Principal Recruiter, Research Talent

About the Company

Odyssey is an AI lab pioneering general world models: causal, multimodal systems that learn to predict and interact with the world over long horizons. The team consists of world-class researchers from DeepMind, Tesla, Waymo, Meta, Apple, and Wayve.

Responsibilities

• Partner closely with research leadership to understand priorities and build recruiting strategies for high-impact research hires.
• Own strategic searches for senior researchers, research leaders, and exceptional emerging talent across AI and machine learning.
• Build and maintain a map of the research talent market, including labs, universities, and startups.
• Develop long-term relationships with outstanding candidates through thoughtful, patient engagement.
• Turn market insight and network signal into practical recommendations for hiring managers.
• Design tailored candidate processes reflecting seniority and confidentiality needs.
• Advise on candidate positioning, compensation strategy, and closing approaches.
• Help establish the operating model and talent intelligence practices for the recruiting function.

Requirements

• Significant experience recruiting highly technical, senior, executive, or academic talent.
• Proven track record of building relationships with passive, exceptional candidates.
• Excellent judgment and discretion in sensitive hiring situations.
• Deep curiosity about AI research and technical talent markets.
• Strong talent intelligence instincts and ability to interpret market signals.
• Experience partnering with senior leaders in fast-moving, ambiguous environments.
• Low-ego, high-ownership approach to early-stage building.