Senior Recruiter

Location: Austin, TX - In Office
Reports to: SVP, People
Type: Full-time

About the Role

We're looking for a senior recruiter who can do two things at once: build our talent acquisition function from the ground up, and personally source and close high-quality hires while that infrastructure comes together. This isn't a "post a job, screen resumes" role, we're unstructured today, and we need someone who's comfortable creating process, systems, and standards out of ambiguity, not just executing an existing playbook.

You'll be the first dedicated senior recruiting hire, which means you'll wear both a builder hat and a doer hat. Expect to spend real time in the weeds, sourcing, screening, interviewing, while simultaneously standing up the infrastructure (ATS, interview process, scorecards, employer brand) that lets the company scale hiring sustainably.

What You'll Own

Build the function
Select and implement an ATS and core recruiting tech stack
Design a structured interview process (scorecards, panels, debrief format) for key roles
Define leveling and hiring criteria in partnership with hiring managers/leadership
Build repeatable sourcing pipelines and channels rather than one-off searches
Create offer, negotiation, and closing processes, including comp benchmarking
Establish basic employer branding and candidate experience standards
Set up hiring metrics/reporting (time-to-fill, pipeline conversion, source of hire, offer-accept rate) so leadership has visibility
Hire high-quality people
Own full-cycle recruiting for priority roles (sourcing through close)
Partner directly with hiring managers to scope roles and calibrate on what "great" looks like
Proactively source passive candidates, not just manage inbound
Run a high-bar, candidate-respectful interview experience
Negotiate and close offers with competitive, defensible comp
Influence and partnership
Act as a strategic partner to leadership on org design and hiring plans, not just an order-taker
Coach hiring managers on interviewing and decision-making
Bring structure and rigor to a company that doesn't have much yet — without over-engineering for a company this size

What We're Looking For

5+ years of recruiting experience, including full-cycle recruiting for a range of roles (not just one function)
Direct experience building or significantly maturing a recruiting function at an early-stage or fast-growing company, you've done this before, not just used someone else's system
Strong sourcing skills, comfortable finding and engaging passive candidates, not reliant on inbound
Track record of closing competitive candidates against other offers
Comfortable operating with minimal process and creating it yourself
Strong judgment on hiring bar, able to push back on hiring managers when needed
Excellent stakeholder management; credible with executives and hands-on with candidates
Bonus: experience with comp benchmarking/leveling frameworks, employer branding, or DEI sourcing strategies

Success Looks Like (first 6–12 months)

A working ATS and defined interview process in place
A measurable reduction in time-to-fill and improvement in offer-accept rate
A slate of strong hires closed personally, with hiring managers satisfied with quality
Leadership has visibility into pipeline health via basic reporting
Hiring managers trained on structured interviewing
Selected candidates will be required to pass a comprehensive background check and drug screening.

Universal Background is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of employment Visa. Universal Background is committed to creating a diverse work environment and we are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

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