Senior Technical Sourcer

San Francisco · New York City · Seattle · 6+ years experience · Full-time · Remote · Posted Sep 28, 2026

At a glance

The Senior Technical Sourcer will own top-of-funnel strategy and execution for complex technical searches across engineering, infrastructure, data science, AI/ML, and security.
This role focuses on deep market research and proactive outreach to identify and engage passive, niche technical talent.
The position involves high-visibility partnership with recruiters and hiring managers to shape search strategy and provide competitive market intelligence.

Own top-of-funnel strategy and execution for technical reqs across engineering, infrastructure, data, AI/ML, and security.
Run deep talent research including market maps, org mapping, competitor teardowns, and conference/publication mining.
Find niche and emerging technical talent in areas like AI/ML, applied research, distributed systems, and security engineering.
Write personalized outreach and manage response rates.
Operate at volume while maintaining accurate ATS hygiene and data integrity.
Turn research into intelligence, including talent density views and competitive hiring insights.
Build diverse pipelines through research and inclusive outreach.
Partner with recruiters and hiring managers on role calibration and search strategy.
Track and report funnel metrics such as response rate, screen pass rate, and stage conversion.
Represent Plaid authentically as a candidate's first point of contact.

6+ years of technical sourcing/recruiting experience, including in-house sourcing at a high-growth technology company.
Mastery of sourcing research techniques including boolean, x-ray search, LinkedIn Recruiter, and technical community mining.
Demonstrated success in high-volume, high-urgency environments managing multiple technical searches.
Fluency in technical skill sets with the ability to evaluate job specs, GitHub profiles, or research papers.
Proven track record sourcing for hard-to-fill domains such as AI/ML, data science, data infrastructure, distributed systems, or security engineering.
Exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
Data discipline with the ability to use funnel metrics to drive decision-making.
Meticulous attention to detail and personal ownership of data hygiene.
A candidate-first approach built on empathy, transparency, and consistent follow-through.

Experience sourcing in fintech, financial services, or other regulated environments.
Experience producing talent intelligence or market mapping work presented to senior leadership.
Experience building sourcing playbooks or training other sourcers.
Experience evaluating and rolling out sourcing tooling or process efficiency projects.
Experience sourcing for distributed or international teams.
Familiarity with inclusive sourcing practices and building diverse technical pipelines.