Talent Acquisition Manager
Location: Zurich
Sector: Industrial AI & Deep-Tech Level: Early career (1–4 years)
The company
Our Client is a fast-growing industrial AI scale-up in Zurich, building a world model for the next industrial revolution. Born out of leading Swiss academic AI research, its physics-grounded model predicts the next state of physical reality rather than the next word, and is already deployed with Fortune 500 manufacturers across discrete and process industries. Partnerships with several of the world's leading AI and technology companies are in place, and the company is heading into a significant seed round.
Speed is the company's edge, and exceptional people are how it increases the pace. That is where you come in.
The role
As Talent Acquisition Manager, you guard the hiring bar. Every person you bring in should raise the level of the team, whether they are an underdog, a rising star or a proven performer.
You will:
- Turn the product and research roadmap into a clear hiring plan, working with team leads across tech, research and strategy
- Design roles and offers that reflect company needs, market standards and start-up realities
- Find and test new channels every day to reach exceptional people, and double down on what works
- Run first interviews as two-way conversations, then write a clear yes or no with reasons
- Keep every candidate informed with fast, personal follow-up
- Own the hiring funnel tracker, measure conversion stage by stage and report it in Excel
- Run onboarding and offboarding, from contracts and access to a first-week plan
- Look after team morale and culture as the company grows
- Handle candidate and employee data, work-permit basics and salaries with care and discretion
What you bring
- Early career experience in recruiting, HR or operations, ideally including screening and first interviews
- A track record you can show in numbers: hires made, stage conversion, time to hire
- Precision and discipline, from file formatting to funnel tracking
- Strong emotional intelligence and the drive to build a high-performing team
- Professional-level English; German is a plus
Backgrounds that fit well include technical recruiters at deep-tech start-ups, agency recruiters or headhunters who have placed ML, software, robotics or hardware talent, recruiting coordinators, start-up People Operations generalists and Founders' Associates who have built a hiring process from scratch.
Essential requirements
- EU/EFTA passport or a degree from a Swiss university
- Based in, or willing to relocate to, Zurich (fully on-site, no remote)
- Notice period of 3 months maximum
Why apply
You will shape the team behind a fast-rising European industrial AI company at a decisive stage, with real ownership from day one, direct work with the founders and a clear path to Chief of Staff.
Contact
Peter Wharton
[email protected].
