Talent Acquisition Lead (Head of TA)

Imagine a piloted air taxi that takes off vertically, then quietly carries you and your fellow passengers over the congested city streets below, enabling you to spend more time with the people and places that matter most. At Joby, we've been working to make that dream a reality since 2009 and we're now in the final stages of certifying our aircraft with the FAA. With plans to launch our aircraft in the US and Dubai, we're now scaling manufacturing and preparing for the launch of our commercial service.

The Talent Acquisition Lead is responsible for defining and executing Joby’s global talent acquisition strategy in alignment with long term business objectives. This role serves as a key member of the People leadership team and a trusted advisor to executive leadership, ensuring the company attracts, assesses, and hires exceptional talent to enable scale, innovation, and operational excellence.

This leader owns the full recruiting lifecycle, from workforce planning and employer brand to hiring execution and candidate experience, and is accountable for building a best-in-class, data driven recruiting function. The Talent Acquisition Lead will lead and develop a high performing team while driving continuous improvement in systems, processes, and outcomes. This role is based at Joby’s headquarters in Santa Cruz, CA, or in our San Carlos, CA office and reports to the Chief People Officer.

Strategy & Executive Partnership

• Define Joby’s enterprise talent acquisition strategy across engineering, manufacturing, operations, software, and corporate functions—aligned to company growth, technical roadmap, and workforce planning
• Serve as a strategic advisor to executive leadership on talent market trends, hiring risks, and organizational scaling decisions
• Partner with senior leaders to anticipate talent needs and translate business strategy into forward-looking hiring plans
• Collaborate with People, Finance, and business leaders on headcount planning, budgeting, and organizational design

Function Building & Team Leadership

• Build, structure, and lead a high-performing recruiting organization capable of scaling efficiently across functions, geographies, and hiring profiles
• Establish the systems, processes, operating rhythms, and governance required for a scaling recruiting function (including ATS optimization, sourcing infrastructure, and recruiting analytics)
• Build and manage strategic partnerships with external agencies, universities, and talent networks

Hiring Execution & Candidate Experience

• Drive a best-in-class candidate experience that reflects the company’s mission and competitive differentiation
• Develop and execute employer branding and talent marketing strategies to attract top-tier and hard-to-find talent

Analytics & Operational Excellence

• Implement a recruiting analytics framework that provides visibility into pipeline health, sourcing effectiveness, funnel efficiency, quality of hire, and hiring manager effectiveness
• Ensure hiring practices comply with applicable employment laws across all jurisdictions, including OFCCP requirements and ITAR/export control considerations

• 12+ years of talent acquisition experience, with 7+ years in a recruiting leadership role, experience leading recruiting and sourcing teams in high-growth technology environments.
• Proven experience building and scaling recruiting functions in high growth, complex environments
• Demonstrated success partnering with executive leadership and influencing enterprise level decisions
• Track record of hiring across technical, operational, and leadership roles
• Deep expertise in talent strategy, workforce planning, and recruiting operations
• Strong analytical mindset with experience leveraging data to drive decision making and performance improvements
• Experience leading, coaching, and developing high performing recruiting teams
• Exceptional stakeholder management, communication, and executive presence

• Experience working in an OFCCP environment and strong understanding of employment compliance 
• Experience in aerospace, aviation, advanced manufacturing, or similarly complex technical industries
• Experience supporting rapid scale in a startup or hypergrowth environment
• Familiarity with global recruiting operations and international hiring
• Experience building employer brand in competitive talent markets
• Expertise in recruiting technologies and systems implementation (e.g., ATS, CRM, talent intelligence tools)
• Strong background in diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies within talent acquisition
• Familiarity with iCIMS and Gem