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 recently raised $10.6M in funding co-led by GV (Google Ventures) and True Ventures. We're building the future of social commerce—where community, conversation, and commerce converge.
The Role
As Nectar Social’s Founding Recruiter, you’ll have the rare opportunity to own our entire recruiting function from 0 to 1. You’ll help define how we hire, who we bring on board, and the systems that will scale as we grow.
This is a high impact role reporting to the Head of Operations and partnering directly with the founders. You’ll shape our talent strategy, build our employer brand, and hire world-class builders who will define Nectar Social’s trajectory.
What you’ll be doing
Own the hiring plan: Partner with the founders and functional leaders to translate business goals into a clear headcount plan, role definitions, and hiring priorities.
Build the recruiting engine: Design scalable recruiting processes including, structured interview loops, and decision-making processes that consistently raise our talent bar. Implement data-driven dashboards to track pipeline health, time-to-hire, and quality of hire.
Source, engage, and close top talent: Own full-cycle searches across engineering, product, GTM, and operations. You bring a track record of generating strong pipelines and closing exceptional talent.
Use creative, data-driven sourcing: Experiment with channels (outbound, communities, events, referrals, content) and use data to prioritize what works. Maintain a high-quality, high-velocity pipeline for priority roles.
Elevate the hiring experience: Drive a best-in-class candidate experience from first touch through offer and onboarding.
Build our talent brand: Partner with marketing and the founders to tell our story in the market—through content, events, communities, and candidate touchpoints. Turn our employees into magnetically attractive ambassadors for talent.
Coach and enable hiring managers: Train the team on structured interviews, calibration, and closing; build playbooks and templates that make it easier for leaders to hire well.
Be thoughtful about agencies: Own the strategy for when/if we use external partners and how to manage them when we do, with a bias toward strong in-house sourcing.
What We’re Looking for
5 - 7+ years of full-cycle recruiting, ideally with experience in early stage startups or a fast growing tech environment.
Proven ability to identify, engage, and close exceptional candidates across technical and non-technical roles
Track record of building recruiting processes that balance creativity, speed, and operational rigor.
Strong prioritization skills and a bias toward action. You move quickly and deliver meaningful results.
High talent bar with sharp judgment around culture add, role fit, and long-term potential.
Energized by in-person collaboration with the team in Palo Alto.
Startup DNA: resourceful, adaptable, low ego, and comfortable operating in ambiguity
What success looks like in your first 12 months
A clear, documented hiring plan and recruiting operating model that the leadership team trusts.
Our priority 2026 roles filled with high-caliber, culture-add talent, with a strong mix of sourced and referred candidates.
Consistently strong candidate feedback about the process and experience.
What We Offer
Competitive compensation and early equity
Health, vision, and dental benefits + 401(k) match
A hybrid team based in Palo Alto with flexibility for in-office collaboration
Deep exposure to cutting-edge AI tooling and the opportunity to shape its application inside brand teams
A collaborative, ambitious team defining a new category of AI-native marketing infrastructure
Nectar Social is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion