Head of Talent
ConfidentialGovernment technology has failed citizens, public servants, and service members for decades. Kaizen powers America’s application layer. We replace the legacy systems federal agencies run on with modern software, built with craft. The ticketing platform a resident uses to visit a presidential library. The marketplace DoW uses for counter-drone procurement to protect lives and critical infrastructure. The system a Veteran uses to access benefits. We build systems of record, of national consequence. Our AI-native modules and harness allow us to do so in weeks and months, not years. This year, our revenue has grown 35x. Next year, our software will serve over 100 million Americans across dozens of federal agencies. Founded in 2022 and based in New York City and DC, Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA, a16z, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital. The Role Selling software to the federal government is supposed to take years. Long procurement cycles, entrenched primes, and pilots that die before they convert. We found a market and a motion that break that pattern, and Kaizen is on track to go from $1M to nine figures in 24 months. Nobody in the history of government technology has done that. Which means the constraint is no longer whether we can sell or if we can win. It is whether we can hire fast enough, and whether we can go after the people we assume are out of reach. This role owns that. You will carry concurrent searches across GTM, operations, engineering, and design, build the systems and the team underneath them, and personally close the hardest ones. You will also change what this company believes is possible in hiring. The bar goes up by going after the best of the best, and this conviction starts with you. This is the most influential window Kaizen will ever have. The next sixty people become the company. This starts as a talent-focused role. As the function grows, it can grow to include People more broadly. Location This is a hybrid role based out of our New York or DC. Candidates must reside or be able to commute to New York City or DC to work out of our office at least four times a week (Monday - Thursday). What You'll Do Build and run Kaizen's recruiting engine: process, pipeline, and reporting across every function we hire into. Own the hiring bar and raise it across the company. Not by saying no more often, but by convincing us we can win over the best talent, and making it happen. Carry concurrent searches across go-to-market, operations, engineering, and design, and personally close the senior and executive ones. Own the recruiting stack in Ashby, Juicebox, and LinkedIn Recruiter, give leadership a live view of pipeline health against the plan, and drive the automation of coordination work so the team spends its time on candidates. Manage the team of three and hire the additional recruiters already approved, set the standard for excellent recruiting here, and invest in the career growth of the people you inherit. Own the agency roster: evaluate the current partners, negotiate terms, and decide search by search when a firm earns its fee. Establish Kaizen's employer brand in the NYC and DC markets so strong candidates understand the unique product and value proposition of Kaizen. Partner with the COO and founding team on headcount planning and the talent strategy behind a 40-to-100 plan in the next few quarters. What You'll Bring You have scaled a talent function through significant headcount growth, and can point to what you built and what it produced. You have operated as a trusted peer to company founders. You are direct, say the hard things that need to be said, and take ownership. You have a real answer for why people should work at Kaizen, and you can make the federal opportunity land with a candidate who has never considered public sector work. Real relationships and depth of understanding of the NYC engineering community. You have managed a recruiting team including recruiters, coordinators, and sourcer…