Founding Recruiter

Position: Founding Recruiter

Company: Columbia Safety Services, LLC

Location: Seattle, WA — in-market required, not a remote role

Reports To: President & Chief Executive Officer (transitioning to Chief Operating Officer as the organization matures)

Employment Type: Full-time, salaried, non-exempt (overtime eligible)

Bargaining Unit Status: Non-union

Incentive Eligibility: Uncapped per-placement bonus — see Compensation

Travel: Regional travel across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and future markets as needed

About Columbia Safety Services

Columbia Safety Services is the parent company of a growing group of fire and life safety businesses across the Pacific Northwest and Intermountain West:

• Columbia Fire, LLC — Seattle, WA
• Valley Fire Control, LLC — Albany and Newport, OR + Spokane, WA
• FFF Protection — Greater Boise, with an office in Nampa, ID

Our companies design, install, inspect, and service fire sprinkler systems, fire alarm systems, suppression systems, portable extinguishers, and the life safety equipment that protects people and property. We are a multi-state regional company that grows both organically and through acquisition.

Our approach is not quick flips or short-term gains. It is long-term stewardship, strong values, and building companies where people want to work. Our vision is simple and ambitious: becoming formidable.

We believe people are the foundation. When we invest in our employees, they deliver for our customers, and our customers sustain and grow the business. That is the cycle we are scaling — and we need someone to build the engine that keeps great people flowing into it.

Our core values guide how we operate: Customer First, Grit, Effective Communication, Own the Outcome, Take Pride in the Work, and Do the Right Thing.

Why This Role Exists

Every other hire we need depends on this one. We have identified dozens of seats across our operating companies over the next two years — field technicians, inspectors, fitters, designers, estimators, project managers, and division leadership — and today there is no one whose job it is to fill them.

Hiring managers recruit between service calls. We pay outside agencies 15 to 20 percent of first-year salary for contingent placements. Good candidates go cold while someone finds time to call them back. That is an expensive way to grow, and it does not scale.

This seat fixes that, and it comes first because it builds the capability that fills everything behind it.

This Is a Zero-to-One Seat

Read this part carefully, because it is the whole job.

This is a brand-new role. There is no established recruiting process, no pipeline, no applicant tracking discipline, and no playbook waiting for you. You are here to build all of it from nothing.

We will teach you our culture, our markets, our trades, and how we operate. What we cannot teach — and what you must already have — is the drive to create structure where none exists. You should be the kind of person who sees an empty whiteboard as the best part of the job rather than the intimidating part.

If you have spent your career executing someone else’s recruiting process, this probably is not your seat. If you have wanted to build your own shop — with real financial backing, a growing multi-state platform behind you, and uncapped upside — this is that opportunity.

Build the Pipeline Engine

• Design and stand up our recruiting function from scratch — sourcing, screening, interview process, pipelines, tools, and metrics
• Build durable pipelines for the trades: sprinkler fitters, alarm and suppression technicians, inspectors, and foremen
• Build durable pipelines for the professional side: designers, estimators, project managers, sales, and operations and finance leadership
• Go well beyond LinkedIn — build lasting relationships with trade schools, apprenticeship programs, union halls, veterans’ networks, transitioning military programs, and industry associations
• Select and implement the recruiting tools and tracking we do not yet have

Recruit, and Recruit Well

• Fill our immediate hiring needs across all operating companies
• Partner with general managers and hiring managers to write sharp job descriptions and move quickly on the right people
• Own the candidate experience end to end — our reputation as an employer starts with how you treat people who apply
• Represent our companies at career fairs and industry events, and put us on the map as an employer of choice
• Support hiring across multiple states and multiple licensing environments

Think Long-Term

• Build a multi-year recruiting plan aligned to our growth and expansion strategy — hiring ahead of need rather than backfilling
• Develop the early architecture of apprenticeship and leadership-pipeline programs that turn hires into long-term careers
• Track what matters: time-to-fill, quality of hire, source effectiveness, and above all retention of the people you place
• Help us build an employment brand worth applying to

Who You Are

• A recruiter’s DNA — you came up through agency, placement, or high-volume corporate recruiting, and you know how to hunt, close, and deliver
• Entrepreneurial — you build from nothing, you are relentless, and you do not wait to be told what the process should be
• Self-sufficient on the craft — enough experience that nobody has to teach you how to recruit
• Broad in range — equally comfortable in a union hall and a boardroom, talking with a first-year apprentice or a seasoned general manager candidate
• Honest with candidates and with us — you would rather lose a placement than oversell a job
• Metrics-minded — you measure your own work before anyone asks
• Aligned with our values: Customer First, Grit, Effective Communication, Own the Outcome, Take Pride in the Work, and Do the Right Thing.

Who Struggles Here

An honest filter

• If you need an existing process to plug into, there is not one here yet
• If you measure success by requisitions worked rather than people who stay, we will disagree quickly
• If you have only recruited office roles, understand that half of this job is skilled trades and field labor
• If you would rather not be in the field, in the shop, or at a union hall, you will struggle to sell these jobs credibly
• If you want a guaranteed number rather than a share of what you produce, this plan will not suit you

Minimum Qualifications

• 3+ years of full-cycle recruiting experience in agency, placement, or high-volume corporate recruiting
• Demonstrated record of filling roles you sourced yourself, not only roles handed to you from an inbound pipeline
• Experience recruiting for roles with licensing, certification, or credential requirements
• Strong written and verbal communication, including the ability to write a job posting that a tradesperson actually wants to read
• Comfort with recruiting tools, applicant tracking systems, and sourcing platforms — and the willingness to select and implement ours
• Residence in the Greater Seattle area, or willingness to relocate before your start date; this role requires in-market presence and is not remote
• Valid driver’s license and clean driving record
• Fluent in spoken and written English
• Ability to pass a background check and pre-employment drug screen

Preferred Qualifications

• Recruiting experience in fire protection, mechanical or electrical contracting, construction, skilled trades, or field service
• Experience recruiting in a union environment
• Experience building a recruiting function from the ground up
• Multi-state recruiting experience
• Experience with apprenticeship programs or trade school partnerships
• Experience recruiting transitioning military candidates
• Experience supporting hiring during acquisitions or integrations
• Bilingual (Spanish or other languages)

Compensation

This role pairs a competitive base with an uncapped, performance-driven bonus. The more strong people you place — and the longer they stay — the more you earn.

• Base salary: $70,000 – $85,000 annually, depending on experience
• Per-placement bonus: uncapped, ranging from approximately $1,500 to $10,000 per hire depending on the category of role filled
• Field and technician placements pay at the lower end of that range
• Designer, estimator, project manager, and sales placements pay in the middle
• Leadership, management, and finance placements pay at the upper end
• Bonuses are earned after the placement completes 90 days, and become fully earned over time under a retention-based schedule
• Classification: full-time, salaried, non-exempt. Hours are tracked, and overtime is paid for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

For context on the upside: we currently pay outside agencies 15 to 20 percent of first-year salary for contingent placements. This plan is designed so that you capture a meaningful share of the fee we would otherwise send out the door.

Bonus earnings are performance-driven and are not guaranteed. Hiring volume, timing, and role mix vary with business conditions, and nothing in this posting is a quota or a representation of expected earnings. Full plan documents are provided during the hiring process.

Why This Role Works

• You build the function rather than inherit it, and it carries your fingerprints
• Uncapped bonus tied to placements that stick, not requisitions closed
• Direct reporting to the CEO, with real authority over how we hire
• A hiring plan already identified across multiple companies and states — the demand is there
• Visible, measurable impact on a company that is actively growing
• A long-term path toward talent leadership as the organization scales

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance through Regence BlueShield, Delta Dental of Washington, and VSP — available to employees scheduled 30 or more hours per week, effective the first of the month following or coinciding with your hire date
• The company pays approximately 90% of the employee premium on the HSA-qualified medical plan, plus a substantial share of dependent premiums
• Health Savings Account with a $600 annual company contribution
• 401(k) with Safe Harbor employer match up to 3.5%
• Paid time off starting at 10 days annually and increasing with length of service
• Eight paid holidays
• Company-paid basic life and AD&D insurance
• Employee Assistance Program, telehealth access, and optional pet insurance
• Paid training, certifications, and continuing education
• Company laptop and technology package
• Paid professional development, including recruiting and sourcing training

Schedule & Work Environment

• Full-time, Monday through Friday, based in our Seattle office
• Regular time in the field — branch offices, jobsites, shops, and trade events — because you cannot sell a job you have never seen
• Regional travel across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and future markets as needed
• Occasional evening or weekend work around career fairs, industry events, and candidate availability
• Some jobsite visits require PPE, ladder use, and navigating active construction environments

Apply

If you want to build a recruiting engine from scratch, with backing behind you and no ceiling on what you earn, we want to talk.

Columbia Safety Services, LLC is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Reasonable accommodations will be made for qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with applicable law.

Employment with Columbia Safety Services, LLC is at-will and may be terminated by either party at any time, with or without cause or notice, consistent with applicable law.