Deep Tech · Defense · Critical Minerals & Metals · Materials Science

Fractional Talent & HR for
Hard-to-Hire Industries

Expert recruiting and HR leadership embedded into your team — on-demand, without the overhead of a full-time hire. Built for the companies changing the material world.

Book a discovery call → See how it works
What we do

Services built for technical founders

Whether you need one hire or a full recruiting engine, we embed into your team and deliver.

Fractional Recruiting

  • Process & materials engineers
  • R&D scientists
  • Manufacturing & ops
  • Defense & cleared roles
  • IC to Director-level

Recruiting Operations

  • ATS implementation (Greenhouse, Workable)
  • Sourcing playbooks & Boolean strings
  • Interview scorecards
  • Pipeline reporting
  • Compensation benchmarking

TA Strategy

  • Headcount planning
  • Employer branding
  • Sourcing channel development
  • National lab & academic pipelines
  • DEIB hiring frameworks

Fractional HR

  • HR function buildout
  • Onboarding & offboarding
  • Performance frameworks
  • Interim HR partnership
  • Policy development
Who we work with

Companies at the frontier

We specialize in organizations building things that didn't exist before — where talent is genuinely hard to find.

Advanced Materials

Electrochemistry, composites, ceramics, novel alloys

Materials Science

Semiconductor materials, polymers, thin films, coatings

Defense & Dual-Use

Cleared hiring, defense tech, autonomous systems

Critical Minerals & Metals

Battery materials, rare earth processing, recycling

Critical Elements founder
About

Built by a practitioner, not an agency

Critical Elements is a fractional TA and HR practice with 10 years of experience across deep tech and materials science. We've been embedded inside the hard problems — electrochemical steelmaking, semiconductor materials, defense manufacturing — and know how to find people who don't respond to generic outreach.

We bring genuine domain fluency to every search. That means credible conversations with hiring managers, sourcing through national labs and academic channels, and outreach that actually gets responses.

  • SHRM-CP certified
  • Background in advanced materials & semiconductor TA
  • National lab & academic sourcing channels
  • Fluent in Greenhouse, Workable, iCIMS, SuccessFactors, Gem
Why fractional

Expert recruiting, without the overhead

Not ready for a full-time TA hire? Fractional gives you the expertise, embedded in your team, at a fraction of the cost.

Speed to hire

We ramp in days, not months. Sourcing pipelines, scorecards, and intake processes stood up fast.

Domain fluency

We understand the science behind your roles and can have credible conversations with candidates and hiring managers alike.

Flexible scope

Hourly, project-based, or ongoing retainer. Scale up for a hiring push, scale back when you don't need us.

Cost efficient

No placement fees. No full-time salary. You get senior TA leadership without the full-time price tag.

FAQ

Common questions

Fractional recruiting means you get an embedded, experienced recruiter working as part of your team — without the cost of a full-time hire. You pay for the hours and scope you actually need.
Deep tech, advanced materials, materials science, defense and dual-use technology, and critical minerals & metals. We bring genuine domain fluency — not just keyword matching — to technical sourcing.
Typically within a week of a signed agreement. We come in with sourcing infrastructure and playbooks ready to build on your existing stack.
Greenhouse, Workable, iCIMS, and SuccessFactors, plus Gem for sourcing campaigns. We can implement, optimize, or work within whatever you're already running.
Hourly or project-based, depending on scope. We'll put together a proposal after a discovery call — no retainer commitment required to start the conversation.
Yes. We offer both fractional embedded recruiting and placement-fee-based search, depending on your needs and timeline.

Ready to hire smarter?

No commitments. Let's talk through your hiring needs and see if there's a fit.

Book a discovery call →

Critical Elements  ·  Fractional Talent & HR  ·  Remote / U.S.-based