Talent Acquisition Lead (Player-Coach) - Global Fintech Startup

Drive Capital is a venture capital firm that invests in world-class founders building the next generation of market-defining companies. Our portfolio spans 150+ companies across North America with over $2.2B AUM.

This role is a direct-hire opportunity within Drive's portfolio for one of our Series C startups, Alpaca. This is a fully remote, US-based opportunity.

About Alpaca

Alpaca is a US-headquartered self-clearing broker-dealer and brokerage infrastructure provider for a broad range of asset classes including stocks, ETFs, options, crypto, and fixed income. Following a recent Series C funding round, we have secured over $170 million in total investment, fueling our ambitious vision to open financial services to everyone on the planet.

Our global team of 270+ members is a diverse group of engineers, traders, and brokerage professionals spanning the USA, Canada, Japan, Hungary, Nigeria, Brazil, the UK, and beyond. We are proudly backed by top-tier investors, including Drive Capital, Portage Ventures, Spark Capital, Tribe Capital, and Y Combinator.

Your Impact Role:

We are seeking a high-energy, strategic, and hands-on Talent Acquisition Lead to spearhead our global hiring efforts from the USA. This is a "Player-Coach" role designed for a leader who thrives on "leading from the front."

In this position, you will not only manage the TA function and strategy but will also carry a critical requisition load. We believe the best way to optimize a function is to live within it; therefore, your initial focus will be deeply rooted in active recruiting to gain a first-hand view of our opportunities and challenges. You will be the architect of our talent engine, balancing the urgent need for rapid growth with the discipline required to operate a global, regulated fintech at scale.

Things You Get To Do:

Strategic Leadership & "Leading from the Front"

• Active Full-Cycle Recruiting: Carry a primary requisition load, focusing on high-impact roles to deeply understand the Alpaca candidate journey and hiring manager needs.
• Function Optimization: Use your "boots on the ground" experience to identify friction points in the hiring process and implement immediate, scalable solutions.
• Global Alignment: Navigate the complexity of hiring across multiple time zones, ensuring a consistent Alpaca experience while respecting local market nuances.

Talent Operations & Scalability

• Process Architecture: Shape and reshape the "Alpaca Way" of hiring—from the moment a new req is conceived to the point of a signed offer. You will clarify approval chains and ensure we move with extreme speed without sacrificing robust protocols.
• Ecosystem Management: Ensure all hiring operates within our established ecosystem of standardized job titles, global pay structures, and regulatory compliance.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: Champion high-integrity data practices within our ATS. You will be responsible for reporting on TA metrics and providing the leadership team with actionable insights.
• Tooling & Tech Stack: Constantly evaluate our TA tech stack. You will be expected to make—and defend—decisions on whether current tools are "fit for purpose" or if a change is required to meet our growth trajectory.

Stakeholder & Team Partnership

• Hiring Manager Coaching: Partner with executives and hiring managers globally to sharpen their interviewing skills and align on "what great looks like."
• Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Work closely with Finance and People Ops to ensure headcount planning is aligned with budget and global compensation benchmarks.

Who You Are:

Must-Haves:

• The "Player-Coach" Mindset: You have a proven track record of managing a TA function while simultaneously being a top-performing individual contributor. You lead by example, not just by delegating.
• Fintech/High-Growth Experience: You have navigated the "controlled chaos" of a fast-growing startup, preferably within a regulated financial or technology environment.
• Operational Excellence: You have a "good head for ops." You enjoy building processes that make things go faster, not just adding layers of bureaucracy.
• Data Fluency: You are comfortable in the "weeds" of an ATS. You know how to pull the data, what it means, and how to present it to stakeholders to drive change.
• Urgency + Discipline: You understand that "speed is a feature," but you also respect the need for titles, pay equity, and rigorous approval workflows.
• Experience: 6+ years in Talent Acquisition, with at least 2 years in a lead or management capacity within a global organization.

Nice-to-Haves:

• Experience with Greenhouse, Lever, or similar enterprise-grade ATS platforms.
• Experience managing external agency partners while maintaining a high "internal fill" rate.
• Familiarity with US and international employment law and global compensation trends.

Alpaca Core Values:

We're searching for a leader who is ready to make a significant impact. If you align with our core values—Stay Curious, Have Empathy, and Be Accountable—we encourage you to apply.