Head of Talent & Hiring

Matter Intelligence
San Francisco, CA
On-siteCareer-pivot friendly

Who this role is best for

Strong fit for experienced talent leaders who build recruiting strategies for technical teams in high-growth environments and have a background in aerospace or defense.

Best fit for

  • Experienced talent leaders with a background in aerospace or defense
    — “Experience hiring across aerospace, hardware, software, AI, defense, or scientific disciplines”
  • Candidates who have built scalable people processes at early-stage companies
    — “Experience building recruiting operations and people processes at an early-stage company”
  • Individuals who can translate hiring plans into consistent execution
    — “Partner with executives and hiring managers to translate the hiring plan into consistently excellent execution.”

Things to consider

  • Onsite work in San Francisco is mandatory for this role
    — “This role is based in San Francisco, CA, and requires onsite work.”
  • Candidates must meet U.S. export regulations for eligibility
    — “To comply with U.S. export regulations, applicants must be one of the following:”

How to stand out

  • Highlight experience in building scalable recruiting processes for technical teams
    — “Build scalable people processes while keeping the function practical for an early-stage company.”
  • Emphasize track record of partnering with executives on hiring decisions
    — “Track record partnering closely with executives and hiring managers on role definition and hiring decisions.”
  • Demonstrate ability to improve candidate experience and employer narrative
    — “Strengthen candidate experience, employer narrative, offer processes, onboarding handoffs, and recruiting systems.”
Pace · SteadyCollaboration · HighAutonomy · HighDecision Impact · Team

Derived from job-description analysis by Serendipath's career intelligence engine.

What success looks like

  • building a robust recruiting function
  • partnering with executives on hiring decisions
  • improving candidate experience
Typical background
recruitingtalent acquisitionpeople operations

Skills & requirements

Required

RecruitingTalent AcquisitionPeople OperationsLeadership

Preferred

Employer BrandingStructured Interviewing

Stack & domain

RecruitingTalent AcquisitionPeople OperationsLeadershipCommunicationProblem-solvingTechnologyAI

About the role

Original posting from Matter Intelligence via Ashby

ABOUT MATTER INTELLIGENCE

Welcome to Matter, where we are building the future of vision AI: pairing a world-first sensor that sees molecular chemistry, temperature, and 3D shape with a Large World Model that will be the most powerful intelligence engine for the physical world. This system doesn't just see what something looks like; it understands everything from a single pixel. We call this Superintelligent Vision.

Our team has delivered technologies to Mars for NASA/JPL, designed advanced sensors for U.S. Defense, and built core infrastructure at OpenAI. We are now building the next generation of space- and airborne-based sensing systems.

ABOUT THE ROLE

Matter is hiring a Head of Talent and Hiring to build a rigorous, candidate-centered recruiting and people operations function for a fast-growing technical team. This leader will partner with executives and hiring managers to translate the hiring plan into consistently excellent execution.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Own recruiting strategy and execution across technical, operational, and leadership roles.
  • Partner with hiring managers to define roles, build interview plans, calibrate evaluation, and maintain decision quality.
  • Create a reliable operating cadence for sourcing, pipeline management, candidate communication, and hiring metrics.
  • Strengthen candidate experience, employer narrative, offer processes, onboarding handoffs, and recruiting systems.
  • Build scalable people processes while keeping the function practical for an early-stage company.

QUALIFICATIONS

REQUIRED

  • Experience leading recruiting or talent acquisition for high-growth, technically demanding teams.
  • Track record partnering closely with executives and hiring managers on role definition and hiring decisions.
  • Strong operational discipline across recruiting systems, processes, metrics, and candidate communication.
  • Sound judgment, discretion, and the ability to balance speed with a high quality bar.

PREFERRED

  • Experience hiring across aerospace, hardware, software, AI, defense, or scientific disciplines.
  • Experience building recruiting operations and people processes at an early-stage company.
  • Experience developing employer branding, sourcing programs, and structured interviewing practices.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

  • Priority roles have clear profiles, accountable hiring teams, and healthy pipelines.
  • Candidates receive timely, consistent communication and a strong view of Matter's mission and standards.
  • Hiring managers use repeatable processes and evidence to make faster, better-calibrated decisions.

LOCATION

This role is based in San Francisco, CA, and requires onsite work.

ITAR REQUIREMENTS

To comply with U.S. export regulations, applicants must be one of the following:

  • A U.S. citizen or national
  • A lawful permanent resident (green card holder)
  • Eligible to obtain required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State

EMPLOYEE OFFERINGS AND BENEFITS

At Matter, we believe in rewarding high performance and providing the support you need to thrive. Our compensation and benefits package includes:

  • Competitive compensation based on experience
  • Early-stage equity package
  • 100% employer-paid health, dental, and vision coverage
  • Opportunity to work on novel sensing, data, and AI systems with real-world deployment paths to the largest industries in the world

Matter Intelligence is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome candidates from all backgrounds who can raise the ambition and performance of the team.

Source: Matter Intelligence careers (Ashby)

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