Founding Talent Recruiter

About the Role

This is a rare founding People hire at a Y Combinator-backed B2B SaaS startup building AI-powered automation for distributors and manufacturers. You'll be the first dedicated People & Talent function — building the hiring engine and People & Culture foundations from day one, in close partnership with the founding team. This is not a coordinator role; it's an opportunity to own full-cycle recruiting across all functions and set the practices that define how this company grows and retains exceptional people.

What You'll Do

• Build the company's hiring engine from scratch — own the full recruiting lifecycle from sourcing through signed offer across GTM, engineering, and operations.
• Design and execute active sourcing pipelines to attract top talent across Europe.
• Develop and run structured interview processes to evaluate candidates for both skills and culture fit.
• Manage candidate communications and ensure a consistently excellent hiring experience.
• Build and own the employer brand, positioning the company as an exciting place to work in Europe.
• Design and implement onboarding experiences so every new hire hits the ground running.
• Define culture and drive employee engagement, feedback loops, and team rituals as the team scales.

What We're Looking For

Must-haves:

• 2–5 years of full-cycle recruiting experience in high-growth environments (VC-backed startups or fast-scaling tech companies), covering engineering, GTM, and operations roles.
• Track record of building or scaling recruiting processes and team culture at different stages of growth.
• Proven ability to identify, engage, and convince early-stage hires who are hard to find.
• Fluent in both English and German (written and spoken).
• Comfortable working in-person in Munich at a high-intensity startup pace.

Nice-to-haves:

• Experience with employer branding and candidate experience marketing in European markets.
• Background in tech or AI domains that aids evaluation of technical candidates.
• Experience using data-driven recruitment metrics and reporting to optimize hiring outcomes.

Location & Work Arrangement

This role is on-site in Munich, Germany. Candidates must be based in or willing to relocate to Munich. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

About the Company

A Y Combinator-backed AI SaaS startup (W25 cohort) in the industrial automation space, serving distributors and manufacturers in sectors such as HVAC, building materials, and electrical. The company automates inside sales workflows — including quote generation, order processing, and voice-based customer interactions — integrating with enterprise ERP systems. The team has raised pre-seed/seed funding and is in active growth mode with early commercial traction.