head of HR & talent acquisition

• Location: Paris (75008), France
• Reports to: Executive Board/Comex
• Position objective: We're looking for a Lead Talent Acquisition who can own end-to-end recruitment while building scalable hiring systems. This isn't a role where you manage a team from day one—you'll be hands-on, executing strategic hires yourself while laying the groundwork for future scale. You'll work directly with our CEO and leadership team on critical technical and business hires that will define our company.
• Contract: CDI (Permanent contract)

Hands-on Execution

• Lead end-to-end recruitment on strategic, high-complexity roles (technical, defense, senior leadership)
• Source proactively using creative channels, boolean searches, mapping exercises, and network building
• Manage a high-volume pipeline while maintaining exceptional candidate experience

Build & Structure

• Implement or optimize our ATS, CRM, and sourcing stack (tools like Ashby, Gem, LinkedIn Recruiter, etc.)
• Design and document scalable hiring processes, interview frameworks, and evaluation rubrics
• Create data infrastructure: dashboards, KPIs, funnel metrics, time-to-hire, source effectiveness

Strategic Partnership

• Act as a true business partner to hiring managers—challenge assumptions, ask hard questions, push back when needed
• Translate business strategy into hiring roadmaps and workforce planning
• Build hiring manager capability (structured interviews, debiasing, assessment techniques)
• Employer Brand & Market Intelligence
• Position Alta Ares as an employer of choice in defense tech, deeptech, and AI circles
• Conduct market mapping and competitive intelligence on talent availability
• Build talent pipelines for future needs (proactive sourcing, talent communities)

‍

• 5+ years in TA, with experience in both agency/search firm AND in-house recruiting
  • Agency background shows you can hustle, source creatively, and close hard roles
  • In-house experience shows you understand systems, culture, and long-term thinking
• Track record at top-tier companies—you've recruited for organizations known for high bars and strong talent (high-growth startups, leading tech/defense firms, or elite consultancies)
• Long tenures: we want someone who commits and builds, not someone who moves every 12 months
• Hands-on sourcing skills: you can personally open markets, build pipelines, and close candidates on difficult roles, not just manage agencies
• Systems thinker: you've implemented or restructured TA systems (ATS, CRM, processes, interview structures) and can talk intelligently about what works and what doesn't
• Data-driven: you speak fluently about conversion rates, pipeline health, time-to-fill, source effectiveness, and use data to improve outcomes
• Operational rigor: you know how to process high volumes, manage pipelines, coordinate interview loops, and keep 50+ things moving simultaneously

• Experience recruiting for defense, aerospace, or deeptech companies
• Experience in high-growth startup environments (Series A to C scale-ups)
• Track record building TA functions from scratch or through rapid scaling (10 → 100+ people)
• Multilingual capabilities (French/English)
• Network in European defense or AI/ML engineering communities
• Understanding of security clearances, export controls, or defense procurement

European & Technolo-gical sovereignty

Rigor & Audacity

Pragmatic, Field-Oriented Innovation

Resilience in Extreme Conditions

Ownership: Full autonomy to shape how we hire and build our team

Exposure: Work directly with founders, and leadership on company-defining hires

Mission: Help build European defense capabilities that matter on real battlefields

Environment: International team, fast-moving, high-trust culture

A hybrid and flexible working setup in the heart of Paris, Kyiv and NYC.