Robots & Pencils is hiring: Recruiter, AI Talent in Seattle

About the Role

At Robots & Pencils, we believe that creativity and technology work best when people do too. As we enter an AI‑first chapter and continue to scale out our Applied AI Studio, we are looking for a Recruiter, AI Talent who will play a key role in attracting and hiring the technical innovators who bring our most ambitious work to life.

Responsibilities

• Lead full‑cycle recruiting for Forward Deployed Engineers, AI Engineers, Machine Learning Engineers, and other technical roles across the AI Studio.
• Partner with hiring managers to define role requirements, scorecards, and interview plans aligned with software engineering fundamentals and emerging AI capabilities.
• Source top‑tier technical talent using a mix of outbound strategies, sourcing tools, networks, communities, and referrals.
• Act as a trusted advisor to engineering leaders, sharing talent insights, pipeline trends, and recommendations to support decision‑making.
• Manage candidate communication end‑to‑end, ensuring a high‑touch and transparent experience that reflects our culture and values.
• Facilitate offers, negotiations, and closing conversations while ensuring fairness, clarity, and alignment with compensation guidelines.
• Build and refine recruiting processes that support high‑volume, highly specialized technical hiring.
• Partner with Talent Attraction, HR, and Marketing to craft compelling job postings, candidate materials, and employer brand assets.
• Collaborate with AI Studio leadership on workforce planning for client engagements, pod structures, and capability expansion.
• Ensure accurate and timely data across ATS and recruiting systems to support compliance, reporting, and leadership visibility.
• Represent Robots & Pencils at local meetups, university engagements, and AI community events to build strong talent pipelines.
• Work closely with engineering interviewers to uphold and continuously refine our technical hiring bar.
• Conduct initial technical screens to evaluate software fundamentals, AI/ML exposure, problem‑solving abilities, and client‑facing potential.
• Guide teams in structured interviewing, fair evaluation practices, and bias‑free hiring decisions.
• Contribute to the evolution of interview rubrics, sourcing strategies, and talent analytics.

Qualifications

• A degree in business, HR, communications, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
• 3–5+ years of recruiting experience, including 2–3+ years focused specifically on technical or engineering roles.
• Demonstrated experience hiring software engineers, AI/ML practitioners, or cloud‑native engineering talent.
• Ability to understand and discuss foundational technical concepts (APIs, cloud architectures, LLMs, vector databases, agentic workflows).
• Strong experience sourcing passive talent in competitive markets like Seattle/Bellevue.
• Excellent communication skills and a candidate‑first approach to relationship‑building.
• Proven ability to manage multiple searches while maintaining clarity, organization, and exceptional follow‑through.
• This position requires being on site in our Bellevue office five days per week; candidates must be based in the Greater Seattle/Bellevue area or be in the process of relocating without company assistance.

Nice to Have

• Experience recruiting in AI‑first environments, high‑growth startups, or digital innovation consultancies.
• Familiarity with agentic AI, LLM engineering roles, or full‑stack development hiring.
• Experience with ATS platforms such as Greenhouse or Lever.
• Comfort supporting talent brand initiatives, community‑building, or technical events.

What Makes You a Good Fit

• Love matching exceptional technical talent with meaningful, high‑impact work.
• Be proactive, adaptable, and energized by ambiguity.
• Build strong relationships at all levels, from junior engineers to senior technical leaders.
• Take pride in driving both speed and quality in the hiring process.
• Communicate clearly, collaborate with empathy, and lead with curiosity.
• Stay organized, detail‑oriented, and solutions‑focused, even when priorities shift.

If you’re inspired by the intersection of people, creativity, and AI and excited to help build a world‑class engineering organization, we’d love to meet you. Together, we’ll continue shaping a workplace where humans and intelligent systems can do their best work, side by side.