Hi, I'm James. I've spent over a decade hiring engineers

In-house at Cruise, Meta Reality Labs, Lucid, and LinkedIn, then on my own. I started Gradient Search because the best recruiting I ever did was when I knew the team, the codebase, and the candidate personally, and that doesn't scale through a bench of junior sourcers.

Portrait of James Arnold coming soon
500+ Placements Made
14 Days Avg. Match Time
96% Retention Rate
200+ Partner Companies

How I got here

  1. Co-founder, Gradient Search 2026 to now

    Independent search for AI, robotics, and deep tech, built on sourcing tooling I helped design. Every search I take, I run myself.

  2. Staff AI recruiter, LinkedIn 2025

    Full-cycle hiring for Staff+ roles across AI and systems infrastructure engineering.

  3. Sourcing & recruiting leader, Lucid Motors 2023 to 2024

    Hardware and software hiring across EV and autonomous vehicle engineering.

  4. Executive talent partner, Meta Reality Labs 2022 to 2023

    VP and director hires across computer vision, ML, and hardware for R&D, drawing leadership from Apple, NVIDIA, and Google.

  5. Talent intelligence & sourcing lead, Cruise 2019 to 2022

    First contract recruiter embedded in the robotics and hardware org. Converted to full-time and promoted twice.

  6. Agency and in-house recruiting 2012 to 2019

    Portland, Honolulu, and the Bay Area. Contractor staffing through venture-backed startups, learning the desk from the ground up.

How I work

Straight answers.
If your comp band won't land the profile you want, I'll say so on the first call.
Small book on purpose.
A handful of searches at a time, so none of them get the leftovers.
Candidates get treated like people.
Everyone hears back, whether or not it worked out.

Where I've placed

AnthropicCruiseMetaLucid MotorsLinkedInApple

What people say

James is a true Talent Acquisition partner and a great teammate. His skills in sourcing and offer negotiation are very strong. During our time working together I was impressed by how well he understood the business and candidates' needs.

SP

Sean Palmer

Senior Technical Recruiter, Scale AI

I was blown away with how James approaches recruiting. James is a diamond in the rough. He understands the interview and hiring process and understands that people are THE MOST important thing.

TD

Taylor Desseyn

VP of Global Community

Let's talk about your team

Whether you're hiring now or just mapping the market, a 20-minute call costs you nothing.

Start a Conversation