Associate Headhunter
| Remuneration: | negotiable |
| Location: | Cape Town |
| Remote work: | Only remote work |
| Job level: | Junior/Mid |
| Type: | Permanent |
| Company: | The AI Boom |
Location: Remote
Level: Junior - Mid
Type: Permanent
Company: The AI Boom (part of The Talent Boom Group)
Comp: Base + performance bonus
Why this role slaps:
100% Remote
Unlimited paid vacation (yes, actually unlimited)
Perks that aren’t boring: flight contributions, giveaways, MacBooks, trips abroad
The vibe:
We’re not your dusty corporate recruiter shop.
We’re a global boutique headhunting firm founded in Cape Town in 2013, now operating across the US, UK, and Europe. We place top tier AI, product, design, and GTM talent into some of the most exciting startups and scale ups in the world.
Clients include Adidas, Semrush, Audible, Vimeo, high growth VC backed startups like Sequoia Captial and serious operators.
We’ve just launched The AI Boom and it’s growing fast. That means we need hunters. Not admin. Not CV shufflers. Real talent operators who can find, engage, and deliver exceptional people.
The role (aka your daily side quest):
You are the engine room of delivery. Your job is to find exceptional people and get them over the line.
Research, identify, and map top tier AI, product, and engineering talent across the US market
Build long lists and shortlists for highly specific, high bar searches
Proactively source candidates via LinkedIn, GitHub, X, communities, referrals, and off market channels
Write sharp, human outreach that actually gets replies
Qualify candidates properly (not just “looks good on paper”)
Run first stage screens and deeply understand candidate motivation, trajectory, and red flags
Partner with headhunters to refine search strategy, market mapping, and candidate positioning
Manage candidates through process: scheduling, prep, feedback, and offer stages
Keep the ATS clean, structured, and useful (not a graveyard of CVs)
Build and nurture long term talent pipelines in AI and product
Develop genuine relationships with high performers, not just transact placements
This is a delivery and sourcing role, not an admin role.
Who you are:
1 to 4+ years in recruitment, talent research, or sourcing (agency or in house)
You know how to find people who are not actively applying
You are comfortable in technical, product, or AI led markets (or obsessed with learning them fast)
You are detail driven but outcome obsessed
You can spot quality from a mile away
You are organised, fast, and don’t need hand holding
You communicate like a normal, intelligent human (not a recruiter bot)
You are resilient. You don’t crumble when candidates ghost or searches get hard
Must have worked US markets or global searches
Bonus if you’ve used tools like Ashby, Loxo, Coda, Notion, Airtable, etc.
What this is not:
It is not an HR role
It is not an admin role
It is not posting jobs and praying
This is active headhunting and delivery.
Why you’ll love it:
Base + performance bonus
Unlimited PTO
Real incentives: MacBooks, trips, experiences, not pizza parties
Flexible hours, remote first, adult environment
You will learn how elite search actually works
You will work on genuinely interesting roles, not bulk hiring sludge
How to apply:
No soulless blank CV emails. Show us you’re human.
Check us out:
thetalentboom.com
theaiboom.ai
Company Description
The AI Boom, powered by The Talent Boom is THE recruitment partner for high end growth start-ups. Laser focused, sharp, targeted headhunting.Posted on 15 Jan 18:23, Closing date 16 Mar