Program Manager, Talent Acquisition
At a glance
Manager-level Recruiting & Talent Acquisition role at Perplexity. San Francisco · full-time · $180,000–$200,000 base.
hrroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Take major talent initiatives from an unclear brief through delivery, coordinating owners, milestones and follow-through
- Turn leadership strategy into cross-functional programs, working with recruiting, People, Finance and business leaders to resolve blockers
- Set planning and reporting rhythms, including prioritization cycles and executive updates that support timely decisions
- Build recruiting workflows, tools and automation, then use hiring metrics and dashboards to guide decisions
- Flag risks on visible initiatives, keep stakeholders informed as priorities change and create reusable program playbooks
What you bring
- At least seven years managing programs or projects, including companywide, high-priority initiatives
- Experience working with executives on complex cross-team efforts and presenting that work to them
- Evidence of taking ambiguous programs to measurable results in fast-moving, scaling environments
- Strong analytical and communication skills, with sound judgment handling sensitive, highly visible work
Who this fits
This manager-level role suits an experienced program operator who can create structure amid uncertainty and drive work across teams. You'll work in a hybrid setup in San Francisco.
From the employer
Perplexity is scaling at a pace few companies ever experience, and talent is the surface where our biggest bets get won or lost. We're hiring a Program Manager to sit at the center of that motion, owning the mission-critical, cross-functional programs that shape how we plan, prioritize, and hire.
This is a uniquely visible seat, reserved for operators who thrive in ambiguity and have a track record of driving companywide initiatives to measurable outcomes. You'll work shoulder-to-shoulder with recruiting leadership, executives, and cross-functional partners to architect the systems, operating rhythms, and decision-making frameworks that let the company move faster and with more clarity. When a complex, high-stakes program needs an owner, you're the person leadership turns to.
What You'll Do
Own Perplexity's most consequential talent programs end-to-end, from ambiguous mandate to shipped outcome
Partner directly with executives and recruiting leadership to turn strategy into programs with clear owners, milestones, and accountability
Drive cross-functional initiatives across Recruiting, People, Finance, and business leadership, aligning stakeholders and clearing blockers before they escalate
Design the operating cadence of the org: planning cycles, prioritization, reporting rhythms, and executive updates that keep leadership decisive
Build the systems, tooling, and workflows that let recruiting scale, automating the repetitive so human judgment goes to the highest-leverage work
Stand up the metrics and dashboards that turn hiring data into faster, sharper decisions
Anticipate risk on the highest-visibility programs, communicate crisply under pressure, and drive to resolution when priorities shift
Set the bar for program excellence and codify repeatable playbooks the rest of the company can adopt
What You Bring
7+ years of program or project management experience, including ownership of companywide, mission-critical initiatives
Direct experience partnering with and presenting to executives on high-stakes, cross-functional work
Track record of driving ambiguous programs to measurable outcomes in fast-paced, rapidly scaling environments
Operational rigor. You build order out of chaos and design systems that outlast you
Strong analytical instincts, with the ability to structure messy data into clear direction for leadership
Sharp communication and stakeholder judgment, with the discretion to operate on sensitive, high-visibility work
A builder's mindset and a bias for action, aligned with Perplexity's ethos of building what hasn't been built before
Recruiting, talent, or People-org program experience is a plus, but we're optimizing for the best operators first