Recruiting Lead San Francisco • In office

About Aurelius Systems

Aurelius Systems is a directed energy company developing edge-deployed laser systems for counter-unmanned aerial systems (cUAS); we shoot down drones with laser guns. In an era where threats are increasingly small, numerous, and easily manufactured, our mission is to provide scalable, advanced, and cost-effective defense solutions for the U.S. and its allies. We’re building our team to launch our flagship product: the Archimedes Laser Sentinel, a portable laser defense platform that protects servicemen, servicewomen, and domestic security forces.

We’re seeking a high-impact Recruiting Lead to own, scale, and professionalize the recruiting function at Aurelius Systems. This role combines strategic leadership with hands-on recruiting execution, building the systems, processes, and relationships that will define how we grow our team. You’ll work directly with company leadership, including the CEO, Head of Operations, and CTO, to understand hiring requirements, manage recruiting schedules, and coordinate candidate pipelines across engineering, operations, and business functions.

You will be a department of one initially, with the opportunity to build and lead a recruiting and coordination team as the company scales.

• Own full-cycle recruiting for all technical and operational roles, from sourcing and outreach to offer and onboarding.
• Build and manage recruiting schedules, ensuring all interviews, evaluations, and candidate touchpoints run seamlessly.
• Partner closely with leadership to translate hiring goals into actionable recruiting plans and track progress.
• Develop and maintain a strong candidate experience that reflects Aurelius’s mission and operational excellence.

• Implement scalable recruiting systems, tools, and dashboards to manage pipelines and measure effectiveness.
• Coordinate directly with executives to prioritize open roles, align interview teams, and maintain visibility across projects.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for recruiting logistics, working with the CEOs EA on scheduling interviews, organizing debriefs, and ensuring timely communication.
• Establish and refine hiring processes and metrics to support growth, transparency, and continuous improvement.

• Collaborate with technical leadership to forecast workforce needs and define role requirements.
• Partner with the Head of Operations to manage headcount planning and reporting.
• Work alongside marketing and leadership to strengthen Aurelius’s employer brand.
• Over time, build and lead a small internal recruiting and operations coordination team.

• 5+ years of experience in technical recruiting (hardware, robotics, defense, aerospace, or deep-tech).
• Proven ability to hire in fast-moving, high-stakes environments.
• A systems builder; must be comfortable creating processes where little exists.
• Exceptional organization, scheduling, and communication skills.
• Confident communicator capable of influencing at the executive level.
• Balanced operator;
  Must be strategic and hands-on, with a bias for action.
• Passionate about building a mission-driven, high-performance culture.

• Experience building and leading a recruiting or operations team.
• Prior defense technology or government contracting experience.
• Familiarity with security clearance and classified hiring processes.

You’ll inherit a recruiting foundation already in motion with initial tools, systems, and vendors are in place. This is a high-ownership role in a company entering an accelerated growth phase. Your leadership will directly shape how Aurelius attracts top talent, scales effectively, and maintains its mission-first culture. This role is designed as a pathway to Head of Talent as Aurelius expands.

• High impact: your work defines who joins the mission and how fast we scale.
• Autonomy & trust: build the function your way with full leadership support.
• Career acceleration: clear trajectory toward Head of Talent.
• Mission-driven culture: work alongside elite engineers, veterans, and innovators solving national defense challenges.
• Patriotic purpose: join a team bringing advanced manufacturing and high-tech jobs back to the United States.