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 e...