Founding GTM Recruiter - Japan
At a glance
Mid-level Recruiting & Talent Acquisition role at Cognition. Tokyo · full-time.
Pay not stated Recruiting & Talent Acquisition salary
hrroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Run hiring from role intake through close for go-to-market positions across Japan and Singapore
- Map talent in enterprise software, AI, developer tools, cloud, infrastructure and fast-growing technology
- Work with hiring managers to set role profiles, align on candidate standards and shape interview plans
- Find and persuade passive candidates, guiding them through a rigorous process with a strong candidate experience
- Use pipeline data and market signals to advise leaders on candidate quality, pay expectations and hiring risks
What you bring
- You have recruited go-to-market talent at high-growth technology companies and hired across Japan and wider markets
- You speak and write Japanese and English fluently
- You can source and engage strong passive candidates, build pipelines without relying on inbound applicants or agencies, and close commercial hires
- You bring sound judgment, careful execution and the confidence to advise senior hiring leaders on role calibration
Who this fits
This suits a hands-on recruiter who can combine market mapping with candidate sourcing and advise senior hiring leaders. The role is based onsite in Tokyo and covers Japan and Singapore.
From the employer
We are an applied AI lab building end-to-end software agents.
We're the makers of Devin, the first AI software engineer.
Our team is extremely talent-dense. Among our founding team, we have world-class competitive programmers, former founders, and leaders from companies at the cutting edge of AI including Scale AI, Palantir, Cursor, Waymo, Tesla, Lunchclub, Modal, Google DeepMind, and Nuro.
Building Devin is just the first step—our hardest challenges still lie ahead. If you’re excited to solve some of the world’s biggest problems and build AI that can reason on real-world tasks, apply to join us.
About The Role
We are hiring a Founding GTM Recruiter to join our International Talent team, based in Tokyo.
You will partner closely with GTM leadership across Japan to build high-quality pipelines for a wide range of roles.
You will be expected to operate with urgency, precision and high judgment. You will not simply manage process. You will help shape markets, map talent, influence hiring strategy and close bar-raising candidates in highly competitive environments.
The ideal person has a builder/operator mindset, understands what great commercial talent looks like in high-growth technology companies, and knows how to create momentum in ambiguous, fast-moving markets.
What You’ll Do
Own end-to-end recruiting for GTM roles across Singapore and the wider Japan region.
Build deep talent maps across enterprise software, AI, developer tools, cloud, infrastructure and high-growth technology companies.
Partner with hiring managers to define role requirements, calibration, interview process and candidate profile.
Source, engage and close exceptional passive candidates.
Represent Cognition’s story with clarity, credibility and energy in market.
Drive candidates through a high-bar hiring process while maintaining an excellent candidate experience.
Use data and market insight to help leadership understand pipeline quality, conversion, compensation signals and hiring risks.
Work closely with international talent leadership to improve process, raise the bar and build scalable recruiting muscle across Japan.
Act as a talent advisor, not an order taker.
What We’re Looking For
Proven experience recruiting GTM talent for high-growth technology companies.
Strong understanding of enterprise software, SaaS, AI, infrastructure, developer tools or cloud markets.
Experience hiring across Japan and broader markets
Ability to identify and engage high-calibre passive candidates.
Strong stakeholder management skills with the confidence to push back, calibrate and advise senior hiring leaders.
Excellent written and verbal communication with Fluency in Japanese and English
High agency, high ownership and strong attention to detail.
A track record of hiring bar-raising commercial talent in competitive markets.
Comfort operating in a fast-changing, 0 to 1 environment.
Strong sourcing discipline and the ability to build pipeline without relying on inbound or agencies.
A builder mindset: you improve the system while delivering the work.
What Makes You Stand Out
You have helped build early GTM teams in new international markets.
You have recruited for frontier AI, developer tools, infrastructure, cloud or enterprise software companies.
You understand both commercial hiring and technical-adjacent GTM roles.
You have experience partnering with regional GMs, Sales VPs or founding country leaders.
You are comfortable moving between strategic talent mapping and hands-on execution.
You care deeply about quality, not just speed.
You know how to close candidates who have multiple options.
Our Commitment
Equal Opportunity. Cognition is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of any protected characteristic under applicable law. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities throughout the hiring process - please let us know if you need any. Cognition also considers applicants with criminal histories consistent with the SF Fair Chance Ordinance and similar local laws.
Data Privacy and Arbitration: By submitting your application, you agree to our Global Applicant and Job Candidate Privacy Notice. For US applicants, by submitting your application, you agree to the Applicant Arbitration Agreement.
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