You want to help protect western values? You want to protect people and critical infrastructure – ultimately saving the lives of thousands.
You want to work at the frontier of high‑performance autonomous systems.
Join us at CDDS to build CDDS into an elite organization capable of solving some of the hardest technical and operational challenges. You will build further the systems, processes, and culture that allow extraordinary people to do their best work.
We move at an extreme tempo and priorities are within EU and US. You should be comfortable operating in ambiguity, making decisions with imperfect information, and continuously evolving how we recruit, onboard, and develop talent as the company grows.
Tasks
Partnering directly with the CEO and leadership team on organizational design and hiring strategy
Building and scaling world-class recruiting processes for engineering, robotics, autonomy, operations, and commercial functions
Identifying and personally engaging exceptional candidates across US and Europe
Designing interview systems that consistently raise the talent bar
Creating onboarding experiences that enable new hires to become highly productive quickly
Developing performance management, feedback, and career development frameworks
Building leadership capabilities across the organisation
Shaping and protecting company culture during periods of rapid growth
Designing compensation, retention, and talent development strategies
Supporting managers in hiring, team building, performance, and organisational challenges
Establishing people operations that scale without creating unnecessary bureaucracy
Helping the company navigate rapid growth while maintaining speed, accountability, and excellence
Your Profile
5+ years of experience in talent acquisition, people leadership, organisational development, executive search, or related fields
Proven track record of hiring exceptional talent in high-performance environments
Strong ability to assess talent, potential, and cultural fit
Experience partnering closely with founders, executives, or senior leadership teams
Excellent communication and relationship-building skills
High ownership and willingness to operate hands-on
Strong judgment and ability to make decisions independently
Comfortable working in a fast-moving startup environment where priorities evolve rapidly
Nice to have
Experience scaling technical organisations from early-stage to growth-stage
Background in recruiting for software, robotics, AI, autonomy, aerospace, or defence sectors
Experience building people systems and organisational processes from scratch
Executive search or headhunting experience
Knowledge of compensation design and performance management
Experience hiring internationally
Understanding of startup scaling challenges and organisational design
Why CDDS
Direct impact on a mission-critical technology shaping US and Europe's security landscape
Opportunity to work directly with the CEO and leadership team
High ownership and influence on the future of the company
Build and shape an organisation in hyper growth phase
Work with highly ambitious, technical, and mission-driven people
Fast-moving environment with significant personal growth opportunities
Attractive compensation
Details
Location: Hardbrucke (Zürich), on‑site
Start date: ASAP
Environment: High‑impact deep‑tech startup working on real deployments