About Us

Astera is a private foundation on a mission to steer science and technology toward an abundant future. We believe the coming years will bring an era of unprecedented scientific and technological advancement as exponential progress in AI converges with central advances in other fields to dramatically accelerate innovation. This inflection point provides an unparalleled opportunity to fundamentally rethink the institutions, systems, and tools that drive scientific progress.

Unlike traditional non-profit research organizations, projects supported by Astera operate like high-velocity startups, allowing us to focus on ambitious goals, match structure to problem, and attract strong technical talent and leadership. You can read more about our mission, vision, and programming here.

Key programs include:

Our Residency is a one to two-year program that supports extraordinary scientists who are producing public goods. We support not only residents’ salaries, but also budgets for them to hire a team and meet other needs to accelerate their work
Radial supports biotechnology-focused projects and is redefining how science should be done
Our Neuro-AI team does fundamental research in Artificial General Intelligence to ensure it brings good to humanity

About The Role

We are seeking a mission- and culturally-aligned Recruiting Coordinator who will build and operate Astera’s recruiting engine as we scale our program teams. This role will own and refine the processes that bring extraordinary technologists and operators into our orbit.

Recruiting at Astera is highly relational: residency cohorts join twice a year, candidate pipelines shift dramatically by discipline, and we often hire for roles that don’t exist anywhere else.

Initially reporting to the COO of Foundation, you will work closely with Astera’s leadership to ensure every candidate—regardless of outcome—has a thoughtful and world-class experience. You will manage logistics, scheduling, candidate communication, tracking systems, and search processes, while continuously improving how Astera discovers and attracts talent.

This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a dynamic, ambiguous environment, has exceptional organizational instincts, and is energized by enabling ambitious impact through exceptional hiring.

This role also offers significant growth potential. While the position starts with a focus on coordination and operations, we see a clear path for the right person to grow into a full-cycle recruiter over time. If you're ambitious about building a career in recruiting and talent, this role is designed to grow with you.

Responsibilities

Candidate Experience & Coordination

Own end-to-end scheduling for all candidates
Manage timely, thoughtful communication with candidates; ensure every touchpoint reflects Astera’s values.
Prepare interviewers with relevant materials, context, and rubrics with input from hiring managers
Maintain a smooth, high-signal, low-friction interview process for both candidates and internal stakeholders.

Pipeline Operations & Systems

Maintain accurate candidate records in our ATS (Ashby)
Track and report on pipeline health, bottlenecks, and operational risks
Build and refine templates, processes, and documentation to support repeatable, high-quality hiring.

Sourcing & Research

Partner with hiring managers to identify top-of-funnel sources for unique technical and scientific roles
Conduct targeted outreach to residents, operators, scientists, and other high-potential candidates
Support coordination with external recruiters or advisors as needed.

Residency Recruiting Support

Support the twice-annual Residency selection process, including scheduling interviews, managing reviewer workflows, and ensuring all materials are consistent and complete.
Support candidate logistics during finalist visits, onsite evaluations, or project deep dives.
Help ensure the Residency selection process remains high-quality even as we iterate and experiment.

Operational Flexibility

Serve as backup to the office manager for front desk coverage.
Flex to “unknown unknowns” across the People & Operations stack—e.g., helping onboard new hires, assisting with event logistics for candidate days, supporting communications during peak cycles, or running special projects.
Step in to support the office manager, people operations lead, or other teammates during high-volume periods.

Essential Qualifications

2+ years of experience in executive support, operations, or another role that demands exceptional organization and communication
Demonstrated ability to manage fast-moving, high-complexity scheduling and logistics across multiple stakeholders
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with high attention to tone and detail
Comfort navigating highly ambiguous environments and adapting to shifting priorities
Strong project management skills, including tracking tasks across multiple simultaneous hiring processes.

Preferred Qualifications

We expect that competitive candidates may have additional qualifications that make them especially well suited to this role, potentially including:

Experience working in early-stage or highly cross-functional teams.
Familiarity with scientific, engineering, or technical recruiting.
Strong research skills, especially for identifying talent in nontraditional places.
Experience with ATS systems (e.g., Lever, Greenhouse, Ashby, Rippling).
Experience in environments where candidate experience is a core strategic priority.

Attributes

More important than a substantial amount of experience is cultural alignment. Key attributes that are critical for success include:

Relationship orientation & communication skills: You assume best intent and develop positive working relationships. You use written and verbal communication as an effective and critical tool.
Openness to feedback: You value giving and receiving respectful, direct feedback as a cultural multiplier.
Creative, tenacious problem solving: You see options where others see constraints, and you are energized by delighting and surprising stakeholders with thoughtful solutions.
Mission driven mindset: You are motivated by enabling science that could reshape the future.
Prioritization: You are committed to the deadlines you set and adept at re-prioritizing independently in an environment of constant change
Start-up mentality: You don’t expect to maintain strong boundaries around what “isn’t your job,” and recognize that the role you’re being hired for might evolve significantly over the course of 6-12 months.
High standards & ownership: Your standards for excellence are exceedingly high and internally dictated. You find yourself asking, “can we do this 10x better than anyone else?” You take full responsibility of the hiring processes you own, seeking input where needed from hiring managers.
Experimentation & bias to action. You have the courage to launch and iterate on thoughtfully designed experiments rather than obsessing over perfect plans that never launch.

Location

This role will be in person in Emeryville, California.

Compensation

TBA, commensurate with experience

Benefits summary

Compensation Range: $80K - $150K

Astera Institute

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Recruiting Coordinator