Talent Acquisition Specialist

Smart Bricks is an a16z-backed Applied AI Lab building AI systems that help investors discover opportunities, underwrite investments and manage complex investment workflows. We're undergoing a global B2B expansion, with a clear ambition: to become the AI Lab for Real Assets. Starting with real estate, we're tackling problems where better technology can fundamentally change how investment decisions are made and executed. Delivering on that vision starts with the people we bring in. We're looking for someone who can find exceptional people, open doors and give them a compelling reason to join Smart Bricks.

About the Role
You will work directly with our founder to identify, engage and recruit exceptional people from leading AI labs and AI-native companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepMind and Meta FAIR, alongside teams such as Harvey, Hebbia and ModelML. This is a hands-on, headhunting-focused role. You will approach people who aren't actively looking, understand what would make them consider a move, and build a credible, personalised case for joining Smart Bricks. You will personally own priority searches from identifying candidates through to them joining. Immediate priorities include AI engineers, go-to-market talent, AI consultants and forward-deployed investors. As our needs evolve, you will recruit across other departments and leadership positions. Your hiring remit is company-wide. Your specialism is finding and winning exceptional talent from the AI ecosystem. This is an individual contributor position, not a Head of People, HR or people-operations role. What You'll Own Proactive headhunting: Identify and approach outstanding people who are not actively seeking a new role. Build focused target lists across relevant AI labs, companies and teams, looking beyond employer names to understand what each person has actually delivered. Personalised outreach: Write thoughtful, relevant messages that start conversations. Use direct outreach, referrals, professional networks and specialist communities rather than relying on inbound applications. Candidate relationships and closing: Understand each candidate's motivations, communicate the opportunity convincingly and address concerns honestly. Navigate competing offers and counteroffers, bringing the founder into the right conversations while owning the relationship and momentum. Searches across functions: Partner with the founder and team leaders to prioritise hiring, define role requirements and agree what exceptional looks like. Learn unfamiliar functions quickly and adapt your approach as business needs change. Candidate assessment: Evaluate relevant accomplishments, motivation and suitability for an early-stage company. Work with hiring teams to distinguish genuine individual contributions from impressive titles or company names. End-to-end execution: Own initial screening, interview coordination, candidate communication and offer discussions. Keep searches moving, ensure timely feedback and stay engaged through acceptance and the candidate's start date. Pipeline and market intelligence: Maintain a clear view of priority candidates, progress and next steps. Share compensation expectations, candidate feedback and recurring objections so we can strengthen our hiring proposition. Who We're Looking For 4+ years of hands-on recruitment or headhunting experience, including at least 1 year focused on AI labs. Your experience should include personally owning searches from initial outreach through to accepted offers and successful starts. A specialist search or AI-company recruiting background. Ideally, you are a senior consultant or principal recruiter at a specialist AI/technology recruitment firm, or an experienced in-house recruiter at an AI lab or AI-native startup. We're looking for someone actively sourcing and closing candidates, not someone whose recent experience is primarily managing recruiters or running people operations. A track record of recruiting from leading AI teams. You have personally engaged and hired candidates from companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepMind, Meta FAIR, Harvey, Hebbia, ModelML or comparable organisations. You do not need placements from every named company, but you should demonstrate credible access to this talent pool through relevant relationships and successful searches. Evidence of convincing passive candidates to move. You have won over people who were performing well, well compensated and not actively looking. You can explain what changed their mind, how you handled objections or competing offers, and how you personally secured the hire. Experience hiring across functions within AI businesses. Ideally, your placements include technical or specialist AI talent alongside commercial or customer-facing roles, such as GTM, AI consulting or solutions roles. You don't need experience hiring for every department, but your track record should show that you can work beyond one narrow specialism. Experience recrui