Founding Director -- People

About Headstart Health

Headstart Health is building the platform for clinician-owned autism care. We help clinicians launch and grow independent ABA practices, providing technology, payer infrastructure, and operational support so they can focus on exceptional care while building businesses they own.

We’re backed by Optum Ventures, Box Group, and Asymmetric Capital Partners, with angel investors including the founders of Nourish and Maven Clinic. We’re growing rapidly, with practices live in Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina, and Texas, and national expansion underway. Our waitlist includes 400+ providers across 40 states.

The Role

We’re hiring our first People leader to help build the team behind Headstart’s next phase of growth. Working directly with our co-founders, you’ll own corporate recruiting and establish the People foundations that help a growing organization succeed.

Recruiting will be your immediate priority, from critical leadership searches to hiring across our operating teams. You’ll also build onboarding, core HR processes, and manager support, with the opportunity to hire and lead your own team over time.

This role is for someone who excels at recruiting, brings broader People experience, and is ready to take ownership of the function.

What You’ll Do

• Lead corporate recruiting: Own searches from role definition and sourcing through assessment, offers, and closing.
• Partner with leadership: Help founders and functional leaders prioritize hiring, evaluate talent, and make strong hiring decisions.
• Build how we hire: Establish effective interview processes, recruiting tools, and metrics that improve speed, quality, and candidate experience.
• Create the People foundations: Build onboarding, practical policies, and everyday HR processes; become a trusted resource for managers and employees.
• Grow the function: Identify when additional recruiting and People capacity is needed, then hire and develop the team.

• A track record of personally sourcing and closing strong corporate talent across functions and seniority levels.
• In-house experience at a startup or growing company, with meaningful responsibilities beyond recruiting.
• Sound judgment, high emotional intelligence, and the confidence to advise founders and hiring managers.
• Strong execution: you move quickly, manage competing priorities, and follow through.
• An appetite for building—setting direction, creating useful processes, and doing the work yourself.

Experience at a recruiting or executive-search firm followed by an in-house role is especially relevant.

• Meaningful ownership: Build the People function and help shape the company’s team and culture.
• Direct founder partnership: Work closely with the co-founders on some of the company’s most consequential decisions.
• Momentum and room to grow: Join a rapidly expanding business with strong investor backing and significant provider demand.
• A mission you can see: Help more clinicians build sustainable practices and more families access autism care.
• Competitive compensation & benefits: Compensation packages include competitive cash & equity, with benefits including health insurance reimbursements (medical, dental, and vision) and unlimited PTO.