Role overview

UniversalAGI is building foundation models that apply AI to physics-based engineering simulation, a sector where traditional software tools remain decades behind. As Manager of Recruiting, you will lead the talent function for this 25-person team of researchers and engineers in San Francisco, reporting directly to the CEO and founding team. This is a full ownership opportunity to build and scale recruiting from the ground up at a company moving rapidly toward real-world deployments with major industrial and defense organizations.

Key responsibilities

Lead, coach, and grow a team of technical and non-technical recruiters, sourcers, and recruiting coordinators while maintaining your own full-cycle requisition load.
Execute full-cycle recruiting across both specialized technical searches (AI/ML, physics simulation, computational fluid dynamics, engineering research) and business-critical non-technical roles (go-to-market, sales, operations).
Own recruiting metrics including pipeline conversion, time-to-hire, sourcing effectiveness, and offer acceptance rates, while translating hiring plans into team capacity and requisition allocation.
Partner with the CEO, founding team, and hiring managers to define roles, build ideal candidate profiles, and shape hiring strategy for every open requisition.
Build and maintain talent pipelines in hard-to-fill specializations, staying ahead of demand while building UniversalAGI’s reputation as a destination for top talent across multiple disciplines.
Set and maintain candidate experience standards from initial outreach through offer, and coach your team and hiring managers on sourcing strategy, technical fluency, and closing techniques.

Requirements

Minimum 5 years of full-cycle recruiting experience, with at least 2 years directly managing a team of recruiters, sourcers, and coordinators.
Proven track record recruiting across both technical disciplines (engineering, AI/ML, research, or specialized deep-tech roles) and non-technical functions (go-to-market, sales, operations, or business roles).
Experience building or scaling a recruiting function inside a fast-growing startup, with demonstrated ability to source using LinkedIn Recruiter, Boolean and X-ray search, AI sourcing tools, and ATS platforms like Ashby.
Strong data fluency with ability to build and use recruiting dashboards to guide decisions, high agency and extreme bias toward action, and comfortable operating against aggressive hiring targets across multiple open requisitions.
Executive-level communication skills and judgment that earn the trust of the CEO, founding team, and hiring managers on critical talent decisions.
Ability to operate effectively in a high-intensity, in-person, fast-paced startup environment where priorities shift quickly and you can thrive in undefined spaces while bringing order and process.

What makes this role worth considering

You will work directly with the CEO and founding team alongside a highly accomplished set of investors and advisors including Elad Gil, Eric Schmidt, Ion Stoica, David Patterson, and others. This is an entirely on-site role in San Francisco, offering full ownership of building UniversalAGI’s talent engine from the ground up at one of AI’s fastest-moving foundation model companies, with the rare opportunity to shape recruiting infrastructure, process, and team structure as the organization scales.