Principal Recruiter, Research Talent

Principal Recruiter, Research Talent

Full-Time 80000 - 100000 £ / year (est.) No working from home possible
Tesla

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Lead strategic recruitment for top-tier research talent in AI and machine learning.
  • Company: Join Odyssey, an innovative AI lab transforming industries with cutting-edge technology.
  • Benefits: Competitive salary, flexible work options, and opportunities for professional growth.
  • Other info: Be part of a dynamic team with a mission to revolutionise technology.
  • Why this job: Shape the future of AI by connecting with world-class researchers and leaders.
  • Qualifications: Proven experience in recruiting specialized technical talent and building strong relationships.

The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.

Who We Are Odyssey is an AI lab pioneering general world models: causal, multimodal systems that learn to predict and interact with the world over long horizons.

This foundational technology promises to revolutionize robotics, science, healthcare, education, gaming, defense, and beyond.

Odyssey’s founders previously pioneered the most complex application of physical AI: self-driving cars.

They’ve now brought together a world-class research team from Deep Mind, Tesla, Waymo, Meta, Apple, and Wayve, who have made significant contributions to language models (Deep Mind Gemini), video models (Deep Mind Veo), world models (Wayve GAIA), and autonomous systems (Tesla FSD).

Odyssey has raised significant venture capital from GV, Amazon, AMD, EQT, NVIDIA, Natural Capital, In‑Q‑Tel, Elad Gil, Jeff Dean, Guillermo Rauch, Garry Tan, Kyle Vogt, and researchers from Open AI, Deep Mind, MSL, Recursive, and Thinking Machines.

What We're Looking For We are hiring our first Principal Recruiter dedicated entirely to research.

This person will play a foundational role in how we identify, engage, and close world‑class research talent.

Research hiring is rarely linear.

The best candidates are often deeply embedded in their work, motivated by intellectual fit, and unlikely to respond to a conventional recruiting process.

This role is for someone who knows how to build trust over time, understand the research landscape deeply, and help senior leaders make thoughtful, high‑conviction hiring decisions.

You will partner closely with research leadership to define the talent we need, map the people and teams shaping the field, and create highly personalized approaches for exceptional candidates.

This is not a high‑volume recruiting role.

It is a strategic, relationship‑driven role focused on the researchers, technical leaders, and emerging talent who could meaningfully shape the future of our work.

You should be equally comfortable developing long‑term market intelligence, advising leaders on candidate strategy, and personally driving sensitive, high‑priority searches from first conversation through close.

What you’ll do Partner closely with research leadership to understand priorities, define critical talent needs, and build recruiting strategies for high‑impact research hires.

Own deeply strategic searches for senior researchers, research leaders, and exceptional emerging talent across AI, machine learning, and adjacent technical fields.

Build a clear and continuously evolving map of the research talent market, including labs, universities, startups, companies, research groups, and individual contributors shaping the field.

Develop long‑term relationships with outstanding candidates, including people who are not actively looking and may require thoughtful, patient engagement.

Turn market insight, network signal, and candidate context into practical recommendations for hiring managers and senior leaders.

Design and manage tailored candidate processes that reflect the seniority, motivations, confidentiality needs, and evaluation requirements of each search.

Advise on candidate positioning, timing, compensation strategy, closing approach, and potential risks for especially important hires.

Help establish the operating model, standards, and talent intelligence practices for research recruiting as the function grows.

Who you are Significant experience recruiting highly technical, senior, executive, academic, or otherwise specialized talent.

A strong track record of building relationships with exceptional candidates who are not actively searching or who require a highly personalized recruiting approach.

Excellent judgment, discretion, and follow‑through in sensitive or confidential hiring situations.

Deep curiosity about AI research, technical talent markets, and the people and institutions shaping the frontier.

Strong talent intelligence instincts: you know how to gather context, interpret incomplete information, and convert signal into action.

Experience partnering with senior leaders and influencing recruiting strategy in ambiguous, fast‑moving environments.

The ability to balance long‑term relationship building with the urgency required to close critical hires.

A low‑ego, high‑ownership approach to building something important from an early stage. #J-18808-Ljbffr

Tesla

Contact Details:

Tesla Recruitment Team

We think you need these skills to ace Principal Recruiter, Research Talent

Research Talent Acquisition
Relationship Building
Strategic Recruiting
Market Intelligence
Candidate Engagement
Confidentiality Management
Judgment and Discretion