Founding Talent Lead

your mission

About Graswald AI

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 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 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 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 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 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