Technical Recruiter & People Partner

Podium Automation is reimagining industrial control panel manufacturing through software-enabled design and automated fabrication. We're building technology to create a new industrial supply chain - reducing lead times for critical electrical equipment from months to days. Backed by top-tier investors including a16z's American Dynamism fund, SV Angel, and Banter Capital, we're growing rapidly and looking for exceptional people to help us scale.

We're looking for our first dedicated Technical Recruiter & People Partner to own how we attract, hire, and take care of the people building Podium. You'll run full-cycle recruiting across engineering, production, and business operations, and you'll also own the experience employees have from offer letter through their first months on the team. This is a rare opportunity to shape both the talent and people functions at a hardware startup company from the ground up.

You'll source creatively, close hard, and bring rigor to hiring. You'll also build the systems and rituals that make Podium a place where great people do their best work - clean onboarding, smooth employee setup, thoughtful people programs, and a culture that reflects how we operate.

What You'll Do

Recruiting

• Own full-cycle recruiting for technical roles across software, hardware, controls, manufacturing, and operations

• Partner with the founders and hiring managers to scope roles, build hiring plans, and define interview loops that actually predict performance

• Source proactively. Most of our best hires won't be applying through a job board; you'll find them, engage them, and bring them in

• Run a fast, high-signal candidate experience that reflects how we operate as a company

• Build the operating system for talent at Podium: ATS hygiene, scorecards, structured interviews, referral programs, and reporting

People Partner

• Own onboarding end-to-end — from offer acceptance through ramp — so every new hire shows up to a great first day and a clear path to contribution

• Manage employee setup: equipment, accounts, payroll and benefits enrollment, I-9s, and the rest of the operational details that make day one feel seamless

• Design and run people programs that strengthen the team: onboarding journeys, recognition, team rituals, feedback cycles, and culture-building moments

• Partner with leadership on policies, handbook, compliance, and HR operations as the company scales

• Help shape employer brand, candidate marketing, and our presence in the hardware and tech talent communities

What We're Looking For

• 4+ years of experience spanning technical recruiting and people operations, ideally in-house at a high-growth startup

• Full-cycle recruiting track record across diverse technical functions, inlcuding hardware, electrical, mechanical, controls, or manufacturing talent

• Hands-on experience with onboarding, employee setup, HRIS/payroll tools, and the operational backbone of a people function

• Excellent written and verbal communication - you can credibly represent a technical company to technical candidates and serve as a steady point of contact for employees

• High ownership, low ego, fast metabolism for work; comfortable operating with ambiguity and minimal process

• Genuine interest in what we're building. You don't need an engineering background, but you do need to be curious about how things get made

Additional Information

• Sponsorship for US employment authorization is not available now or in the future for this position.

• Relocation assistance is not available for this position.

• Compensation of $100,000 - $130,000 commensurate with experience, with competitive equity package