---
title: 'Senior Recruiter at Poseidon Aerospace'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-recruiter-poseidon-aerospace-alameda-8n3y3p2ks94f'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-07'
---

# Senior Recruiter at Poseidon Aerospace

- **Company:** Poseidon Aerospace
- **Location:** Alameda
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-09-05
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-07
- **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/poseidonaero/3ea759b5-5d40-428c-a9cf-b80beb39cd98

## Job description

## ABOUT POSEIDON AEROSPACE:

Poseidon Aerospace is reimagining how the world moves goods. We build and operate full-size autonomous cargo aircraft - capable of carrying two tons of payload over a thousand nautical miles. From remote communities to contested logistics operations, our platforms unlock a new cost curve for air freight, making it faster, cheaper, and accessible anywhere it's needed. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area with locations in Washington DC, Oregon, and Maine; we're building something consequential.

## ABOUT THE ROLE

This is Poseidon's first dedicated Talent Acquisition hire. You will own all of the full recruiting function end to end; from designing the process and standing up the infrastructure to personally sourcing and closing the engineers, pilots, and operators who will define our fleet. You'll be the first face candidates see and the last voice they hear before signing. You will also sit at the table with the Head of People and Talent to shape headcount strategy as we scale.

This role is for someone who has recruited in aerospace or defense, understands what it means to hire for highly specialized technical roles, and is energized by the challenge of building from scratch. We work onsite and this role is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

## RESPONSIBILITIES

- Full-Cycle Recruiting: Own the hiring process from sourcing all the way to the hand-off for onboarding. Partner with hiring managers, build proactive pipelines for hard-to-fill roles, and serve as the primary point of contact for candidates
- Infrastructure & Process: Administer our TA tools, design and document interview processes and evaluation rubrics, build and maintain recruiting metrics, develop workflows and candidate communication standards
- Candidate Experience: Greet and host candidates onsite, create a candidate journey that is fast, respectful, and genuinely differentiating, even for candidates we don't advance
- Employer Brand & Sourcing: develop and execute sourcing strategies across LI Recruiter, aerospace-specific talent networks, universities, military transition pipelines, and industry events. Draft compelling job posts and social content that communicates Poseidon's mission and differentiation, and represent Poseidon at events as needed (may require travel)
- Strategic Partnership: Serve as the primary TA partner to the Head of People and act as a strategic advisor to hiring managers, contribute to workforce planning discussions and help prioritize hiring sequencing as the company grows

## QUALIFICATIONS

- 7+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience, with a meaningful portion of that in a startup aerospace, defense, aviation, or an adjacent deep-tech environment
- Demonstrated experience taking the TA function from 0->1
- Experience recruiting for highly technical roles: propulsion, avionics, controls, flight test, or related engineering disciplines
- Hands-on experience owning or significantly configuring an ATS, you have set up workflows, not just used them
- Strong sourcing skills across both active and passive candidate channels
- Excellent written and verbal communication; capable of representing the company to senior technical candidates and executives alike
- Comfort operating independently in an ambiguous, fast-moving startup environment

## WHAT YOU GET FROM US

- Competitive salary and meaningful early-stage equity
- Relocation support if applicable
- Employee Health Benefit Plans
- 6% Retirement matching
- Flexible PTO
- Free lunches, snacks, and a stocked fridge at our offices
- AI tools and subscriptions

## About Poseidon Aerospace

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Poseidon Aerospace is reimagining logistics with autonomous aircraft built to move goods faster, cheaper, and anywhere they are needed, fundamentally changing the cost curve for air freight.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Startup)
- **Headquarters**: San Francisco, California, United States
- **Founded**: Not publicly available
- **Founders**: David Zagaynov (CEO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Aerospace, Aviation, and Defense Logistics
- **Target customers**: Government/Defense (military logistics), Commercial logistics providers, and Enterprise supply chains
- **Mission**: To make air logistics as affordable and flexible as possible by driving the cost per ton-mile down to levels never before achieved in aviation, building the unmanned backbone of tomorrow's logistics.

## Products & Services
- **Seagull (Unmanned Cargo Aircraft)**: An autonomous, unmanned cargo drone designed to lift two tons. The aircraft is a seaplane, requiring no airports or runways—only water—to operate. This unlocks millions of miles of navigable waterways for logistics. The platform is built from the ground up as a clean-sheet design, leveraging composites and advanced manufacturing.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available
- **Total Funding**: $12.4 million USD
- **Funding Rounds**:
    - Pre-Seed: Led by Starship Ventures (1 investor)
    - Seed (2025-01-01): $1.4M from 2 investors
    - Seed (2025-11-01): $11.0M from 7 investors, led by Tamarack Global
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: Tamarack Global (Lead), Starship Ventures, Sean Hoge (Lead Investor)
- **Growth Signals**: Headcount grew +366.7% year-over-year to 20 employees; actively hiring for high-impact roles; secured a partnership with Northeastern’s Roux Institute and their National Security Innovation Hub to expand presence in Maine; FY2026 NDAA includes a provision for a pilot program for contracted amphibious aircraft, validating the market.

## Competitive Advantages
- **Seaplane Design**: The aircraft requires no airports or runways, only water, unlocking millions of miles of navigable waterways and making logistics possible in remote, contested, or infrastructure-poor regions.
- **Cost Curve Disruption**: By driving down the cost per flight-ton-mile, Poseidon aims to make air cargo as affordable as ground or maritime transport, a fundamental shift in logistics economics.
- **Defense & Government Focus**: The company is strategically aligned with U.S. national security priorities, specifically "contested logistics" as highlighted by the Department of Defense, giving it a clear and funded customer base.
- **Speed & Agility**: As a small, focused team (20 employees), the company claims to move with immense speed, building clean-sheet autonomous planes from scratch using advanced composites and manufacturing techniques.

## Strategic Focus
- **Scaling the Team**: Actively hiring across engineering, operations, and government relations to support rapid growth (headcount up +366.7% YoY).
- **Government & Defense Contracts**: Winning contracts is a core focus, with a dedicated Proposal Lead role and a Director of Government Relations position. The company is positioning itself to be a key player in the U.S. military's "contested logistics" strategy.
- **Expanding Manufacturing & Presence**: Partnering with Northeastern’s Roux Institute in Maine to build a presence in a region with a deep aerospace heritage and access to a national security innovation hub.
- **Product Development**: Building and iterating on the "Seagull" unmanned cargo aircraft, with a focus on composites and clean-sheet design.

## Why Work Here
- **High-Impact, Early-Stage Environment**: The company has grown from 4 to 20 people in a short period, offering the chance to build foundational systems and processes from the ground up.
- **Cutting-Edge Technology**: Work on clean-sheet autonomous aircraft, advanced composites, and manufacturing engineering in a fast-paced, iterative environment.
- **Mission-Driven**: The work directly impacts national security and global logistics, with a clear, compelling mission to make air cargo as affordable as ground transport.
- **Culture & Perks**: On-site work in San Francisco, CA. The company emphasizes a "punch above its weight" culture with a focus on engineering excellence and speed. Active hiring for high-impact roles across engineering, operations, and government relations.
- **Recent Growth**: The team has grown from 4 to 20 people in a short period, offering significant ownership and career growth opportunities for early employees.

## Sources
1. [poseidonaero.com](https://www.poseidonaero.com/)
2. [LinkedIn - Poseidon Aerospace](https://www.linkedin.com/company/poseidon-aerospace)
3. [Built In - Poseidon Aerospace](https://builtin.com/company/poseidon-aerospace)
4. [Ashby - Poseidon Aerospace Jobs](https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/poseidonaero)

## Other roles at Poseidon Aerospace

- [Propulsion Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/propulsion-engineer-poseidon-aerospace-alameda-j764pv1hrkqc) — Alameda
- [Proposal Lead](https://feeny.ai/job/proposal-lead-poseidon-aerospace-washington-fy2rdhdr2w3v) — Washington, DC
- [Pilot](https://feeny.ai/job/pilot-poseidon-aerospace-alameda-7r9ygx47zmpp) — Alameda
- [Operations Associate](https://feeny.ai/job/operations-associate-poseidon-aerospace-alameda-b79xt48vnsjy) — Alameda
- [Mechanical Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/mechanical-engineer-poseidon-aerospace-alameda-pr6p7816nv70) — Alameda
- [Manufacturing Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/manufacturing-engineer-poseidon-aerospace-alameda-5gqg860wyvxs) — Alameda
- [Maine Composites Bridge](https://feeny.ai/job/maine-composites-bridge-poseidon-aerospace-alameda-dpk4eetefz67) — Alameda
- [Lead Mechanical Engineer, Airframe](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-mechanical-engineer-airframe-poseidon-aerospace-alameda-cmzp9ptrpq8q) — Alameda
- [Head of Finance](https://feeny.ai/job/head-of-finance-poseidon-aerospace-alameda-t4js5ys7mnfg) — Alameda
- [GNC Engineer](https://feeny.ai/job/gnc-engineer-poseidon-aerospace-alameda-3rfbvjesjenj) — Alameda