We're Blue River, a team of innovators driven to create intelligent machinery that solves monumental problems for our customers. We empower our customers: farmers, construction crews, and foresters to implement safer and more sustainable solutions, driving increased profitability with less reliance on scarce labor. We believe that focusing on the small stuff, pixel-by-pixel and task-by-task, leads to big gains.
Blue River Technology aligns with John Deere's vision to "innovate on behalf of humanity" by quickly identifying and solving high-value, high-uncertainty challenges in AI, machine learning, computer vision, and robotics. BRT acts as a research-and-development flywheel, building not only new products but also new platforms that reliably create value for both Deere and its customers. From fully autonomous machines to highly precise farming equipment, BRT and Deere are partnering to deliver technical breakthroughs across industries such as agriculture and construction.
Our people are at the heart of what we do. Through cross-disciplinary collaboration, this mission-driven team is eager to define the new frontier of robotics. We are always asking hard questions, rapidly iterating, and getting our boots in the field to figure it out. We won't give up until we've made a tangible and positive impact on the planet!
Blue River Technology is based in Santa Clara, CA.
Summary
As a full-lifecycle Sr Technical Recruiter, you'll be the architect of our hiring pipeline, working hand-in-hand with the Director of TA and hiring managers to attract, engage, and land top-tier engineering and technical talent. This isn't just about sending LinkedIn messages; it's about building meaningful relationships, crafting compelling narratives, and using data to improve our hiring impact.
You will partner closely with Technical Sourcers, Recruiting Coordinators, and hiring managers to build strong pipelines, run structured and efficient interview processes, and close exceptional talent. This role requires strong judgment, high ownership, and the ability to continuously improve hiring outcomes through data, calibration, and thoughtful candidate engagement.
This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment, brings a high bar for quality, and is motivated to elevate both hiring outcomes and candidate experience.
- Employment Type: Full-Time
- Work Location: Santa Clara, CA (expect 1-2 days in the office)
- Visa sponsorship: Not available for this position.
Job Responsibilities
The main job responsibilities include:
- Full Lifecycle Recruiting Ownership
- Own end-to-end recruiting for highly specialized technical roles across software engineering, AI/ML, computer vision, robotics, infrastructure, and hardware.
- Drive the hiring process from intake through offer close, ensuring speed, quality, and consistency at every stage.
- Build and manage pipelines through a combination of sourcing, partnership with Technical Sourcers, and inbound candidate management.
- Create, maintain, and continuously improve recruiting playbooks, templates, and process workflows to ensure consistent execution and scalable team operations.
- Hiring Manager Partnership & Role Definition
- Partner deeply with hiring managers to define role requirements, success profiles, and evaluation criteria.
- Align early on candidate quality and continuously calibrate throughout the hiring process.
- Provide guidance on hiring strategy, tradeoffs, and market dynamics.
- Candidate Evaluation & Process Execution
- Conduct high-quality recruiter screens to assess technical background, motivations, and alignment.
- Run structured, transparent, and efficient interview processes with a strong focus on signal quality.
- Ensure candidates are well-prepared and have a clear understanding of the role and process.
- Candidate Experience
- Deliver a thoughtful, responsive, and high-quality candidate experience from first interaction through offer.
- Act as the primary point of contact for candidates, building trust and maintaining momentum throughout the process.
- Identify and address friction points to continuously improve the candidate journey.
- Offer Strategy & Close
- Own offer strategy, including candidate positioning, compensation alignment, and closing approach.
- Navigate complex candidate situations and objections to successfully close top talent.
- Partner with hiring managers and leadership to drive strong acceptance outcomes.
- Pipeline Health
- Monitor pipeline health and identify gaps or bottlenecks across roles.
- Use data to track performance and improve conversion across stages.
- Continuous Improvement
- Identify systemic gaps in the hiring funnel and drive improvements to increase conversion, efficiency, and candidate quality.
- Partner with Technical Sourcers and Recruiting Coordinators to improve end-to-end hiring performance.
- Contribute to recruiting best practices, workflows, and initiatives that scale team impact.
Required Experience and Skills
- 5 - 8 years of full lifecycle technical recruiting experience, ideally in-house at a SaaS company.
- Deep experience recruiting for complex technical roles such as software engineering, infrastructure, systems, hardware, AI/ML, or other hard-to-fill specialties.
- Proven ability to source and engage passive candidates across various platforms.
- Proficiency in sourcing tools such as LinkedIn Recruiter, GitHub, Stack Overflow, and ATS platforms (Greenhouse).
- Excellent judgment in evaluating technical and non-technical candidates, with the ability to assess skills, potential, and cultural alignment.
- Experience managing full-cycle recruiting, from role kickoff through offer negotiation and close, with consistent delivery in high-volume or high-urgency scenarios.
- An organized, data-driven mindset - you track metrics, analyze trends, and continuously improve your approach.
- Adaptability and creativity. You are always looking for new ways to connect with candidates and stand out.
- Comfortable hosting candidates in-person at the Santa Clara office.
Preferred Experience and Skills
- Working knowledge of HackerRank, ModernLoop, Crosschq, and other recruiting and scheduling tools.
- Passion for AgTech, construction, and farming industries.
Only individual applicants will be considered. We do not work with unsolicited third-party agencies or proxy interview services.
At Blue River, we're passionate about creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. While we have more work to do to advance diversity and inclusion, we're investing in our programs, including recruiting, mentorship, career development, and learning & development to ensure they support our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion goals. We support each employee in living a full life, enabling a thriving career, and accomplishing a meaningful, challenging mission while collaborating with incredible people. We are dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so if you're excited about this role but your experience doesn't align completely with the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway.
We are an equal-opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, perform essential job functions, and receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request an accommodation.
The US annual base salary range for this position is $112,000 - $168,000, along with eligibility for Blue River's bonus and benefit programs. This is a salary range. Please note that our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process. During the recruitment process, we may identify an alternative role or level to which you are more suited. If your ideal role at Blue River differs from the advertised position, we will provide an updated pay range as soon as possible during the hiring process.
#LI-AN1
