Technical Recruiter / Senior Technical Recruiter

About Cowboy Space Corporation

Cowboy Space Corp. is building the infrastructure to power and connect the orbital economy. Our satellites operate in Low Earth Orbit to collect sunlight and enable a new class of capabilities—from powering on-orbit compute, to transmitting energy via infrared lasers (space-to-earth and space-to-space), powering on-orbit compute to delivering secure, high-bandwidth optical data. By rethinking how energy and data are generated and distributed in space, we’re unlocking entirely new ways to operate both in orbit and on Earth.

Founded in 2024 by Baiju Bhatt (co-founder of Robinhood), Cowboy Space Corp. is backed by leading investors and built by a team from top aerospace and defense organizations. We’re moving quickly to solve complex technical challenges and build a new category of space infrastructure.

About the Role

The Technical Recruiter at Cowboy Space Corporation will play a critical role in scaling the company through exceptional hiring execution across technical, manufacturing, operational, and business functions. This is a highly hands-on recruiting role for someone who thrives in fast-moving, deep-tech environments and enjoys solving difficult hiring problems while helping build operational recruiting rigor.

Reporting to the Head of Talent Acquisition, this individual will partner closely with hiring managers, leadership, and recruiting leadership to drive high-quality hiring outcomes across some of the company’s most important and difficult-to-fill roles.

This role is ideal for a technical recruiter who combines strong sourcing and closing capability with operational discipline, strong judgment and a high degree of ownership. This role can be located in San Carlos or Seattle.

Responsibilities

Recruiting Execution

• Own full-cycle recruiting for technical, manufacturing, operational, and business-critical roles

• Partner closely with hiring managers and leadership to:

  • Define hiring needs in ambiguous or evolving problem spaces
  • Calibrate hiring requirements and interview expectations
  • Improve hiring decision-making and candidate evaluation quality
  • Prioritize hiring needs based on company milestones and timelines

• Drive exceptional candidate experience throughout the recruiting process

• Manage recruiting processes from Intake through offer negotiation and close

• Conduct recruiter screens assessing:

  • Technical depth (at a high level)
  • Ownership mindset and problem-solving ability
  • Fit for a fast-moving, high-accountability startup environment

Sourcing & Talent Strategy

• Proactively source candidates using:

  • LinkedIn, referrals, technical networks, and outbound sourcing strategies
  • Non-traditional talent pools across aerospace, defense, manufacturing, energy, robotics, and deep-tech ecosystems
  • Creative recruiting campaigns and targeted outreach

• Build and maintain strong technical talent pipelines for current and future hiring needs

• Craft and iterate on outreach messaging to improve candidate engagement and response rates

• Develop creative sourcing strategies for difficult-to-fill and highly technical roles

• Build relationships with high-performing passive candidates and talent communities

Recruiting Operations & Process Rigor

• Maintain strong ATS hygiene, candidate tracking, and recruiting process discipline
• Support interview coordination, scheduling workflows, and interviewer feedback processes
• Track recruiting funnel health and provide hiring insights to recruiting leadership
• Identify bottlenecks and opportunities to improve hiring efficiency and candidate experience
• Support recruiting reporting, funnel tracking, and recruiting operations initiatives
• Help improve hiring consistency, interview rigor, and operational recruiting processes across the company

Partnership & Collaboration

• Partner closely with the Head of Talent Acquisition and recruiting leadership on hiring priorities and recruiting strategy
• Collaborate effectively with engineers, technical leaders, manufacturing leaders, and cross-functional stakeholders
• Support agency and external recruiting partner coordination where needed
• Contribute to the continued development of recruiting infrastructure and hiring processes as the company scales

Basic Qualifications

• 5+ years of full life cycle technical recruiting experience
• Proven experience hiring for aerospace, defense, manufacturing, robotics, hardware, energy, or other deep-tech organizations
• Experience sourcing and engaging passive candidates using research, outreach, and recruiting tools
• Demonstrated success closing difficult and competitive technical hires
• Ability to communicate credibly with engineers, technical leaders, and executives
• Experience partnering directly with senior technical stakeholders and providing structured guidance on hiring decisions
• Experience using ATS systems and maintaining strong recruiting process hygiene
• Familiarity with recruiting metrics, funnel tracking, and recruiting operations best practices
• High ownership mindset and bias toward action
• Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous and fast-moving environments

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience operating in startup or high-growth environments strongly preferred

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $143,770 – $171,885 annually. The actual base salary offered will depend on factors such as job-related skills, experience, qualifications, and internal equity.

• Equity in Cowboy Space Corp.
• Employees and their eligible dependents may enroll in medical, dental, and vision insurance
• 401(k) retirement savings plan
• Paid time off
• 10 paid holidays per calendar year
• Paid parental leave
• Relocation assistance if applicable
• Daily lunch in the office and a fully stocked kitchen with beverages and snacks

ITAR Requirements

• Export Control Requirement: To conform to U.S. Government space technology export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), applicants must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about ITAR here.

Disclaimer

This job description is a summary of the primary duties and responsibilities of the job and position. It is not intended to be a comprehensive or all-inclusive listing of duties and responsibilities. Contents are subject to change at Cowboy Space Corp.’s discretion.

Cowboy Space Corp. is an equal employment opportunity employer. We consider individuals for employment or promotion according to their skills, abilities and experience. Cowboy Space Corp. is committed to complying with all applicable laws prohibiting discrimination based on race, color, religious creed, age, national origin, ancestry, physical, mental or developmental disability, sex (which includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and medical conditions relating to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding), veteran status, military status, marital or registered domestic partnership status, medical condition (including cancer or genetic characteristics), genetic information, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, as well as any other category protected by federal, state or local laws.