Nelo is profitable, scaling, and at a stage where every hire matters. $80M in revenue with 60 people means one bad hire is a real problem – not a statistic. The recruiting function needs to grow into something real, and this is the hire that does it.
The infrastructure is still evolving: pipelines are not fully built, agency reliance is high, and processes are still forming. This is a senior IC seat – full-cycle ownership, direct access to the founders, and a mandate to build the capability that lets Nelo keep its bar high as the headcount grows.
The role reports to Libby Hauser, Chief of Staff and VP of Operations, who owns the people function and has the authority and context to move fast.
Title: Lead / Principal Recruiter
Location: New York City (hybrid – regular in-office presence required)
Reports to: Libby Hauser, Chief of Staff and VP of Operations
Type: Senior individual contributor – no direct reports
•
Full-cycle recruiting across engineering, data, product, design, go-to-market, operations, finance, legal, compliance, and people roles
•
Partner with hiring managers to define role scope, success profiles, scorecards, and interview plans
•
Build outbound sourcing strategies for difficult and high-priority searches
•
Identify and engage passive candidates through targeted market mapping
•
Conduct candidate screens and maintain a consistently high bar for quality
•
Drive candidate closing: offer positioning, objection handling, references, counteroffer management
•
Provide leadership with clear visibility into pipelines, conversion, risks, and hiring forecasts
•
Challenge unrealistic specifications; recalibrate searches using market evidence
•
Reduce reliance on external agencies by building repeatable internal sourcing capability
•
Support recruiting across both New York and Mexico City as needed
•
Expand Nelo’s brand awareness in the talent market through LinkedIn presence, targeted hosted gatherings, and inclusion in relevant fintech events
What success looks like at 3 months:
•
Highest-priority searches are fully owned and producing qualified pipeline
•
Hiring managers have weekly visibility into progress and pipeline health
•
Outbound sourcing is live and producing candidates for at least two active searches
•
Agency dependence is already beginning to decline
What success looks like at 6 months:
•
You own the full recruiting cycle across technical and business functions without significant support
•
Interview processes are disciplined, consistent, and candidate-friendly across the board
•
Leadership views recruiting as a reliable, high-output function
•
A repeatable sourcing playbook exists for Nelo’s most common role types
•
Nelo’s employer brand is more visible in the New York fintech and tech recruiting community