The mission of Thinking Machines is to build AI that extends human will and judgment. We are training frontier models with Inkling, developing Tinker to let people make models their own, and crafting interfaces that broaden human-AI communication. We believe the future worth building is human, and we're hiring people who want to build it.
About the role
We’re hiring a Business Recruiter to help build the functions that support Thinking Machines’ growth and day-to-day operations. Your searches may span finance, legal, people, business operations, marketing, partnerships, and go-to-market, depending on company priorities.
You’ll work closely with functional leaders to define roles, understand distinct talent markets, and recruit people who can build effective teams and practices. This role calls for range: you should be comfortable learning a new function, challenging an overly broad brief, and creating a focused search strategy.
What you’ll do
Own recruiting across business functions, from role intake and sourcing through offers and acceptance.
Help leaders distinguish immediate hiring needs from longer-term organizational needs.
Define clear candidate profiles and assessment criteria for roles with different responsibilities and measures of success.
Build targeted candidate pipelines through market mapping, direct outreach, referrals, and professional communities.
Assess candidates’ functional experience, judgment, execution, and ability to work across teams.
Coordinate hiring teams and maintain momentum through clear decisions and timely feedback.
Guide candidates through compensation conversations and closing in partnership with the appropriate internal teams.
Turn lessons from individual searches into repeatable recruiting practices.
What you’ll bring
4+ years of recruiting experience across multiple business or corporate functions.
A record of successfully managing both specialized searches and broader hiring needs.
The ability to learn a function quickly and understand what distinguishes strong performance within it.
Experience partnering with senior leaders, including advising on role scope and candidate evaluation.
Strong sourcing, communication, and negotiation skills.
Discretion with confidential information and the ability to prioritize when business needs change.
Logistics
Location: This role is based in San Francisco, CA or New York, NY
Compensation: Depending on background, skills and experience, the expected annual salary range for this position is $220,000 - $275,000 USD.
Visa sponsorship: We sponsor visas. While we can't guarantee success for every candidate or role, if you're the right fit, we're committed to working through the visa process together.
Benefits: Thinking Machines offers generous health, dental, and vision benefits, unlimited PTO, paid parental leave, and relocation support as needed.
As set forth in Thinking Machines' Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.
Thinking Machines Lab will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the California Fair Chance Act, the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, and any other applicable state or local fair chance ordinance or law.
Skills Required
- 4+ years of recruiting experience across multiple business or corporate functions
- Successful management of specialized searches and broader hiring needs
- Ability to learn a function quickly and understand what distinguishes strong performance
- Experience partnering with senior leaders, including advising on role scope and candidate evaluation
- Strong sourcing skills
- Strong communication skills
- Strong negotiation skills
- Discretion with confidential information
- Ability to prioritize when business needs change
What We Do
Thinking Machines Lab is an artificial intelligence research and product company. We're building a future where everyone has access to the knowledge and tools to make AI work for their unique needs and goals. While AI capabilities have advanced dramatically, key gaps remain. The scientific community's understanding of frontier AI systems lags behind rapidly advancing capabilities. Knowledge of how these systems are trained is concentrated within the top research labs, limiting both the public discourse on AI and people's abilities to use AI effectively. And, despite their potential, these systems remain difficult for people to customize to their specific needs and values. To bridge the gaps, we're building Thinking Machines Lab to make AI systems more widely understood, customizable and generally capable. We are scientists, engineers, and builders who've created some of the most widely used AI products, including ChatGPT and Character.ai, open-weights models like Mistral, as well as popular open source projects like PyTorch, OpenAI Gym, Fairseq, and Segment Anything.
