Founding Talent Lead

### your mission ### About [Graswald](https://himalayas.app/companies/graswald) AI [Graswald](https://himalayas.app/companies/graswald) AI is a Series A start up building the AI operating system for fashion brands and retailers. In the past year, we’ve signed 50+ enterprise fashion clients who use our AI to collapse creative timelines and slash production costs. We are backed by top-tier VCs and strategic investors like Lakestar and Orendt Studios. ### The Role This is a foundational hire. As our first Founding Talent Lead, you won't just fill roles - you'll build the engine that powers [Graswald](https://himalayas.app/companies/graswald) AI's growth. You'll own the full talent function from day one: defining how we hire, who we hire, and how fast we move. You'll work closely with the founding team to attract exceptional people across engineering, commercial, and operational disciplines - and you'll be as comfortable sourcing a senior ML engineer as you are closing a Head of Sales. This is a hands-on, high-ownership role for someone who thrives in ambiguity, moves with urgency, and cares deeply about candidate experience and quality of hire. ### your profile ### What You'll Do **Build the Talent Function** * Design and own [Graswald](https://himalayas.app/companies/graswald) AI's end-to-end hiring process - from sourcing strategy to offer - across all teams * Define our employer brand and value proposition to attract world-class candidates * Select and implement the ATS, sourcing tools, and AI-powered recruitment platforms that will underpin how we hire * Establish hiring principles, scorecards, and structured interview frameworks to ensure consistent, high-quality decisions **Drive the Candidate Experience** * Lead first-round interviews across all functions, assessing for skills, values, and potential * Design and iterate on take-home tasks and technical assessments tailored to each role * Act as a thoughtful advocate for candidates throughout the process, ensuring every interaction with [Graswald](https://himalayas.app/companies/graswald) AI is exceptional **Own Recruiting Across the Business** * Partner closely with hiring managers across engineering, product, operations, and commercial teams to understand role requirements and team needs * Actively source candidates directly through LinkedIn, community networks, events, and AI-assisted tools * Manage relationships with external recruiters and headhunters, holding them to high standards while keeping agency spend lean * Write compelling, accurate job descriptions that attract the right candidates and reflect our culture **Own the End-to-End Hiring Process** * Manage the legal and administrative hiring process from offer acceptance through to signed contracts * Draft and issue offer letters, employment contracts, and NDAs in coordination with legal counsel where required * Coordinate background checks, right-to-work verification, and any role-specific compliance requirements * Serve as the primary point of contact for candidates during the offer and pre-boarding period, keeping the process smooth and professional through to day one **Advise on Compensation & Career Progression** * Own compensation benchmarking across all functions - maintaining a clear view of market rates for salary and equity to keep [Graswald](https://himalayas.app/companies/graswald) AI competitive and consistent * Partner with the founding team to design and evolve our equity and compensation philosophy as we scale * Build and maintain a levelling framework and career progression pathways across teams, giving candidates and employees clarity on how they grow at [Graswald](https://himalayas.app/companies/graswald) AI * Advise hiring managers on offer structuring, ensuring packages are compelling, fair, and sustainable within our comp bands **Think Strategically** * Build and maintain talent pipelines for critical roles before they become urgent * Track and report on key hiring metrics - time to hire, source quality, pipeline health - and use data to improve * Stay ahead of the market: compensation benchmarks, talent trends, and competitor hiring signals ### What We're Looking For **Experience** * 5+ years in talent/recruiting, with at least 2–3 years in a high-growth, venture-backed startup or scale-up * Proven track record of hiring strong technical talent - software engineers, ML/AI roles, or similar - in a competitive market * Experience building or significantly improving a hiring function, not just executing within one * Comfortable owning commercial and operational hiring in parallel with technical roles **Skills & Approach** * Exceptional sourcing skills - you don't wait for inbound; you go and find people * Familiarity with AI-powered recruiting and sourcing tools * Strong judgment and interviewing instincts - you can assess a candidate's potential and motivations, not just their CV * Sharp written communication - your job descriptions make people want to apply * Highly organised and data-driven; you track what matters and act on it * Low ego, high ownership - you're as happy scheduling interviews as you are advising on org design ### why us? ### What We Offer * Competitive compensation package including stock options * The opportunity to shape the culture and team of a company at a genuinely exciting inflection point * **26 Working Days of Paid Vacation + 24.12 and 31.12**: You’ll have plenty of time to unwind and enjoy life outside of work. * **Flexible Work Options**: Choose to work remotely from anywhere at the times that work best for your job. You decide what suits you best. * **Annual Company Offsite**: Enjoy a yearly team offsite where we come together to plan, connect, and have some fun. * **Premium Work Equipment:** Get fully set up for success with the laptop & monitor of your choice, ensuring you have everything you need to do your best work. * **Wellhub Subscription:** Access thousands of gyms, fitness studios, and wellness apps to support your physical and mental well-being, wherever you are. Originally posted on [Himalayas](https://himalayas.app)