Associate Headhunter

Talent Researcher / Associate Headhunter (AI & Product)

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