Talent Acquisition Sourcer

About the role

About Tailscale Tailscale is making safe connection effortless by delivering software that makes it easy to securely interconnect people and their devices, no matter where they are. From hobbyists to multinational corporations, teams of every size use Tailscale each day to protect their networks, share access to internal tools, and more. We're building a future for the Internet that's easy, sensible, and safe, like it used to be. Founded in 2019 and fully distributed, we're backed by Accel, CRV, Insight, Heavybit, and Uncork Capital. About the Role We’re looking for an experienced Talent Acquisition Sourcer to help identify and engage exceptional talent across Tailscale as we continue to scale globally. This is a senior individual contributor role for someone with deep sourcing expertise, technical fluency, and strong talent market knowledge. You’ll partner with Talent Acquisition Partners, hiring managers, and TA leadership to develop and execute sourcing strategies across Engineering, Product, Design, GTM, G&A, executive, confidential, and other business-critical searches. We’re looking for someone who can quickly understand complex and ambiguous hiring needs, translate them into sophisticated search strategies, and find talent others may overlook. Beyond individual searches, you’ll help strengthen sourcing across Talent Acquisition through market intelligence, talent mapping, inclusive sourcing, knowledge sharing, and experimentation with new approaches. Key Responsibilities Build & Execute Sourcing Strategies Lead sourcing strategies for complex, high-priority, and difficult-to-fill searches across technical, GTM, G&A, leadership, and other specialized functions. Translate business needs, role requirements, and talent market dynamics into targeted search strategies and actionable sourcing plans. Identify and engage exceptional passive talent through advanced research, diverse sourcing channels, networks, communities, and creative approaches. Independently manage multiple searches and adjust strategies based on pipeline performance, candidate feedback, market conditions, and evolving priorities. Source Highly Technical & Specialized Talent Develop deep knowledge of Tailscale’s product, technology, business, and technical culture to identify candidates who can thrive here. Partner with Talent Acquisition Partners and hiring teams to translate highly technical or nuanced profiles into effective talent searches. Research adjacent companies, technologies, open-source ecosystems, communities, and talent pools to uncover candidates beyond traditional sources. Build credibility with technical and specialized talent by understanding their backgrounds, motivations, and the work they care about. Use Data & Market Intelligence Bring expertise and comfort with sourcing data and market insights to assess pipeline health, identify hiring risks, and improve sourcing strategies. Conduct talent mapping and market research to provide actionable insights on talent availability, competitive landscapes, geographies, and hiring challenges. Surface market constraints and opportunities early and recommend adjustments to profiles, locations, or sourcing approaches. Translate market intelligence into actionable recommendations for Talent Acquisition Partners, leadership, and hiring teams. Champion Inclusive Sourcing Build inclusive sourcing strategies that identify exceptional talent across a broad range of backgrounds, experiences, communities, and career paths. Challenge unnecessarily narrow search criteria and recommend approaches that broaden qualified talent pools. Identify new communities, networks, and sourcing channels that expand access to talent. Use research and pipeline data to identify opportunities to improve sourcing approaches and candidate representation. Engage & Cultivate Exceptional Talent Create compelling, personalized outreach for highly sought-after candidates and complex talent markets. Build authentic relationships with passive talent and cultivate pipelines that support current and future hiring needs. Assess candidate interest, motivation, experience, and alignment before transitioning candidates into the broader recruiting process. Partner with Talent Acquisition Partners to ensure seamless handoffs and an exceptional candidate experience. Elevate Sourcing Across Talent Acquisition Collaborate across Talent Acquisition on complex searches, sourcing strategy, candidate calibration, and evolving hiring priorities. Facilitate sourcing jams and share advanced sourcing techniques, market intelligence, search strategies, and talent insights across the team. Build reusable talent maps, research resources, and sourcing frameworks for recurring or strategic hiring needs. Partner with Talent Acquisition Operations and leadership to improve sourcing tools, workflows, analytics, automation, and AI-enabled practices. What We Are Looking For 6+ years of talent sourcing and/or recruiting experience, with significant experience sourcing highly competitive talent in high-growth or highly technical environments. Demonstrated success sourcing across multiple functions, with deep experience identifying highly technical Engineering and Product talent and supporting complex, leadership, or specialized searches. Advanced expertise in sourcing techniques, talent research, market mapping, competitive intelligence, and building pipelines beyond traditional candidate pools. Ability to quickly understand complex or ambiguous roles and independently translate them into sophisticated sourcing strategies. Strong analytical and communication skills, with the ability to use sourcing data and market intelligence to influence search strategies and engage highly sought-after talent. Proven ability to partner with Talent Acquisition Partners, hiring managers, and senior leaders, using strong judgment to challenge assumptions and recommend changes when appropriate. Ability to independently manage multiple priorities while collaborating across Talent Acquisition and elevating sourcing practices through knowledge sharing, tools, AI, and emerging approaches. Nice to Have Deep experience sourcing infrastructure, networking, security, developer tools, distributed systems, cloud, or similarly technical engineering talent. Experience finding technical talent through open-source ecosystems, GitHub, technical communities, research, and other channels beyond traditional recruiting platforms. Experience supporting executive or confidential searches and sourcing globally across North America, EMEA, and/or APAC. Experience building talent maps or market intelligence that materially influenced hiring strategy or helped leaders broaden how they define exceptional talent. Experience facilitating sourcing jams, sharing advanced sourcing practices, or otherwise raising sourcing capability across a Talent Acquisition team. A reputation for finding exceptional people others struggle to find—and understanding how to engage them effectively. As a company, we strive to maintain fair and equitable compensation practices within our team across all roles and all levels. Tailscale's compensation package includes base salary, equity, and comprehensive benefits. The salary range displayed on each job posting represents the target range for a new hire's base salary. Individual offers may vary based on experience and skill set. US Pay Range $100,000—$130,000 USD Frequently cited statistics show that people who identify with historically marginalized groups are likely to apply to jobs only if they meet 100% of the qualifications. We encourage you to help us break that statistic! What We Offer An inclusive, flexible environment where you can be your authentic self. We recognize the impact of diverse voices and backgrounds on the growth of our people, product, and company. And that flexibility in how and when you work empowers our team to integrate work and life. A competitive total compensation package. This includes a base salary, an equity incentive plan and variable commission (for quota-based roles). Comprehensive group benefits with no waiting period. Take advantage of coverage for health, vision, dental, and more for you and your family! Remote first company—most of our teams work fully remotely. Enjoy a change of scenery wherever you can get wifi, participate in virtual and in-person social events, and leverage our corporate co-working program to visit WeWork (or other similar spaces near you). Some roles require in-office collaboration depending on team needs, which will be clearly noted in the job description. Employer-funded retirement contributions. Tailscale will match your retirement contributions dollar-for-dollar, up to a maximum annual employer contribution equal to 0.75% of your eligible compensation. Connect with other Tailscalars IRL. Attend our annual company retreat, participate in team off-sites, and collaborate in person with teammates across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Singapore. We support intentional in-person connection through team travel and distributed collaboration. Support for your personal and professional development. Grow your career thoughtfully with $1500 USD annually for professional development, or take advantage of mentorship, coaching, and internal promotion opportunities. Paid time off and a healthy work-life integration. Our flexible, paid time off program supports you for any situation life throws your way, whether moving homes or travelling the world! A build-your-own home office setup. You choose your own company-owned laptop (Mac or PC), receive a monthly home internet reimbursement, and $500 USD to customize your workstation to make it your own. Paid parental leave program. We care about your life outside of work and encourage new parents to take advantage of parental leave top-ups (20 weeks for birthing parents, 16 weeks for non-birthing parents). Tailscale is committed to