Professional search for the people who ship product.
Targeted, off-market search for senior individual contributors and front-line managers — principal engineers, applied scientists, ML platform leads, EMs, PMs, and the technical GTM operators who turn strategy into shipped product. Same rigor as our retained mandates, on a faster cadence and a flexible commercial model.
The model
Off-market sourcing for senior IC roles.
Professional search is targeted recruitment for the senior individual contributors and front-line managers who determine whether a roadmap actually ships. Principal engineers, staff researchers, ML platform leads, applied scientists, EMs, and the senior PMs who own the hardest product surfaces.
Every candidate is reached through direct outreach to passive senior talent — people who aren't on the job market, aren't on Otta, aren't replying to InMails from in-house sourcers. We work the network, not the job board.
The result: a shortlist of 4–6 calibrated candidates within 2–3 weeks, each with written assessment notes, structured references, and a comp benchmark grounded in the current market — not last cycle's data.
What's included
Shortlist in weeks. Diligence on every name.
- Curated shortlist of 4–6 calibrated candidates within 2–3 weeks
- Direct outreach to passive senior talent — never a job-board pull
- Compensation benchmarks specific to the role, level, and market
- Structured reference and motivation diligence on every finalist
- Written assessment notes for each candidate, ready for hiring debriefs
Process
From brief to accepted offer.
- 01
Brief & calibration
60-minute kickoff with the hiring manager, scorecard alignment, comp benchmark, and a written role narrative we'll use in outreach.
- 02
Direct outreach
Targeted, personalized outbound to passive senior talent. No job boards, no generic InMails, no spray-and-pray.
- 03
Screen & shortlist
Structured screens against your scorecard. Shortlist of 4–6 calibrated candidates with written notes within 2–3 weeks.
- 04
Diligence & close
Reference checks, motivation diligence, comp guidance, and offer support through accept and start date.
Profiles we place
Senior talent across the technical org.
Principal & Staff Engineers
Distributed systems, ML platform, infra, applied ML, and core product engineering at Series B–enterprise scale.
Applied Scientists & ML Researchers
From research-to-product specialists to first-principles practitioners — LLM, CV, RL, and applied research.
Engineering & Product Managers
Front-line managers and group PMs who translate strategy into shipped product on real timelines.
Senior GTM & Revenue Leaders
Enterprise AE, sales engineering, and partnership leaders for technical sales motions in AI and SaaS.
Senior Designers & Researchers
Product designers, design engineers, and UX researchers for AI-native product surfaces.
Data & Analytics Leads
Senior data engineers, analytics engineers, and data science leads for product-critical pipelines.
FAQ
Professional search, answered.
- What is professional search?
- Professional search is targeted, off-market recruitment for senior individual contributors and front-line managers — the technical and operational backbone of your team. Unlike contingent agency work, every candidate is sourced through direct outreach, calibrated against your scorecards, and reference-checked before shortlist.
- How is it different from executive search?
- Executive search is retained, board-level, and built around a single mandate — typically C-suite or VP. Professional search runs on a faster cadence (2–3 weeks to shortlist), supports senior IC and manager roles, and can run multiple roles in parallel under a flexible commercial model.
- What roles do you place through professional search?
- Principal and staff engineers, ML and AI researchers, applied scientists, engineering managers, product managers, senior designers, and senior GTM operators (enterprise AE, sales engineering, partnerships). Anywhere a generic LinkedIn pull won't surface the right people.
- How fast can you deliver a shortlist?
- Most professional search mandates deliver a calibrated shortlist of 4–6 candidates within 2–3 weeks of kickoff. We never wait on inbound — every candidate is reached through direct, personalized outreach to passive talent.
- What's the commercial model?
- Flexible. We run professional search as either a contingent engagement (success fee) or a container model (smaller upfront retainer plus success fee), depending on the role's seniority, market difficulty, and exclusivity.
- Do you do diligence on candidates?
- Yes. Every finalist comes with structured reference checks (typically 3 named references plus 1–2 backchannel), a written assessment of strengths and watch-outs, motivation diligence, and a calibrated comp benchmark.
Ready to brief a role?