Technical Recruiter

FIRST ORDER EFFECTS

Technical Recruiter

Infrastructure for the Autonomous Era · First in. First up.

On-site · Austin, TX

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We have an oversubscribed seed round led by Andresan Horowitz, a contract to win in months, and more than fifteen roles to fill with people who can build hardware that actually ships. Hiring is the highest-leverage problem at the company right now, and you own it. As our first recruiter, you build the engine that brings in the engineers and technicians everything else depends on, and you get to shape who this company becomes.

Who We Are

First Order Effects (FOE) is building America's Infrastructure Prime for the robotic era. Autonomous ships, drones, and robots are rewriting how the world moves, fights, and builds - but none of them work without infrastructure to power them, connect them, and launch and recover them. That's what we build.

We've Built Cutting Edge Systems at Legendary Companies

Our team comes from SpaceX, Anduril, Saronic, Lockheed Skunk Works, Forterra, and Fuse Energy. Before founding FOE, we built satellite ground stations that closed a national comms gap in days, deployed multi-megawatt power systems at commercial speed, and shipped autonomous surface vessels into Navy fleet production. We've built infrastructure at lightspeed before - now we're applying that playbook to an entire company.

The Role

• Own full-cycle technical recruiting end to end: sourcing, screening, scheduling, closing, and offer.

• Build the pipeline for genuinely hard roles: power electronics, embedded, battery, mechanical, and skilled technicians.

• Source actively and creatively rather than waiting on inbound, and find the people who were the responsible engineer for something that shipped.

• Partner with the CTO and founders to define scorecards, calibrate, and keep the bar high while moving in days not weeks.

• Own the candidate experience and the FOE story, and close strong people against bigger names and bigger offers.

• Stand up the recruiting operation: ATS hygiene in Ashby, a simple metrics dashboard, and a repeatable process the team can run.

• Navigate the realities of defense hiring: U.S. person requirements, on-site in Austin, and relocation.

What You'll Do

• Run full-cycle technical recruiting for hardware, deep tech, defense, or other engineering-heavy teams.

• Build a real sourcing engine, finding and engaging passive candidates instead of working the inbound queue.

• Close senior engineers and skilled trades in a competitive market.

• Hold a credible first conversation with an engineer.

• Move fast and stay organized at an early company with no playbook handed to you.

What We're Looking For

• Experience recruiting at a hardware or defense startup, or agency work placing engineers and technicians.

• A background standing up Ashby or a similar ATS from scratch.

• Familiarity with ITAR and EAR hiring constraints and cleared talent pools.

• Exposure to recruiting skilled trades and technicians, not just software.

Compensation

$80,000–$150,000 base + founding-team equity sized for the role + benefits. If you're an outlier, we'll pay like it.

ITAR requirement

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations (ITAR/EAR), applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, or protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3). Candidates must be eligible to obtain and maintain a U.S. security clearance; active clearance not required.

FOE is an Equal Opportunity Employer; employment with FOE is governed on the basis of merit, competence and qualifications and will not be influenced in any manner by race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, mental or physical disability or any other legally protected status.

Sovereignty is built, not declared — come build it with us.