Head of Talent Acquisition

About Cowboy Space Corporation

Cowboy Space Corp. is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our satellites operate in Low Earth Orbit to collect sunlight and enable a new class of capabilities—from powering on-orbit compute, to transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit compute to delivering secure, high-bandwidth optical data. By rethinking how energy and data are generated and distributed in space, we’re unlocking entirely new ways to operate both in orbit and on Earth.

Founded in 2024 by Baiju Bhatt (co-founder of Robinhood), Cowboy Space Corp. is backed by leading investors and built by a team from top aerospace and defense organizations. We’re moving quickly to solve complex technical challenges and build a new category of space infrastructure.

About the Role

The Head of Talent Acquisition at Cowboy Space Corporation will operationally own Talent Acquisition across the company. This is a highly hands-on player-coach leadership role responsible for driving recruiting execution, recruiting operations, executive hiring, hiring process rigor, recruiting analytics, and recruiting team/vendor management during a period of rapid organizational growth.

Reporting to the Head of People, this individual will lead day-to-day Talent Acquisition operations while directly supporting critical hiring efforts across engineering, manufacturing, operational, and business functions. The role will oversee recruiting infrastructure, external recruiting partnerships, and the continued development of internal recruiting capability as the company scales.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys building recruiting systems and operational rigor while remaining deeply engaged in high-impact and difficult-to-fill hiring efforts. This role can be located in San Carlos or Seattle.

Key Responsibilities

Recruiting Leadership & Execution

Own full-cycle recruiting for technical, manufacturing, operational, executive, and business-critical roles
Carry an active req load while directly supporting the company’s most critical and high-priority hiring efforts
Lead executive and senior-level recruiting efforts across technical, operational, and business functions
Partner closely with executives, leadership, and hiring managers to:
- Define hiring needs in ambiguous or evolving problem spaces
- Calibrate hiring requirements and interview expectations
- Prioritize hiring based on company milestones and timelines
- Improve hiring decision-making and interview rigor
- Drive accountability throughout the hiring process
Develop targeted sourcing and outreach strategies for senior and difficult-to-fill leadership roles
Ensure rigor, confidentiality, and exceptional candidate experience throughout executive search processes

Talent Acquisition Operations & Infrastructure

Operationally own Talent Acquisition processes, workflows, systems, and execution across the company
Build and operationalize recruiting infrastructure including:
- ATS workflows and hygiene
- Interview processes and interviewer calibration
- Funnel tracking and reporting
- Recruiting metrics and dashboards
- Process documentation and operational workflows
- Interview coordination mechanics and feedback loops
Establish scalable hiring processes and operational standards that support rapid company growth
Drive consistency in hiring processes, interviewer quality, candidate evaluation, and hiring decision-making
Identify bottlenecks and continuously improve recruiting operations, hiring efficiency, and candidate experience

Recruiting Analytics & Reporting

Own recruiting analytics, funnel health reporting, and hiring performance visibility across the organization
Develop dashboards and reporting frameworks that enable leadership visibility into hiring progress, bottlenecks, capacity planning, and operational risk
Analyze recruiting funnel data to identify process inefficiencies, conversion challenges, and opportunities for improvement
Establish and maintain operational recruiting metrics including pipeline health, time-to-fill, stage conversion rates, interviewer load, and hiring forecast accuracy
Use recruiting data to drive accountability with hiring managers, interview teams, recruiters, and external recruiting partners

Team & Vendor Management

Manage and develop a growing team of recruiters and recruiting support resources as the function scales
Own external agency strategy, vendor relationships, performance management, and recruiting partner accountability
Help build stronger embedded recruiting capability internally over time
Partner closely with the Head of People on hiring strategy, organizational scaling priorities, and recruiting capacity planning

Sourcing & Talent Strategy

Proactively source candidates using:
- LinkedIn, referrals, technical networks, and outbound sourcing strategies
- Non-traditional talent pools across aerospace, defense, manufacturing, energy, robotics, and deep-tech ecosystems
- Creative recruiting campaigns and targeted outreach
Craft and iterate on outreach messaging to improve candidate engagement and response rates
Conduct recruiter screens assessing:
- Technical depth (at a high level)
- Ownership mindset and problem-solving ability
- Fit for a fast-moving, high-accountability startup environment

Basic Qualifications

8+ years of recruiting and Talent Acquisition experience, including significant technical recruiting experience
Proven experience hiring for aerospace, defense, manufacturing, robotics, hardware, energy, or other deep-tech organizations
Experience leading executive and senior-level searches in high-growth or technically complex organizations
Strong sourcing skills and comfort recruiting passive technical talent
Deep experience with recruiting analytics, funnel reporting, dashboard development, and data-driven hiring operations
Experience building or scaling recruiting operations and processes in startup or high-growth environments
Experience managing recruiters, recruiting operations, and/or external recruiting agencies
Strong operational and analytical skills with the ability to translate recruiting data into actionable hiring insights
Experience building recruiting reporting frameworks and operational dashboards for leadership teams
Must have excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate credibly with engineers, technical leaders, executives, and founders
Experience operating in ambiguous environments with evolving requirements
High ownership mindset and bias toward action
Exceptional organizational and operational skills
Startup experience (Seed–Series C) strongly preferred
Experience with ATS administration, funnel optimization, recruiting systems, and hiring process design strongly preferred

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $184,226 – $214,231 annually. The actual base salary offered will depend on factors such as job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity.

Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.
Employees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance
401(k) retirement savings plan
Paid time off
10 paid holidays per calendar year
Paid parental leave
Relocation assistance if applicable
Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks

ITAR Requirements

Export Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.

Disclaimer

This job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Cowboy Space Corp.’s discretion.

Cowboy Space Corp. is an equal employment opportunity employer. We consider individuals for employment or promotion according to their skills, abilities and experience. Cowboy Space Corp. is committed to complying with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, physical, mental or developmental disability, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), veteran status, military status, marital or registered domestic partnership status, medical condition (including cancer or genetic characteristics), genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws.