Chef Robotics is accelerating the deployment of intelligent machines in the physical world, starting with food production — the sector facing the largest labor shortage in the U.S., with 1.14M unfilled jobs today and 3.1M projected by 2030. These roles can't be offshored, making robotics essential to keeping production onshore and strengthening America's manufacturing base.
Our AI-powered robots automate food prep and assembly in commercial kitchens and food manufacturing, and have already produced over 110 million meals in production — generating the world's largest proprietary dataset for deformable food manipulation. Backed by investors including Kleiner Perkins, Construct, Bloomberg Beta, and Promus Ventures, and built by a team from Cruise, Zoox, Google, Tesla, and Amazon Robotics, Chef is rapidly scaling with multiple multi-year contracts and a mission to put an intelligent robot in every commercial kitchen.
About the Role
You will be responsible for helping Chef scale by identifying, engaging, and hiring world-class talent. You’ll partner closely with hiring managers across engineering, operations, and G&A functions to ensure we build a high-performing, values-aligned team. This is an exciting opportunity to join a company at an inflection point and shape our hiring practices from the ground up.
Success in the role requires experience in and a commitment to maintaining an extremely high standard for hiring, as well as the grit, organization, and indefatigable nature to build a healthy pipeline of great talent. You should be a builder and a culture champion who is able to work with a high-talent team to create a hiring process and a company that supports top talent. Experience recruiting for startups and for software, physical (hardware), and AI-enabled companies is strongly preferred.
Own full-cycle recruiting across multiple roles (technical and non-technical), from sourcing and screening to offers and close. The large majority of hiring will be in software, AI and robotics.
Partner with hiring managers to understand headcount needs, role requirements, and ideal candidate profiles
Drive sourcing strategies to attract passive candidates using tools like LinkedIn, Gem, and referrals
Maintain a high bar for candidate experience and communication throughout the hiring process
Collaborate with the Head of People to improve and scale recruiting operations (interview training, metrics tracking, employer branding, etc.)
Champion our mission and culture, serving as the first point of contact for many future “Chefs”
Experiment with new sourcing channels and creative outreach tactics to build a diverse pipeline
Oversee the ATS (Applicant Tracking System), ensuring clean pipelines and strong communication at each stage for a high-touch candidate experience.
Uphold an exceptionally high hiring standard, ensuring that we attract world-class talent.
3–5 years of full-cycle recruiting experience in a fast-paced, startup or tech environment
Proven ability to hire across multiple functions; technical, software, AI, robotics, recruiting experience strongly preferred.
You’re adept at prioritizing and managing multiple searches simultaneously, driving results in a fast-paced environment.
Strong sourcing chops—you’re scrappy, resourceful, and love the hunt. You excel at sourcing, engaging passive talent, and getting them excited about solving challenging problems with a high-caliber team.
You possess strong communication skills and can quickly build rapport and trust with candidates.
You’re empathetic, warm, and able to build trust with both candidates and hiring teams
Obsessed with candidate experience and passionate about creating a thoughtful process
You’re energized by working in an early-stage, dynamic environment and excited to build systems that scale
You have a strong network in robotics, AI, or mechatronics, especially in the Bay Area.
You thrive in dynamic, fast-paced environments and have experience working in startups.
You quickly grasp new technical concepts and can credibly engage with engineering experts. Experience in robotics, AI/ML, or other advanced technologies is strongly preferred.
