Talent Acquisition Partner – Technician Recruiting

Position Overview

AST SpaceMobile is seeking a highly driven and results-oriented Talent Acquisition Partner to lead full-cycle recruiting for critical hourly technical positions supporting spacecraft manufacturing, integration, testing, and production operations. This role is responsible for identifying, attracting, assessing, and hiring highly skilled technicians who directly support AST SpaceMobile's mission to build and deploy next-generation space-based cellular broadband technology.

The ideal candidate has significant experience recruiting within aerospace, defense, advanced manufacturing, automotive, energy, semiconductor, or other highly technical industrial environments. This individual must be comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-growth environment where hiring velocity, candidate quality, and workforce planning directly impact production schedules and company objectives. This role requires strong sourcing expertise, technical recruiting capabilities, hiring manager partnership, and the ability to assess skilled trades and technician talent beyond basic recruiting qualifications. Success in this role depends on the ability to proactively build pipelines, influence stakeholders, and deliver exceptional hiring outcomes under demanding timelines.

Key Responsibilities

Full-Cycle Recruiting

• Own end-to-end recruiting for hourly technical and manufacturing positions from requisition approval through offer acceptance and onboarding handoff.
• Manage multiple requisitions simultaneously while maintaining high standards of candidate quality and hiring manager satisfaction.
• Build and maintain active pipelines of avionics, composite, RF/AIT, quality inspection, and manufacturing/production technicians.

Strategic Sourcing & Pipeline Development

• Develop and maintain active talent pipelines for critical technical positions.
• Build long-term partnerships with schools, training organizations, military programs, and workforce agencies.
• Implement geographic recruiting strategies to support workforce expansion and future production demand.

Technical Candidate Assessment

• Conduct detailed technical phone screens and qualification reviews.
• Present qualified candidates with clear evaluations, strengths, concerns, and hiring recommendations.

Recruiting Operations & Metrics

• Maintain accurate candidate records within the Applicant Tracking System.
• Manage interview scheduling and communication throughout the hiring process.
• Track and report recruiting metrics including:
• Time-to-fill
• Time-to-start
• Offer acceptance rates
• Source effectiveness
• Candidate conversion rates
• Hiring manager satisfaction
• Open requisition aging
• Ensure compliance with all applicable employment laws and company policies.

Workforce Planning

• Anticipate workforce demands associated with production schedules and spacecraft build milestones.
• Partner with HR, Finance, Production, and Operations teams on headcount forecasting.
• Support workforce ramp initiatives aligned with organizational growth objectives.
• Assist with staffing partner management and contingent workforce strategies when necessary.

Required Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in human resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or a related field preferred.
• 5 years of equivalent professional recruiting experience may be substituted for formal education.

Experience

• Minimum 5 years of full-cycle recruiting experience.
• Minimum 3 years recruiting for manufacturing, aerospace, defense, industrial, semiconductor, automotive, energy, or other highly technical production environments.
• Demonstrated success recruiting hourly skilled trades and technician positions.
• Proven experience supporting high-volume hiring initiatives, production ramps, or workforce expansion projects.
• Experience conducting technical candidate assessments and evaluating skilled labor qualifications.
• Experience partnering with operations, engineering, manufacturing, and production leadership teams.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple active requisitions while consistently meeting hiring goals.

Preferred Qualifications

• Aerospace, defense, aviation, or space industry recruiting experience.
• Experience recruiting for:
• Avionics Technicians
• RF Technicians
• AIT Technicians
• Composite Technicians
• Manufacturing Technicians
• Quality Inspectors
• Maintenance Technicians
• Experience hiring candidates with security clearance backgrounds.
• Experience in a startup, scale-up, or rapidly growing production environment.
• Prior responsibility for workforce planning and strategic hiring initiatives.
• Experience managing external staffing agencies and recruiting vendors.
• RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing) experience.
• Greenhouse ATS experience strongly preferred.

Required Skills

Recruiting & Sourcing

• Advanced candidate sourcing and talent mapping capabilities.
• Strong Boolean search and LinkedIn Recruiter expertise.
• Ability to identify passive technical talent.
• Experience building talent communities and proactive pipelines.
• Candidates without direct experience recruiting technical, manufacturing, skilled trades, or production talent will not be considered.

Physical Requirements 

• Ability to work onsite in Midland, TX as required.
• Occasional travel to local career fairs, trade schools, or military transition events.
• Ability to walk manufacturing floors to understand technician roles and build context.

This job description may not be inclusive to the duties and responsibilities listed. Additional tasks may be assigned to the employee from time to time or the scope of the job may change as needed by business demands.