Full-Cycle Technical Recruiter, Approach Venture: Build the Engineering Teams Behind the Next Generation of Deep Tech

United States | Fully Remote

Opportunity Summary

Approach Venture is hiring a Full-Cycle Technical Recruiter to own engineering searches from the first intake call through a signed offer for the most promising startups in deep tech. You will manage a large, active req load across aerospace, defense, space, propulsion, robotics, advanced manufacturing, RF/electronics, energy, and advanced materials clients.

You will partner directly with founders from their first team members through scale-up, serving as both their recruiter and their talent acquisition advisor. You will find engineers who are hard to reach, close the hires that move these companies forward, and help shape how each client builds its team. This is a fully remote role on the Approach Venture recruiting team that pairs hands-on recruiting with ownership of your client accounts.

About Us

Founded by experienced startup operators and former military, Approach Venture exists to help founding teams building the future of frontier technology reach their full potential. We support frontier-tech startups across fundraising, business development, proposal writing, and recruiting, and help larger organizations with technology scouting, due diligence, market intelligence, and investment theses.

The Approach Venture recruiting team partners with venture-backed and stealth startups to hire Tier I engineering and leadership talent across spacecraft and propulsion, robotics and autonomy, advanced manufacturing and materials, and defense and dual-use technology. We are a small, high-output team that our clients treat as an extension of their own. Every hire we make has a direct impact on a company's ability to build, test, and ship.

Job Duties

• Partner with founders of leading technology companies and venture-backed startups, from stealth and pre-seed through Series C, to build their teams from the first engineering hires through scale-up, earning their trust as a long-term hiring partner
• Consult clients on talent acquisition strategy, including hiring roadmaps, headcount sequencing, role scoping and leveling, compensation benchmarking, interview process design, and candidate experience
• Support Approach Venture's technology scouting efforts, identifying emerging startups, technologies, and technical talent across deep tech
• Manage a high-volume req load across multiple startup clients at once, prioritizing searches by urgency and client impact while setting clear expectations on timelines and market realities
• Run full-cycle searches from intake through offer close, including kickoff calls, calibration, sourcing, screening, submittals, interview coordination, and negotiation
• Lead intake meetings with founders and hiring managers to define role scope, must-have skills, compensation, and the hiring process, aligning early on what a successful search looks like
• Source and engage passive engineering talent through targeted, multi-channel outreach, building lasting relationships across the engineering community
• Screen candidates for technical depth, startup fit, motivation, compensation expectations, and work authorization
• Guide candidates through every stage of the process, keeping them informed and managing expectations on role scope, compensation, and timing through offer acceptance

Qualifications

• 5+ years of technical recruiting experience focused on hard-tech engineering roles (aerospace, defense, space, robotics, energy, hardware, or similar)
• Proven experience recruiting for venture-backed startups
• Track record of managing a large req load across multiple hiring managers while keeping quality and speed high
• Full-cycle recruiting experience from intake to offer acceptance
• Ability to hold credible technical conversations with mechanical, electrical, software, and manufacturing engineers
• Strong sourcing skills and a creative approach to reaching passive candidates
• Clear, confident written and verbal communication with founders, executives, and senior engineers
• Self-directed and highly organized, with a track record of success in a fully remote setting

Preferred Experience

• Agency or search firm experience supporting both retained and contingent clients
• Experience building a startup's team from its first hires through rapid scale-up
• Experience advising founders or executives on hiring plans, interview processes, and compensation strategy
• Consistent record of 20+ placements per year
• Recruiting for roles that require U.S. person status under ITAR or an active security clearance
• Placing senior technical and leadership hires such as engineering leads, directors, and heads of engineering
• An existing network across the aerospace, defense, and space engineering community
• Comfort using modern recruiting technology to work efficiently at high volume

Why Join Us

• Help build the teams shaping the future of technology
• Work alongside top-tier founders and the venture capital firms that back them
• Work across the leading technology companies and venture-backed startups in deep tech, from stealth and pre-seed through Series C, across aerospace, defense, robotics, and energy
• Fully remote role with the flexibility to work from anywhere in the U.S.
• Strong earning potential with $175,000 to $250,000+ OTE and commission from your very first placement
• Real room to grow as we expand our recruiting team
• 401(k), health, dental, and vision benefits, unlimited PTO, and paid holidays

Compensation Details

• Base salary: $80,000 to $100,000
• On-target earnings (OTE): $175,000 to $250,000+, base salary plus commission, paid starting with your first placement
• Opportunity for an additional bonus based on company performance