [email protected] with "Founding Recruiter" in the subject line (don’t worry - we’re in process of getting an ATS up and running before you start). In your cover letter, tell us about the two or three best hires you've made in the last two years. For each: who were they (include a LinkedIn link), why were they a great hire, and what did they do for the company?