Empowrd AI is scaling fast and deliberately lean. Hiring so far has been founder-led and reactive, we want to make it strategic. We've just adopted a new onboarding approach, and we want a fractional partner to build the system that attracts, selects and retains the calibre of person this company runs on, held to the same standard as our client work. This isn't bums-on-seats recruitment; it's building a talent engine we can eventually run ourselves.
We're an early-stage startup and moving fast, so treat this as a starting position rather than a fixed spec. Priorities can shift quickly, business development and sales are what we need, marketing is one to watch today but could become active at short notice, and the shape and scope of the role will flex with the person who steps into it.
In a rocket-with-no-seatbelt culture, the biggest retention risk isn't pay, it's intensity without clarity. The same EVP that attracts self-selecting, high-bar people is what keeps them, so attraction and retention should be designed as one system, not two. And because we're an efficiency consultancy, the real win is a talent engine we can run ourselves — so treat this as capability-building with a leave-behind, not an ongoing dependency.
Who we are (so you can sell us honestly)
- Mission: lead human evolution to free people from manual work so they do the judgement work only humans can.
- Vision: one of the world's leading AI consultancies for individuals, organisations, and eventually nations.
- Goal: the best AI consultancy for people-first businesses within three years.
- How we operate: a rocket with no seatbelt, driven with skill rather than recklessness. Deliberately lean; AI handles everything a human needn't. Values lived daily: Freedom, Intelligence, Speed, Efficiency, Empowerment, Evolution, Collaboration, Learning.
- The deal: chosen and accountable: a seat means you cleared a high bar, and the bar to stay is just as visible.
Who the right talent is
The profile we need you to attract, screen for, and help us keep:
- Entrepreneurial intelligence — solves problems and takes work off desks; results over credentials.
- AI as a multiplier, not a crutch — owns the thinking and the client understanding.
- Speed as a personal standard — faster than the market, without dropping quality.
- End-to-end ownership — owns outcomes, flags early, doesn't repeat mistakes.
- Obsessive attention to detail — each client sees only their one thing, so it has to be right.
- Data discipline and high-frequency communication — Slack/WhatsApp, daily standups, Asana kept current, everything in Drive.
How they show up — behaviours we hire and screen for:
- No ego — the work matters more than being right.
- Coachable — takes feedback fast and adjusts.
- Solution-first thinking — brings answers, not just problems.
- A collaborator — makes the people around them better, not just themselves.
- Communicative — proactive and clear; no one has to guess where things stand.
- Owns their work and their speed — delivers without being chased.
- Challenges respectfully — pushes back on the idea, never the person.
- Wins people over — builds rapport quickly and earns trust fast.
What we'd like you to build (scope)
Immediate focus: business development and sales are the priority roles to fill; marketing is one to watch.
Attract
- An Employer Value Proposition that makes the right people lean in and the wrong ones bounce.
- A sourcing strategy and always-on pipeline, dovetailing with our careers page — which we're building as a candidate-acquisition marketing asset, not an HR page.
- Channel mix, a referral engine, and messaging in the candidate's own language.
Select
- A hiring scorecard per role, anchored to the profile above. We like analytics and evidence.
- Structured, lean screening that tests for judgement and integrity, not just skills.
- Interview kits and a fast, consistent candidate experience.
Retain
- An onboarding-to-first-90-days design that actually delivers chosen and accountable, building on our new onboarding.
- A retention framework mapped to our path: 3-month review → short-term incentive (months 4–6) → long-term incentive and phantom shares at a year.
- Early-attrition safeguards and a sustainable-intensity model (see the perspective in section 8).
Deliverables
- Talent strategy on a page (attract → select → retain).
- EVP and messaging kit.
- Sourcing and pipeline plan.
- Role scorecards and structured interview kits.
- Retention and progression framework.
- A simple metrics dashboard — and the systems left with us to run.
Engagement model & how we work
- Basis: independent contractor, retained — up to $1,500 per month, judged on impact and outcomes rather than hours.
- Term: 3 months to begin with, and likely to extend for the right person. Scope can grow too — potentially into a broader, generalist HR remit — depending on the individual and their character.
- Your remit: you are our known, go-to Talent partner. We brief; you execute with conviction. Execution sits with you.
- Governance: Aman inputs on direction and key decisions; Zoë is a resource and advisor — guidance, not delivery. The doing stays with you.
- Cadence: fast — Slack/WhatsApp, daily where it matters, Asana current, everything in Google Drive.
- Start: negotiable — but sooner rather than later.
What extraordinary looks like (success measures)
- A raving fan base of talent who want to work for us, literally knocking at our door.
- Quality of hire (performance at 90 days) the measure that matters most.
- Time-to-hire and offer-accept rate.
- Early retention at 6 and 12 months.
- Pipeline health — qualified candidates per priority role.
- A repeatable system we own, not a dependency on you.
