Lead Technical Recruiter (Contract to Hire)

What You'll Do • Own full-cycle recruiting to include intake, sourcing, screening, interview coordination, offer negotiation, and close for technical roles spanning hardware, mechanical, software, electrical, power systems, optical, manufacturing, controls, and firmware engineering.

• Build and execute creative sourcing strategies to reach passive candidates from hardware, energy, aerospace, automotive, semiconductor, robotics, and adjacent deep-tech industries.

• Partner closely with hiring managers to define role requirements, calibrate on candidate profiles, and design structured, efficient interview processes.

• Serve as a trusted advisor to engineering leadership on market conditions, compensation benchmarks, talent availability, and hiring strategy.

• Deliver an exceptional candidate experience from first outreach through onboarding, representing Exowatt's mission and culture with credibility.

• Manage a high-priority requisition load while maintaining rigor on quality and data hygiene in our ATS. We use Lever.

• Track and report on pipeline health, funnel metrics, and time-to-fill; use data to identify bottlenecks and improve outcomes.

• Help establish and refine recruiting processes, tooling, employer brand, and interviewer training as the Austin team scales.

• Travel periodically to our Austin facility to align and partner with other leadership and Exowatt team members.

What You Bring • 6+ years of technical recruiting experience, with a demonstrated track record of sourcing, identifying, and closing top talent for hardware, mechanical, software, electrical, power systems, optical, controls, and firmware roles.

• Understanding of the Miami, and Florida engineering talent market and local networks.

• Deep experience recruiting for hardware and engineering-heavy organizations. You understand the difference between a power electronics engineer and a controls engineer, and you can speak credibly with both.

• Proven ability to build pipelines for niche, senior, and hard-to-fill roles through direct sourcing, networking, referrals, and market mapping, not just inbound applications.

• Strong closing skills: experience navigating complex offers, competing opportunities, relocations, and equity conversations.

• Excellent judgment on candidate quality and the confidence to push back on hiring managers when it improves the outcome.

• Highly organized and data-driven, with fluency in Lever, LinkedIn Recruiter, and modern sourcing tools.

• Experience using AI tools, Claude specifically, to enhance productivity and efficiency.

• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, early-stage environment with shifting priorities and a high degree of ownership.

• Based in the Miami, FL metro area and able to work on-site five days per week. Only local Miami and surrounding area candidates will be considered.

• Able to travel to Exowatt's Austin, TX facility as needed.

Nice to Have • Experience recruiting for climate tech, energy, solar, energy storage, or industrial hardware companies.

• Experience hiring for manufacturing, test, and field engineering roles in addition to design engineering.

• Experience as a first or early recruiting hire, building processes and infrastructure from scratch.

• Familiarity with the Austin engineering talent market and local networks.

Engagement Details • Structure : 1099 independent contractor, contract to hire. Successful contractors will be considered for conversion to full-time employment.

• Schedule : 40 hours per week, on-site in our Miami headquarters, Monday through Friday.

• Travel : Periodic travel to our Austin, TX facility; travel and accommodation expenses are covered by Exowatt.

• Compensation : Competitive contract rate commensurate with experience; details discussed during the interview process.