# PhD Recruiter

**Company:** [Figma](https://hotfix.jobs/companies/figma)
**Location:** San Francisco, CA, New York, NY
**Role:** Recruiting
**Salary:** $140k – $210k/yr
**Experience:** 6+ years
**Skills:** Technical Recruiting, phd hiring, research talent acquisition, conference recruiting, candidate sourcing, Pipeline Building, Stakeholder Management, mentoring
**Posted:** 2026-07-16

> Recruit and scale Figma's PhD and research talent programs for AI, Data, Graphics, and Security engineering roles. Own full-cycle recruiting, strategy with engineering leaders, conference presence (e.g. NeurIPS), and program building for highly competitive candidates.

## Job Description

## What you'll do at Figma

- Manage the full-cycle recruiting process for intern and full-time PhD roles across Engineering including but not limited to Data, AI, Graphics, and Security
- Partner with Eng VPs and Directors to own PhD hiring strategy, shaping how Figma approaches and scales research talent across the org
- Lead Figma's presence at research conferences like NeurIPS, aligning stakeholders and running on-site logistics from booth setup to interviewer prep
- Own the publication process for PhD roles, partnering with hiring teams, legal, and senior leadership
- Mentor recruiters on the team supporting PhD efforts, growing the bench as the function scales
- Lead the strategic direction of the PhD recruiting function, building processes from scratch and closing offers with a rare, highly sought-after pool of research talent

## Requirements

- 6+ years of full-lifecycle technical recruiting experience in a high-growth organization, including 3+ years focused on PhD/research hiring
- A track record of hiring PhD candidates through self-sourced pipelines, including conferences, research labs, and professor connections
- Experience building and running PhD programs
- Demonstrated success partnering with senior engineering leaders and executives on high-priority, high-touch candidate and offer scenarios
- Willingness to travel internationally to conferences, universities, and labs, roughly 3-4 trips per year

## Nice-to-haves

- Familiar with Figma & FigJam

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**Apply:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/e9bdf3d0-35ff-4976-9a5a-ef1caf33e270
**Canonical:** https://hotfix.jobs/jobs/e9bdf3d0-35ff-4976-9a5a-ef1caf33e270