Founding Recruiter

ABOUT US We're living through a fundamental shift in how people discover, evaluate, and purchase products. The next generation doesn't respond to traditional marketing -- they build relationships with brands through authentic social interactions, seek recommendations from communities they trust, and expect personalized experiences that feel human, not corporate. At Nectar Social, we're building the AI-native social operating system that enables this new era of commerce. We believe every social interaction should deepen the relationship between brands and their communities while creating genuine value for both sides. Founded by ex-Meta product and engineering leaders, we've raised over $30M in total capital from investors including GV and True Ventures. We work with brands like Oura Health, Caraway, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Kosas, OLIPOP, and many more. We're building the future of social commerce -- where community, conversation, and commerce converge. THE ROLE We're looking for a Founding Recruiter to build and scale the recruiting function at Nectar from the ground up. In this role, you'll own the hiring strategy, recruiting processes, and candidate experience that will define how we attract and hire world-class talent. You'll partner closely with founders and functional leaders to identify top candidates across engineering, product, go-to-market, and operations, while building the systems and playbooks that allow recruiting to scale as the company grows. WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING - Partner with founders and leadership to translate company goals into a clear hiring roadmap and prioritized headcount plan - Build and scale the recruiting engine, including structured interview processes, hiring frameworks, and decision-making systems - Own full-cycle recruiting across technical and non-technical roles including engineering, product, GTM, and operations - Source, engage, and close exceptional candidates through outbound outreach, referrals, communities, and creative sourcing strategies - Establish recruiting metrics and dashboards to track pipeline health, time-to-hire, and quality of hire - Deliver an exceptional candidate experience from first outreach through onboarding - Partner with marketing and leadership to strengthen Nectar’s employer brand and talent narrative - Train and enable hiring managers with interview frameworks, calibration processes, and hiring playbooks - Manage external recruiting partners and agencies when necessary while maintaining a strong in-house sourcing strategy WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR - 5–7+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, ideally in early-stage startups or fast-growing technology companies - Proven ability to identify, engage, and close exceptional candidates across technical and non-technical roles - Experience building recruiting processes that balance speed, creativity, and operational rigor - Strong prioritization skills and a bias toward action in fast-moving environments - High talent bar with strong judgment around culture add, role fit, and long-term potential - Comfort working closely with founders and leadership teams in high-ownership roles - Startup mindset: resourceful, adaptable, low ego, and comfortable operating in ambiguity - Willingness to collaborate in person with the team in Palo Alto BONUS POINTS - Experience building recruiting functions from 0 to 1 at an early-stage startup - Strong network within engineering, product, or GTM talent ecosystems - Experience building employer brand programs or talent marketing initiatives - Familiarity with modern recruiting analytics, sourcing tools, or talent intelligence platforms WHAT WE OFFER - Competitive compensation and early equity - Health, vision, and dental benefits + 401(k) match - Clear career growth opportunities as the company scales - Free lunch in the heart of University Ave. in Palo Alto - Deep exposure to cutting-edge AI tooling and the opportunity to shape how brands use it - A collaborative, ambitious team defining a new c