Motion Control Operator Jobs in California (NOW HIRING)

Who We Are

Salient Motion designs, manufactures, and supports advanced motion control and actuation systems for aerospace, defense, and robotics applications. We're a fast-growing, venture-backed startup building the next generation of intelligent motion systems, partnering directly with leading organizations to bring new technology from concept to deployment.

About the Role

Salient Motion is growing rapidly. We're looking for a Senior Technical Recruiter to be the on-the-ground anchor of our recruiting function as we scale.

You'll own full-cycle recruiting for our core engineering requisitions and take on a significant share of our current hiring load. Our Head of People & Talent oversees the function remotely, so this role is the senior recruiting presence in the office: someone who can run day-to-day recruiting operations independently, make sound calls in the moment, and represent the People & Talent function to engineering leadership and candidates on-site.

This is a high-ownership, high-visibility individual contributor role. You'll have real influence over how we hire for the next phase of the company.

A couple other things:

• We are open to relocating you
• We have great benefits
• We are well funded, and generating revenue
• We just moved into a new large HQ in Hawthorne, CA, with presence still in Torrance, CA
• We need folks onsite, but provide a lot of flexibilty

What you'll do:

• Own full-cycle recruiting for our most critical and complex requisitions, primarily core engineering roles across hardware, embedded/firmware, controls, mechanical design, robotics, and software engineering
• Take on a significant share of the team's current recruiting load, adding capacity as we scale rapidly
• Serve as the senior, on-site point of contact for recruiting; run day-to-day operations independently
• Partner directly with engineering leadership to scope roles, define hiring criteria, and build role-specific sourcing strategies
• Proactively source and engage passive candidates in aerospace, defense, robotics, and advanced motion/controls, building talent pipelines in a niche, high-demand field
• Manage the candidate experience end-to-end: screening, interview coordination, feedback loops, offer negotiation, and closing
• Build and refine hiring processes, interview scorecards, and structured interview loops to support rapid headcount growth
• Track and report on pipeline health, time-to-fill, and hiring funnel metrics, flagging risks and bottlenecks proactively
• Navigate compliance considerations relevant to defense-adjacent hiring (e.g., US person requirements and export control awareness) in partnership with Legal/People.

What you need:

• U.S. Citizen or PERM required due to ITAR Compliance
• 5+ years of full-cycle technical recruiting experience, with a track record of hiring hardware, mechanical, electrical, robotics, or embedded software engineers
• Demonstrated success sourcing and closing passive candidates for hard-to-fill, specialized technical roles
• Prior experience operating with a high degree of autonomy, ideally supporting a recruiting function while a manager worked remotely or across multiple sites
• Strong presence and sound judgment; comfortable being the go-to recruiting voice in the room with engineering leadership
• Comfort operating in a startup environment with high ownership, ambiguity, and limited process; you build what doesn't exist yet
• Strong ability to partner with technical hiring managers, translate engineering requirements into sourcing strategy, and act as a trusted advisor
• Excellent communication and organizational skills; able to manage multiple searches simultaneously and prioritize under a high-growth hiring load
• Experience with ATS platforms (e.g., Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby) and modern sourcing tools
• Must be willing and able to work on-site consistently; this role is the in-office anchor for the recruiting function

Nice to haves:

• Experience recruiting in aerospace, defense, robotics, automotive, or other hardware-intensive industries strongly preferred

What we have to offer:

We are not just building components. We are reshaping the future of the Aerospace and Defense component industry, which is a $300B+ market! Come join us and help build next generation systems that will make a massive impact at global scale.

• Direct impact: your hires will shape the team building the next generation of motion control and robotics technology
• Work alongside founders and engineering leadership, not buried in a large TA org
• Salary Range: $145,000-$165,000, plus equity and benefits at a well-funded, fast-moving startup
• Mission-driven work at the intersection of aerospace, defense, and robotics innovation
• Exceptional healthcare benefits (Medical, Dental, Vision) - Medical is 100% covered by the company
• Flexible PTO Policy
• 401K
• More to come!