Staff Talent Sourcer - Contract (r4881)

Shield AI Shield AI · Defense · Remote · People Experience

Shield AI is seeking a Staff Talent Sourcer to lead talent discovery, market mapping, and pipeline cultivation for their engineering hiring engine. This role focuses on building intelligence, relationships, and systems to identify and engage exceptional candidates for specialized technical roles in the aerospace and defense industry.

What you'd actually do

  1. Own the top of funnel: Partner closely with recruiters and hiring leaders to define target profiles and build deep, data-informed sourcing strategies across multiple regions and functions.
  2. Map the market: Develop comprehensive talent landscapes by company, skillset, and geography; identify hidden talent pools and competitor org structures to inform recruiting strategy.
  3. Generate and engage: Use advanced Boolean, tooling, and creative sourcing channels (LinkedIn Recruiter, ClearanceJobs, SeekOut, Github, forums, niche aerospace networks, etc.) to identify and engage exceptional candidates.
  4. Build pipelines proactively: Maintain warm relationships with high-value candidates to enable just-in-time hiring across priority programs.
  5. Be the sourcing SME: Coach recruiters and hiring managers on market insights, talent availability, and candidate engagement best practices.

Skills

Required

  • 8+ years of proven cross-regional sourcing experience
  • Proven track record in market mapping, competitive intelligence, and candidate generation for highly specialized technical roles.
  • Deep expertise in Boolean search, LinkedIn Recruiter, HireZ, and other sourcing platforms.
  • Experience building and maintaining long-term relationships with passive, cleared, or niche engineering talent.
  • Excellent communication and storytelling skills
  • Highly organized, data-driven, and able to operate autonomously

Nice to have

  • aerospace
  • defense
  • autonomy
  • complex hardware/software industries

What the JD emphasized

  • highly specialized needs
  • highly specialized technical roles
  • cleared
  • complex hardware/software industries