Lead Talent Acquisition Manager H/F

About Alta Ares

Alta Ares is a deeptech startup founded in 2024, building real-time AI for defense operations (ISR, C-UAS). Our primary clients are NATO-aligned militaries, with regular deployments during live exercises. Raised €2M pre-seed in May 2025 Products include:

• Real-time AI ISR module deployable on drones and tactical platforms
• Counter-UAS solution enabling autonomous drone takeover under GNSS-denied environment
• Full-stack MLOps platform for training & deploying military-grade AI models
• Data fusion and trajectory prediction

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Role & Mission

We are looking for our Lead Talent Acquisition to build and scale our recruitment function. This is a hands-on role requiring both strategic vision and operational excellence. You will own the entire recruitment infrastructure: from sourcing critical hires to implementing scalable processes, tools, and systems.

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Strategic Recruitment & Sourcing :

• Lead end-to-end recruitment for strategic and hard-to-fill positions across engineering, operations, and business functions
• Hands-on sourcing and headhunting for critical roles (hardware engineers,software developers, defense specialists, international positions and more)
• Build and maintain talent pipelines for key technical and operational profiles
• Partner with leadership (COO and Chief of Staff) to define hiring strategy and workforce planning

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Structure & Process Building :

• Design and implement scalable recruitment processes from scratch
• Optimize our tech stack: ATS (Applicant Tracking System), CRM,sourcing tools etc.
• Establish recruitment workflows, interview frameworks, and evaluation criteria
• Create documentation, playbooks, and best practices for future team growth
• Define and track recruitment KPIs and metrics

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Employer Branding & Market Positioning :

• Develop Alta Ares' employer brand and talent value proposition
• Build relationships with universities, engineering schools, and defense industrynetworks
• Represent Alta Ares at recruiting events, job fairs, and industry conferences
• Create compelling job descriptions and recruitment marketing materials

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Requirements

Candidate profile

• 5+ years of recruitment experience with a mix of: - Agency/Executive Search background (headhunting, complex sourcing), - In-house/corporate recruitment (process building, stakeholder management)
• Scale-up experience strongly preferred: ideally the first or early TA hire at a company that experienced significant growth
• Demonstrated success recruiting for technical roles (engineering, R&D,hardware/software)
• Experience in defense, aerospace, deep tech, or highly regulated industries is a plus

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Skills & Capabilities

• Hands-on sourcing expert
• Process architect: You've built recruitment functions from the ground up : implemented ATS/CRM, designed interview processes, established metrics
• Data-driven: You use metrics to drive decisions and continuously improve recruitment performance

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Soft Skills

• Entrepreneurial mindset: Comfortable with ambiguity and building from zero
• Highly autonomous: Self-starter who takes initiative without needing direction
• Adaptable and resourceful: Thrives in fast-paced, evolving environments
• Excellent communicator: Ability to sell the company vision to top-tier candidates
• Cultural fit: Alignment with defense/mission-driven work and international operations

Nice to Have

• Experience recruiting internationally
• Knowledge of defense sector talent pools and networks