Foundation models transformed text and images. Structured data - the largest and most consequential data format in the world - stayed untouched. Tables run every clinical trial, every financial model, every scientific experiment, every business decision, and no one had built a foundation model that truly understood them.
Until now. What LLMs did for language, we're doing for tables. The next modality shift in AI is happening, and we're hiring the team that makes it.
Momentum. We pioneered tabular foundation models and are now the world-leading organization in structured-data ML. Our TabPFN v2 model was published as a Nature cover story and set a new state of the art for tabular machine learning. Since release we've scaled model capabilities 20x+, passed 3.5M+ downloads and 7,500+ GitHub stars, and are seeing accelerating adoption across research and industry - from detecting lung disease with Oxford Cancer Analytics to preventing train failures with Hitachi to improving clinical-trial decisions with BostonGene.
The hardest work is ahead. We're scaling tabular foundation models to millions of rows, thousands of features, real-time inference, and entirely new data modalities, while building the infrastructure to run them in production across some of the most demanding industries on earth. These are open problems no one else is working on at this level.
Our team. We're a small, highly selective team of 30+ engineers, researchers, and GTM specialists, with backgrounds spanning Google, Apple, Amazon, DeepMind, Meta, Microsoft Research, G-Research, Jane Street, Goldman Sachs, and CERN. We're led by Frank Hutter, Noah Hollmann, and Sauraj Gambhir, and advised by world-leading AI researchers including Bernhard Schölkopf and Turing Award winner Yann LeCun. We ship fast, do top-tier research, and hold each other to an extremely high bar.
What's next. In 2025 we raised €9m pre-seed led by Balderton Capital, backed by leaders from Hugging Face, DeepMind, and Black Forest Labs. The next phase of growth is here, which makes this an ideal time to join.
Your Responsibilities
Source scarce ML research and infra talent globally, exploring mainstream and niche talent pools
Position Prior Labs compellingly against other foundation model labs such as OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepMind, and Mistral
Navigate multi-hub hiring across Freiburg, Berlin, and New York (visas, comp bands, notice periods)
Screen technical depth quickly without burning founder time
Run efficient, structured interview loops with clear rubrics and fast debriefs
Manage, negotiate and close offers
Manage the pipeline operationally in the ATS with clean stages and weekly metrics
The experience we are looking for
5+ years in-house technical recruiting at a deep-tech, AI/ML, or research-led startup (seed to Series B)
Track record closing ML researchers or research engineers against top tier frontier labs (e.g. OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepMind, Mistral)
Hands-on hiring across at least two of: Germany, wider EU, and the US (NYC)
The knowledge we expect you to already know
Fluency in the ML talent landscape: top labs, conferences, and what distinguishes a strong research vs. engineering vs infrastructure profile
Modern ATS architecture (Ashby or equivalent): stage design, rejection taxonomy, funnel reporting
The skills you should bring to the role
Outbound sourcing on LinkedIn, GitHub, Google Scholar, and arXiv with high reply rates on cold outreach
Designing and running structured interview loops with rubrics, calibrated debriefs, and fast time-to-offer
Offer negotiation and closing: offer storytelling, competing-offer handling, founder-assisted closes
The behaviours we want you to bring everyday to the office
High agency and ownership and operates as a full stack recruiter
Direct and commercially honest with both candidates and hiring managers
Detail-obsessed on pipeline hygiene and weekly metrics; treats the ATS as a source of truth
Location: 5 days a week based in our Berlin Office (near Rosa-Luxemburg-Straße U-Bahn Station)
Benefits
Competitive Salary: A benchmarked and defined band that we can share with you during the interview process
Tools & environment: You'll have access to modern tools to help you be as productive as possible! (We use Apple, GSuite, Notion and Claude!)
Offsites: Annual company-wide offsites to bring the whole team together (last ones were in the Alps 🏔️ and the Cote d'Azur 🏝️)
Benefits: Comprehensive benefits package aligned to the location and office that you are joining us in. In Freiburg, key benefits include 30 days of paid vacation + public holidays plus including transportation, and fitness!
Life at Prior Labs
We're a small, ambitious team solving one of the hardest problems in AI, and we're just getting started. You'll work closely with world-class researchers and builders who care deeply about the quality of their craft, the impact of their work, and the people they work with.
We move fast, we think rigorously, and we take the time to do things right. If you're excited by hard problems, motivated by real-world impact, and want to be part of building something that matters, we'd love to hear from you.
We're building our teams in Berlin, Freiburg, and New York and we believe that when you're working on something as hard and exciting as TabPFN, being in the same room matters. Most of our roles are based in one of our offices but great people come from everywhere, and in exceptional cases we're open to remote. This usually involves frequent travel to one of our offices and the whole company comes together regularly for offsites to think, build, and celebrate together.
Our Commitments
We believe the best products and teams come from a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. That's why we welcome applications from people of all identities and walks of life, especially anyone who's ever felt discouraged by "not checking every box."
We're committed to creating a safe, inclusive environment and providing equal opportunities regardless of gender, sexual orientation, origin, disability, or any other trait that makes you who you are.
We care about how your data is handled. Read our Recruiting Privacy Notice to see exactly what we collect, why, and how long we keep it.
Skills Required
- 5+ years in-house technical recruiting in AI/ML
- Track record closing ML researchers against top labs
- Hands-on hiring across Germany, EU, and US
- Fluency in the ML talent landscape
- Experience with modern ATS architecture
What We Do
Prior Labs is building breakthrough foundation models that understand spreadsheets and databases - the lifeblood of science and business. While foundation models have transformed text and images, tabular data has remained largely untouched. We're tackling this opportunity to revolutionize how we approach scientific discovery, medical research, financial modeling, and business intelligence. Backed by Balderton Capital, XTX Ventures, SAP Founder Hans Werner-Hector's Hector Foundation, Atlantic Labs, Galion.exe and top AI leaders such as Peter Sarlin, Guy Podjarny, Thomas Wolf, Ed Grefenstette, Robin Rombach, Christopher Lynch and Ash Kulkarni.
