Founding Recruiter, India

About Vela Vela is a YC-backed startup building AI that handles coordination, starting with scheduling for recruiting and executive search firms. We’re looking for a Founding Recruiter to help build our India team. Your primary focus will be hiring exceptional operations talent, including fresh graduates and early-career candidates who are ambitious, resourceful, and eager to take ownership. You’ll work directly with the founders and own hiring from the first outreach through the candidate’s joining date. We want someone who enjoys finding great people, knows how to get them excited, and follows through. What you’ll do

• Own end-to-end recruiting for our India team, primarily across operations and early-career roles.
• Source candidates through targeted outreach, referrals, college networks, student communities, and job platforms.
• Build relationships with placement cells and campus organizations to create a consistent graduate hiring pipeline.
• Screen for clear communication, sound judgment, attention to detail, initiative, and a track record of getting things done.
• Work with the founders to define role requirements, develop practical assessments, and keep interviews moving.
• Manage candidate communication, offer discussions, and follow-ups through joining.
• Track which sourcing channels produce strong hires and improve the process as you learn.
• Give candidates an honest understanding of the role, expectations, and working arrangements.

What we’re looking for

• Ideally 2–4 years of recruiting experience, with evidence that you’ve independently sourced and closed candidates.
• Previous startup experience strongly preferred, either in-house or recruiting closely for startup teams.
• Experience hiring for operations, customer support, business roles, or graduate programs.
• Strong written and verbal communication. You can explain an opportunity clearly and build trust with candidates.
• Excellent organization and follow-through. You keep multiple hiring processes moving without letting people fall through the cracks.
• Resourcefulness. You can find promising candidates beyond inbound applications and familiar colleges.
• Good judgment about potential. You look for evidence of ambition, learning, and ownership in internships, projects, work, and extracurricular commitments.

Why join You’ll help shape the team from an early stage, work directly with the founders, and see the impact of every strong hire. There’s room to take on broader recruiting responsibilities as Vela grows. Compensation ₹8–12 lakh per year in fixed pay, depending on experience and demonstrated results. How to apply Send us your resume and a short note covering:

• The types of roles you’ve hired for and your personal contribution to filling them.
• One difficult hire you closed and how you found the person.
• How you would approach finding ambitious operations talent and fresh graduates for Vela.