150+ HR & Recruiting Jobs in San Jose, CA

Government wage data shows strong local pay, but it measures approximations of the category rather than every recruiter or people-ops title. In 2025, Human Resources Specialists in San Jose had a mean wage of $122,290, a median wage of $112,140, and a 25th-to-75th percentile range of $85,150 to $153,460. Human Resources Managers had a mean wage of $257,750 and a median wage of $220,460. Current posting-based signals run higher in the middle because the live mix skews experienced: local posted salary ranges center on about $130k to $188k, with a broader 25th-75th band of about $100k to $230k.

Full September 2026 market report

Advertised pay

Across the 137 openings that disclose pay, the advertised range midpoint runs $81,120 at the 25th percentile, $110,000 at the median and $143,500 at the 75th. These are advertised ranges, not earned pay.

Active openings as of October 17, 2026

Senior roles | Entry level | Remote | Posted this week

Live from the Callings.ai index of over 13 million postings, refreshed hourly and re-checked here nightly. Roles that close are dropped at the next refresh.

Showing 30 of 163 openings.

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What our analysts see this month

Competitive market | next 3-6 months

This is a real market, but not an easy one. San Jose unemployment was 4.3% in August 2026 and total nonfarm employment was up 1.5917% year over year, yet Professional and Business Services employment was down -0.3209% locally and California-wide HR, recruiting, and people-ops postings were down 1.0% year over year. Local demand is still active: more than 200 postings appeared across more than 150 companies in the last 90 days, but only about 15% of the sampled mix was entry level while mid, senior, and lead+ roles made up the rest. The result is a selective market that still pays well, especially for technical recruiting, HRBP-style work, and analytically strong people-ops candidates.

Best positioned: Your best odds are with technical recruiting, HRBP, or people-ops experience plus clear strength in full-cycle recruiting, data analysis, ATS tools, and stakeholder management, especially if you are open to on-site or hybrid work.

Main caution: Do not assume Silicon Valley means abundant remote recruiter openings: about 65% of the local posting mix is on-site, about 30% hybrid, and about 5% remote.

From the September 2026 market report

Who is hiring here

Counted across all 163 openings in this market. 10 of the employers below are hiring for more than one role right now.

1. Applied Intuition: 4 open roles
2. Mindrift: 4 open roles
3. Mindrift: 4 open roles
4. Amazon: 3 open roles
5. Inter-Con Security: 3 open roles
6. Telemetry Today LLC: 3 open roles
7. Think Academy International: 3 open roles
8. TikTok Inc.: 3 open roles
9. TikTok USDS Joint Venture: 3 open roles
10. Applovin Corp.: 2 open roles

Where the openings are

• San Jose: 41
• Sunnyvale: 24
• Palo Alto: 23
• Santa Clara: 19
• Mountain View: 11
• Menlo Park: 6
• Redwood City: 6
• Santa Clara Valley: 5

Work arrangement

on-site 108 (69%), hybrid 37 (24%), remote 11 (7%)

Where the demand is

Real opportunity is concentrated inside tech-linked employers rather than evenly spread across the metro. In the recent local posting mix, software development accounted for about 40% of openings, technology, information and internet about 15%, technology about 10%, computer hardware manufacturing about 10%, and internet & web services about 5%. The named-employer list is varied rather than winner-take-all, with Applied Intuition and Bytedance around 10 postings each and several others around 5, which points to a long-tail market instead of one dominant buyer. The jobs themselves skew toward candidates who can handle operational complexity quickly. About 35% of postings were mid-level, about 35% senior, about 15% lead+, and only about 15% entry. Technical recruiting, full-cycle recruiting, data analysis, sourcing, stakeholder management, LinkedIn Recruiter, and ATS depth show up repeatedly in the local skill mix. That combination favors embedded recruiting, HRBP, and recruiting-operations work over generic entry-level HR. There is also a secondary, smaller public-sector angle. Santa Clara County scheduled a free October 27 expo in San Jose featuring opportunities across more than 2,000 public-service jobs, but the announcement did not specify HR openings. Treat that as a supplemental channel, not the core market.

• Tech, software, internet, and AI-linked employers (high): Best fit for technical recruiters, recruiter-ops hybrids, HRBPs, and people-ops candidates who can work closely with engineering, product, and fast-moving business leaders.
• Hardware, manufacturing, and medtech-style employers (moderate): Good target for candidates who can recruit for specialized talent, manage hiring-manager calibration, and work on-site with business units.
• Public-sector and community employers (limited): Worth monitoring for stability and alternative entry points, but current evidence does not show the same volume or specificity for HR openings as the private tech-heavy segment.

Where to focus: Focus first on mid-to-senior technical recruiting and HRBP/people-ops roles at software, internet, hardware, and other tech-linked employers, and be willing to work on-site or hybrid.

Roles worth searching next

• Business Operations Analyst: The local market values data analysis, stakeholder management, and process ownership, which transfer well into business ops.
• Employer Brand or Talent Marketing Specialist: If your recruiting strength is candidate messaging, funnel conversion, and market positioning, this is a logical adjacent lane.
• Payroll Analyst: People-ops candidates with process discipline and compliance instincts can pivot into a more stable HR-adjacent finance path.
• Instructional Designer or Corporate Trainer: L&D-adjacent experience can translate into enablement and structured learning work, especially for candidates who like onboarding and capability-building.

What postings ask for

• Full-cycle recruiting (table_stakes | immediate): It is one of the most-requested local skills, appearing in about 20% of sampled postings. Who: Recruiters, TA specialists, and career switchers trying to prove end-to-end ownership.
• Technical recruiting (premium | immediate): It shows up in about 20% of local postings and matches a market dominated by software, internet, and hardware employers. Who: Recruiters targeting Silicon Valley employers and HRBP candidates supporting technical teams.
• Data analysis (differentiator | immediate): It appears in about 20% of local postings and helps you speak to funnel quality, workforce planning, and recruiter productivity. Who: Mid-career recruiters, people-ops candidates, and switchers coming from ops or analytics.
• ATS and LinkedIn Recruiter fluency (differentiator | immediate): Applicant tracking systems appear in about 10% of local postings and LinkedIn Recruiter in about 15%, making tool fluency a real screening filter. Who: Entry-level candidates who need credibility fast and experienced recruiters who want to show search depth.
• Stakeholder management, relationship-building, and conflict resolution (premium | near-term): Stakeholder management appears in about 20% of local postings, and national HR guidance continues to highlight relationship-building and conflict resolution as in-demand capabilities. Who: HRBPs, people-ops candidates, and recruiters working with demanding hiring managers.
• AI governance and recruitment-automation literacy (differentiator | near-term): National HR guidance flags AI governance expertise as in demand while automation is reshaping screening and administration. Who: People-ops, HRBP, recruiting-ops, and policy-minded HR candidates.

Questions about this market

What do Human Resources, Recruiting & People Operations roles pay in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA?

Government wage data shows strong local pay, but it measures approximations of the category rather than every recruiter or people-ops title. In 2025, Human Resources Specialists in San Jose had a mean wage of $122,290, a median wage of $112,140, and a 25th-to-75th percentile range of $85,150 to $153,460. Human Resources Managers had a mean wage of $257,750 and a median wage of $220,460. Current posting-based signals run higher in the middle because the live mix skews experienced: local posted salary ranges center on about $130k to $188k, with a broader 25th-75th band of about $100k to $230k. This is a high-pay market by national standards. The national median was $75,940 for Human Resources Specialists and $149,280 for Human Resources Managers, so San Jose still carries a meaningful pay premium when you land the right level and employer.

Where is demand for Human Resources, Recruiting & People Operations roles in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA concentrated?

Real opportunity is concentrated inside tech-linked employers rather than evenly spread across the metro. In the recent local posting mix, software development accounted for about 40% of openings, technology, information and internet about 15%, technology about 10%, computer hardware manufacturing about 10%, and internet & web services about 5%. The named-employer list is varied rather than winner-take-all, with Applied Intuition and Bytedance around 10 postings each and several others around 5, which points to a long-tail market instead of one dominant buyer. The jobs themselves skew toward candidates who can handle operational complexity quickly. About 35% of postings were mid-level, about 35% senior, about 15% lead+, and only about 15% entry. Technical recruiting, full-cycle recruiting, data analysis, sourcing, stakeholder management, LinkedIn Recruiter, and ATS depth show up repeatedly in the local skill mix. That combination favors embedded recruiting, HRBP, and recruiting-operations work over generic entry-level HR. There is also a secondary, smaller public-sector angle. Santa Clara County scheduled a free October 27 expo in San Jose featuring opportunities across more than 2,000 public-service jobs, but the announcement did not specify HR openings. Treat that as a supplemental channel, not the core market.

Which employers are hiring the most Human Resources, Recruiting & People Operations talent in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA?

Recent postings show the most activity from Applied Intuition (10 postings), Bytedance (10 postings), Tesla (5 postings), Intuitive (5 postings), Hyve Solutions (5 postings). See the full market report for the complete employer landscape.

Can Human Resources, Recruiting & People Operations roles in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA be done remotely?

Of recent postings, 5% are remote and 30% hybrid, with 65% on-site. Use the Remote filter above to see only remote openings.

How current are these listings?

Openings come from the Callings.ai live index of over 13 million jobs, refreshed hourly. This page searches postings from the last 30 days; run the search yourself to filter by anything else in plain language.

Browse California openings by job title

• Software Engineer: 1,155 open roles statewide
• Product Manager: 412 open roles statewide
• Project Manager: 407 open roles statewide
• General Manager: 403 open roles statewide
• Program Manager: 340 open roles statewide
• Technical Program Manager: 327 open roles statewide
• Senior Software Engineer: 266 open roles statewide
• Staff Software Engineer: 225 open roles statewide
• Engineering Manager: 170 open roles statewide
• Senior Manager: 144 open roles statewide
• Senior Product Manager: 119 open roles statewide
• Associate Director: 105 open roles statewide

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