Head - Talent Acquisition - Leadership Hiring - Technology

Head - Talent Acquisition - Leadership Hiring - Technology Role Overview: We are seeking a senior, hands-on Talent Acquisition leader to own and deliver technology leadership, executive, and CXO hiring across Engineering, Product, Data, AI/ML, Cloud, Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, and other technology functions. This is a pure individual contributor role with a strong focus on executive search, headhunting, confidential mandates, passive talent engagement, and senior-level candidate closure. The role will work directly with founders, CEOs, CTOs, technology leaders, boards, and senior HR stakeholders to identify and close high-impact technology leaders who can shape the organization's long-term growth. The ideal candidate is an exceptional executive recruiter who enjoys deep research, market mapping, relationship building, and closing complex technology leadership mandates, rather than managing a recruitment team. Key Responsibilities: 1. Technology Leadership & CXO Hiring: Own end-to-end executive search for senior technology positions including CTO, CIO, CPO, VP Engineering, VP Product, Engineering Director, Product Director, Head of Engineering, Head of Product, Head of Data/Analytics, Head of AI/ML, Head of Cloud/Infrastructure, Head of Cybersecurity, Principal/Distinguished Engineering roles, and Technology Transformation/Digital Leadership roles. - Partner with founders and senior leadership to understand the business context behind each mandate. - Define detailed role charters, leadership competencies, success metrics, reporting structures, and candidate specifications. - Manage confidential and highly sensitive leadership searches with complete discretion. 2. Executive Headhunting & Talent Mapping: - Drive proactive executive headhunting through LinkedIn Recruiter, professional networks, referrals, industry communities, and advanced research techniques. - Conduct deep talent mapping across technology companies, product organizations, SaaS companies, Fintech, E-commerce, Consumer technology, IT services, and Startups/scale-ups. - Perform organization mapping and competitor analysis to identify relevant leadership talent. - Build comprehensive talent maps covering current role, career history, technology expertise, organizational scale, team size, compensation, location, and leadership experience. - Build and maintain long-term relationships with passive technology leaders. 3. Candidate Assessment & Engagement: - Conduct detailed executive-level conversations to evaluate leadership capability, technology depth, product/engineering orientation, team-building experience, scale-up experience, business impact, strategic thinking, cultural alignment, and career motivations. - Develop highly personalized outreach strategies for senior technology professionals. - Position opportunities effectively based on the candidate's career aspirations and business impact. - Act as a trusted career advisor throughout the hiring process. 4. Executive Closure & Negotiation: - Own the candidate journey from initial approach through joining. - Lead complex compensation and offer negotiations. - Manage competing offers, counteroffers, notice periods, relocation, and other executive-level considerations. - Develop customized closing strategies for critical leadership candidates. - Maintain consistent engagement throughout the notice and pre-joining period. - Maximize offer acceptance and joining conversion. 5. Founder & Leadership Advisory: - Work directly with Founders, CEOs, CTOs, CPOs, Boards, and senior HR leadership. - Provide market intelligence on availability of technology leaders, compensation benchmarks, competitor leadership talent, talent migration, leadership supply and demand, hiring risks, and location considerations. - Challenge and refine candidate specifications based on actual market availability. - Provide informed recommendations on candidate positioning, compensation, and search strategy. 6. Executive Search Strategy & Delivery: - Independently manage multiple confidential leadership searches. - Develop search strategies, target-company lists, talent maps, and candidate pipelines. - Maintain clear search progress and stakeholder communication. - Present high-quality executive profiles with detailed candidate assessments. - Maintain strong documentation and search intelligence throughout each mandate. - Ensure leadership searches are executed with speed, rigor, discretion, and quality. Ideal Candidate Profile: - 8 - 15+ years of experience in Executive Search, Leadership Hiring, Technology Talent Acquisition, or senior recruitment. - Proven track record of closing CTO, VP, Director, Head, and other senior technology leadership positions. - Strong experience in technology executive search and passive talent engagement. - Exceptional LinkedIn Recruiter and headhunting expertise. - Strong ability to conduct talent mapping, organization mapping, and competitor research. - Experience hiring for startups, scale-ups, product companies, SaaS, fintech, e-commerce, or high-growth technology businesses. - Strong network among senior technology professionals. - Excellent communication, influencing, negotiation, and executive-level relationship management skills. - Proven ability to work directly with founders and senior leadership. - Strong commercial orientation and understanding of executive hiring. - High level of ownership, confidentiality, discretion, and professionalism.