Talent Acquisition Manager (gn) @ SpaceTech Venture, Lausanne

About PAVE Space

At PAVE Space, we're building the future of industry in orbit. Our mission: enable true in-space mobility, access to any orbit within 24 hours.

To get there, we're designing, building, and testing a new kind of space vehicle from the ground up, one that redefines what's possible in space logistics and orbital access. We move fast. We think across disciplines. We act with precision.

We're not here to sugarcoat it: joining PAVE means stepping into a fast-paced, high-stakes environment where every contribution truly matters. We're a small team tackling big challenges, driven by sharp minds, strong work ethic, and the will to make things happen.

If you're looking for comfort, this isn't it. But if you want to help build a major space project from the ground up, it might be the ride of your life.

About the Role

As Talent Acquisition Manager, you'll own PAVE's hiring engine. You're not just filling roles, you're identifying and attracting the technical talent that will define our trajectory. This means finding aerospace engineers who've built combustion chambers, test engineers who live in the data, systems thinkers who can bridge disciplines, and operators who thrive in ambiguity.

You'll be the architect of our recruitment strategy, the face of PAVE to exceptional candidates, and a trusted partner to our founders and technical leads. You'll need to move fast, think strategically, and execute flawlessl, because every hire shapes the future of what we're building.

What You'll Do

Own end-to-end recruitment for technical and operational roles:

• Source, screen, and close candidates for specialized aerospace position, propulsion engineers, test engineers, avionics specialists, manufacturing leads, and beyond

• Build talent pipelines for hard-to-fill roles before we need them

• Manage the full candidate experience from first contact to signed offer

Partner directly with founders and technical leads:

• Translate technical requirements into compelling role definitions and recruitment strategies

• Advise hiring managers on market realities, compensation benchmarks, and candidate expectations

• Act as a strategic thought partner on team building and organizational design

Build PAVE's talent brand:

• Craft compelling narratives about our mission, culture, and the opportunity we represent

• Represent PAVE at industry events, universities, and technical communities

• Develop creative sourcing strategies to reach passive candidates in aerospace and deep tech

Establish recruitment infrastructure:

• Implement and optimize ATS and recruitment tools

• Define interview processes that are rigorous, efficient, and candidate-friendly

• Create scorecards and frameworks that help us make better, faster hiring decisions

• Track metrics that matter — time to hire, pipeline health, offer acceptance rates, source quality

Move with urgency:

• This is a startup. We need people yesterday. You'll need to balance speed with precision, knowing when to push and when to dig deeper

Who You'll Work With

You'll collaborate closely with:

• Julie Böhning — Co-Founder & CEO

• Jérémy Marciacq — Co-Founder & CTO

What We're Looking For

Experience that matters:

• Extensive experience years in technical recruitment, ideally in aerospace, defense, deep tech, or hardware startups

• Proven track record hiring engineering talent in competitive markets

• Experience building recruitment function from scratch or in early-stage environments — you've done this before when there was no playbook

The right mindset:

• You understand technical roles deeply enough to have credible conversations with senior engineers

• You're comfortable with ambiguity and can build structure where none exists

• You move fast without cutting corners, speed and quality aren't trade-offs for you

• You're a closer. You know how to sell the mission when candidates have multiple offers

Skills that matter:

• Expert sourcing skills, LinkedIn is your playground, but you go deeper

• Strong judgment on talent, you can spot exceptional people and red flags quickly

• Excellent communication, you can translate technical jargon into compelling stories and vice versa

• Data-driven approach, you track what works and iterate constantly

Bonus points:

• European aerospace or space industry network

• Experience hiring for propulsion, test, or hardware development roles

• Familiarity with European work visa processes and talent markets

• Multilingual capabilities (English required, French/German a plus)