Talent Acquisition Lead

Company: Pacific Fusion
Location: San Leandro
Posted on: May 3, 2025

Job Description:

About Pacific FusionPacific Fusion was founded in 2023 with the mission to power the world with abundant, affordable, clean energy. We are rapidly designing and building a pulsed magnetic fusion system to achieve net facility gain (more fusion energy output than stored energy input). In parallel, we are developing the key components required to build affordable fusion systems.Our plans are ambitious. We have raised over $900M so far from incredible investors, resourcing us to deliver on these plans. We are bringing together the best scientists, engineers, and operators from the fusion community, hard tech industry, and other sectors. We are united by a shared sense of urgency to provide clean power for the world, particularly managing climate change while meeting growing global energy demand.About the RoleJob Overview:We are seeking a Talent Acquisition Lead to, in partnership with the Head of People, build and drive a best-in-class recruiting function, ensuring we attract, hire, and retain top talent in alignment with our ambitious business goals. This is both a strategic and hands-on role that requires a deep understanding of talent acquisition, proactive sourcing for first-of-its-kind hardware technology, and providing an exceptional hiring manager and candidate experience.This role is ideal for a data-driven talent leader who thrives in a high-growth, mission-driven environment.What You'll Do:Hands-On Recruiting

• Personally manage full-cycle recruiting for key roles, from intake and sourcing through offer and close.
• Source, engage, and nurture top talent using a variety of channels, including direct outreach, employee referrals, events, and industry networks.
• Serve as a trusted recruiting partner to hiring managers, including executives - facilitating structured intake meetings, aligning on role requirements, and advising on talent market realities.
• Conduct initial candidate screens and interviews, assess qualifications, and ensure a consistent, inclusive, and high-quality evaluation process.
• Create a white-glove candidate experience by maintaining responsive communication and shepherding candidates through the interview and offer process.
• Maintain ownership of priority or hard-to-fill requisitions, ensuring consistent pipeline generation and timely hires.Strategic Talent Acquisition
  • Develop and execute a proactive recruiting strategy to ensure we meet hiring goals on time and at a reasonable cost.
  • Partner with the Head of People and leadership to forecast workforce needs, identifying critical skill gaps and building a talent pipeline for today and the future.
  • Innovate creative sourcing strategies for hard-to-fill roles with extremely limited talent pools, while overcoming hiring challenges, such as limited talent supply.
  • Maintain high hiring standards, ensuring clear job specifications and rigorous screening by trained interviewers.Building a High-Performing Recruiting Function
    • Lead and mentor a small but high-impact contract recruiting team, ensuring they are skilled in:
      • Advanced sourcing techniques, market intelligence, and candidate engagement.
      • Consultative relationships with hiring managers and interviewers to ensure they conduct structured, competency-based interviews and make data-driven and effective hiring decisions.
      • Establish operational discipline, ensuring compliance, efficiency, and an exceptional candidate experience.Operational Excellence
        • Optimize and fully leverage our Applicant Tracking System (ATS) for streamlined hiring, compliance, and data integrity.
        • Make recommendations for (and subsequently implement) innovative technology solutions such as AI sourcing tools, assessments, and predictive analytics, to enhance sourcing and decision-making.
        • Automate communication workflows and processes to reduce inefficiencies and improve the candidate journey.
        • Develop hiring KPIs, dashboards, and reporting to track various metrics including hiring effectiveness, time-to-fill, and hiring quality.
        • Ensure all recruiting practices are legally compliant, including adherence to pay transparency laws, internal pay equity standards, and broader ethical and inclusive hiring practices.Employer Brand & Talent Engagement
          • Together with the Head of People, Head of Comms and leadership, co-create and communicate a compelling Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that reflects our unique culture.
          • In partnership with Head of Comms, drive talent engagement initiatives, including networking events, referral programs, social media campaigns, and industry partnerships.What We're Looking For:
            • 7+ years of experience in talent acquisition leadership, with a proven track record of scaling high-performing recruiting functions in fast-paced environments.
            • Experience recruiting in industries with first-of-its-kind hardware technology, high hiring standards and scarce talent pools is a plus.
            • Deep expertise in strategic sourcing, competency-based interviewing, and talent advising.
            • Strong operational discipline-high attention to detail, compliance-driven, and service-oriented.
            • Exceptional ability to partner with hiring managers and leadership to drive alignment and effective decision-making.Benefits:
              • Industry-competitive salary
              • Equity plan
              • 6% employer 401k matching
              • Generous paid time off (including sick leave, vacation, paid family leave)
              • Medical, Dental, and Vision insurance
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Keywords: Pacific Fusion, Watsonville , Talent Acquisition Lead, Other , San Leandro, California