Head of Talent

Government technology has failed citizens, veterans, public servants, and service members for decades. Kaizen powers America’s application layer. We replace the legacy systems federal agencies run on with modern software, built with craft. The ticketing platform a resident uses to visit a presidential library. The marketplace DoW uses to procure counter-drone systems to protect lives and critical infrastructure. The system a Veteran uses to access benefits. We build systems of record, of national consequence. Our AI-native modules and harness allow us to do so in weeks, not years. This year, our revenue has grown 35x. Next year, our software will serve over 100 million Americans across dozens of federal agencies. Founded in 2022 and based in New York City and DC, Kaizen has raised $35 million from NEA, a16z, Accel, 776, and Carpenter Capital. THE ROLE Selling software to the federal government is supposed to take years. Long procurement cycles, entrenched primes, and pilots that die before they convert. We found a market and a motion that break that pattern, and Kaizen is on track to go from $1M to nine figures in 24 months. Nobody in the history of government technology has done that. Which means the constraint is no longer whether we can sell or if we can win. It is whether we can hire fast enough, and whether we can go after the people we assume are out of reach. This role owns that. You will carry concurrent searches across GTM, operations, engineering, and design, build the systems and the team underneath them, and personally close the hardest ones. You will also change what this company believes is possible in hiring. The bar goes up by going after the best of the best, and this conviction starts with you. This is the most influential window Kaizen will ever have. The next sixty people become the company. This starts as a talent-focused role. As the function grows, it can grow to include People more broadly. LOCATION This is a hybrid role based out of our New York or DC. Candidates must reside or be able to commute to New York City or DC to work out of our office at least four times a week (Monday - Thursday). WHAT YOU'LL DO - Build and run Kaizen's recruiting engine: process, pipeline, and reporting across every function we hire into. - Own the hiring bar and raise it across the company. Not by saying no more often, but by convincing us we can win over the best talent, and making it happen. - Carry concurrent searches across go-to-market, operations, engineering, and design, and personally close the senior and executive ones. - Own the recruiting stack in Ashby, Juicebox, and LinkedIn Recruiter, give leadership a live view of pipeline health against the plan, and drive the automation of coordination work so the team spends its time on candidates. - Manage the team of three and hire the additional recruiters already approved, set the standard for excellent recruiting here, and invest in the career growth of the people you inherit. - Own the agency roster: evaluate the current partners, negotiate terms, and decide search by search when a firm earns its fee. - Establish Kaizen's employer brand in the NYC and DC markets so strong candidates understand the unique product and value proposition of Kaizen. - Partner with the COO and founding team on headcount planning and the talent strategy behind a 40-to-100 plan in the next few quarters. WHAT YOU'LL BRING - You have scaled a talent function through significant headcount growth, and can point to what you built and what it produced. - You have operated as a trusted peer to company founders. You are direct, say the hard things that need to be said, and take ownership. - You have a real answer for why people should work at Kaizen, and you can make the federal opportunity land with a candidate who has never considered public sector work. - Real relationships and depth of understanding of the NYC engineering community. - You have managed a recruiting team including recruiters, coordinators, and sourcers. This includes investing in their career growth and development. - You have carried concurrent searches across engineering and go-to-market, from IC through Director and above, including roles with no obvious candidate pool. - You use AI and automation in your own recruiting workflow today, and you have configured an ATS yourself, ideally Ashby. STRONG CANDIDATES MAY ALSO... - Have recruited in government, defense tech, or another regulated industry where the sell is harder than the salary. - Have run or managed retained executive searches, and know when a firm earns its fee and when it does not. - Want to grow into broader people operations as the function matures. DON'T APPLY IF... - You have only recruited where a sourcing team, a coordinator, and an established employer brand were already in place. The systems here are built for today's volume, and scaling them for three times the load is the job. - Your first move on a hard search is to call an agency. Firms should be part of your toolkit, not a reflex you depend on. - You think raising the bar means saying no more often. Here it means going after people who would not currently take the call. - You want a settled process before you can produce. Ours is built for a 40-person company and has to carry a hundred. - You want to run talent from the strategy layer. You will be expected to personally help source and close senior candidates. - The public sector reads to you as a step down rather than the most under-served software market in the country. WHAT KAIZEN OFFERS Health & Insurance - 100% coverage across the board: medical through Oxford/United (Gold and Platinum PPO plans), dental through Guardian PPO, and vision through Beam — all fully covered for employees, with 100% coverage for dependents. - $100,000 in fully paid life insurance. FSA and Dependent Care FSA. - One Medical membership, on us — same-day primary care, 24/7 virtual visits, and offices all over the city. - Fertility and family-building support through Carrot. - 401(k) through Guideline, with a 2% company match. Family & Time Off - 16 weeks of fully paid parental leave for birthing parents. 10 weeks fully paid for non-birthing parents. - Unlimited PTO, with a two-week minimum (we mean it when we say take time off!) - Closed for all federal holidays. - Company-wide winter break the week of Christmas. - Company offsites throughout the year. Office & Remote Setup - Up to $750 one-time home office or desk setup stipend for NYC-based employees. $500 for remote employees. - $50/month commuter benefit (company contribution). - Expensed lunch while in the office. - Dinner and Uber rides home will be expensed if you choose to work in the office past 7pm. - Company-provided laptop of your choice. Wellness - NYC employees: Fully covered gym membership at Grindhouse https://grindhousemhttn.com/ — right across the street from our office at 47 W 17th St (and in Williamsburg). A $225/month value, on us. - Non-NYC employees: $100 per month, dedicated to gym / physical fitness reimbursement. Stipends - $100/month utility stipend. - $250/quarter home cleaning stipend - $500/year professional development. - $250/year recreation. - $300/quarter pet care stipend.