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Sr. Staff Technical Recruiter, Physical AI

Aurora Innovation

Mountain View, CA · HybridJob$162–287K/yrPosted 3 days agoStill listed 1 day ago

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At a glance

Compensation
$162–287K/yr
Location
Mountain View, CAHybrid
Work Authorization
Not specified

Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.

Job overview

Aurora is seeking a Sr. Staff Technical Recruiter to lead high-impact Physical AI searches, primarily for Staff- to Principal-level candidates across autonomy, machine learning, perception, simulation, and hardware engineering. The recruiter will advise senior engineering leaders, shape talent strategy using market insights, build relationships across the Physical AI community, and mentor recruiters and sourcers. The role expects in-person office work at least three days per week.

Skills & qualifications

RequiredNice to have

Skills

Artificial IntelligenceCompetitive Market AnalysisTrusted AdvisorEquityLinkedInRoboticsRubyGemsMachine LearningApplicant Tracking SystemsLinkedIn RecruiterAutonomous VehiclesTechnical RecruitingRecruitingResearchCRMMentorshipAI and Machine LearningClosing EngineersHiring StrategyData AnalysisMarket IntelligenceAI ToolsGemSeekOutFrontier AI LabsHumanoid RoboticsGeneral-Purpose RoboticsRecruiting Function BuildingResearch Scientist RecruitingAcademic SourcingConference SourcingMentoring Recruiters

Qualifications

8+ Years Technical RecruitingStaff and Principal Hiring Track RecordDirector and VP Advisory Experience

Full job description

Who we are Aurora’s mission is to deliver the benefits of self-driving technology safely, quickly, and broadly. The Aurora Driver will create a new era in mobility and logistics, one that will bring a safer, more efficient, and more accessible future to everyone. At Aurora, you will tackle massively complex problems alongside other passionate, intelligent individuals, growing as an expert while expanding your knowledge. For the latest news from Aurora, visit aurora.tech or follow us on LinkedIn.

What we are looking for Aurora hires talented people with diverse backgrounds who are ready to help build a transportation ecosystem that will make our roads safer, get crucial goods where they need to go, and make mobility more efficient and accessible for all. We’re searching for a Sr. Staff Technical Recruiter, Physical AI. You will lead recruiting for Aurora’s most critical and hard-to-fill Physical AI searches across autonomy, machine learning, perception, simulation, AI infrastructure, and hardware engineering. This is a high-visibility role where you will partner directly with VP- and Director-level engineering leaders to shape how Aurora competes for - and win - the strongest AI and robotics talent in the market. In this role you will

  • Own full-cycle recruiting for Aurora’s highest-impact Physical AI searches, primarily at the Staff to Principal level, across autonomy, ML/robot learning, perception, simulation, controls, AI infrastructure, and hardware engineering

  • Serve as a strategic advisor to VP- and Director-level engineering leaders on market mapping, competitive intelligence, search design, engagement and closing strategies

  • Build and maintain deep relationships across the Physical AI talent community, including frontier AI labs, robotics companies, and academic research groups

  • Set the talent strategy for the Physical AI market across Talent Acquisition, using data and market insights to influence hiring plans and decisions

  • Raise the bar on AI-enabled recruiting practices and mentor recruiters and sourcers on the team

Required qualifications

  • 8+ years of technical recruiting experience, with deep specialization in autonomous vehicles, robotics, or AI/ML

  • Proven track record of closing Staff and Principal-level engineers and researchers in highly competitive talent markets

  • Experience partnering as a trusted advisor to Director- and VP-level engineering leaders on hiring strategy

  • Demonstrated ability to use data, market intelligence, and AI tools to shape and accelerate searches with quality output

  • Experience with an ATS/CRM such as Ashby and sourcing tools such as LinkedIn Recruiter, Gem, or SeekOut

Desirable qualifications

  • Experience hiring from frontier AI labs or humanoid and general-purpose robotics companies

  • Experience building a recruiting function or talent strategy for a new technical domain

  • Experience recruiting research scientists, including academic and conference sourcing (e.g., NeurIPS, CVPR, ICLR)

  • Experience mentoring recruiters and sourcers

For roles based in San Francisco, CA, Mountain View, CA, and Seattle, WA: The salary range for this position is $179,000 - $287,000 per year. For roles based in Pittsburgh, PA: The salary range for this position is $162,000 - $259,000 per year. Aurora’s pay ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, the successful candidate’s starting base pay will be determined based on factors including job-related skills, experience, qualifications, relevant education or training, and market conditions. These ranges may be modified in the future. The successful candidate will also be eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation, and benefits.

Working at Aurora At Aurora, we bring together extraordinarily talented and experienced people united by the strength of our values. We operate with integrity, set outrageous goals, and build a culture where we win together — all without any jerks. We believe in-person work increases collaboration, empathy, and our ability to lead effectively. As a result, Aurorans are expected to work from the office at least 3 days per week, with some roles requiring more frequent in-office presence, up to 5 days per week, based on operational needs. Our Careers page provides insight into what it is like to work at Aurora, and you can find all the latest updates in our Newsroom.

Our commitment to safety At the core of everything we do is our commitment to safety. Building best-in-class self-driving technology will take time, and we believe that each employee at Aurora has a role in contributing to safety, every step of the way. Aurora expects commitment to our safety policies from every employee, and seeks candidates who take an active responsibility, can contribute to building an atmosphere of trust, and invest in the organization’s long-term success by prioritizing working safely, no matter what.

Our commitment to inclusion Aurora considers candidates without regard to their race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, parent or caregiver status, ancestry, political affiliation, veteran and/or military status, physical or mental disability, or any other status protected by federal or state law. Aurora considers qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. We are also committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or an accommodation due to a disability, you may contact us at [email protected].

For California applicants, information collected and processed as part of your application and any job applications you choose to submit is subject to Aurora’s California Employment Privacy Policy.

How this job compares

Set against the 497 open Technical Recruiter jobs on Olive Jobs, counted October 31, 2026.

Pay
  • This posting$162–287K/yr
  • California median$130–180K/yr167 salary ranges
  • US median$122–175K/yr311 salary ranges

This range's midpoint, $225K, is 42% above the California median midpoint ($158K) — in the top quarter of Technical Recruiter salary ranges in California.

Openings
Olive Jobs lists 239 open Technical Recruiter jobs in California and 497 across the US. 7% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
Hiring the most in California
Experience
This posting asks for at least 8 years of experience — more than three in four Technical Recruiter postings that state a minimum ask for (median 5 years, across 440 postings).
Education
53 of the 497 open Technical Recruiter jobs (11%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.

Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on October 31, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.

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