Recruiter

Join Sakana AI as a Recruiter to help us build one of the most talented AI teams in the world. Founded by Llion Jones (co-inventor of the Transformer) and David Ha (former head of research at Stability AI), Sakana AI attracts extraordinary talent — and we need a recruiter who can identify, engage, and close candidates at this caliber. You will own the full recruitment lifecycle across engineering, research, and business functions as we scale rapidly.

In this role, you will partner with hiring managers to define roles and ideal candidate profiles, build diverse candidate pipelines through creative sourcing strategies, conduct initial screens that assess both technical capability and culture fit, manage the end-to-end interview process, and negotiate competitive offers. You will also contribute to employer branding — telling the Sakana AI story at conferences, on social media, and through the candidate experience itself.

Recruiting for Sakana AI presents unique challenges and opportunities. Our ideal candidates are often world-class researchers or engineers who are not actively looking for new roles. They need to be convinced that Sakana AI offers something they cannot find elsewhere: the chance to work with Transformer co-inventors, a genuinely novel research agenda, significant funding, and the excitement of building from Tokyo. You will craft personalized outreach that speaks to what motivates top-tier technical talent.

We are looking for a recruiter who is passionate about finding exceptional people and creating an outstanding candidate experience from first touch to day one. You should be comfortable sourcing for highly technical roles, conversant enough in AI/ML to have credibility with candidates, and energized by the challenge of competing for talent against the biggest names in tech.

Requirements:

• 3+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, preferably hiring for engineering and research roles in tech
• Demonstrated success sourcing and closing passive candidates for highly technical positions
• Strong understanding of the AI/ML talent landscape, compensation benchmarks, and competitive dynamics
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills across cultures and seniority levels
• Experience with ATS systems and modern recruiting tools (LinkedIn Recruiter, sourcing platforms)
• Data-driven approach to recruiting: you track pipeline metrics and continuously optimize conversion rates
• Fluency in English and Japanese preferred for engaging with our international candidate pool