Engineering & Tech Recruiting

Your first 50 hires define everything.

Hirefer partners with seed to Series C startups to build world-class engineering teams — fast, precisely, and without the noise.

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How it works

Recruiting that moves at startup speed.

We embed directly into your hiring process — acting as an extension of your team, not a vendor on the outside. From role definition to offer signed, we own the process.

Define the brief

We spend time understanding your product, culture, and exactly who you need — not just a job description.

Targeted sourcing

We map the market and approach candidates who aren't actively looking. No job boards. No spray and pray.

Curated shortlist

You receive a tight list of pre-qualified candidates — typically within 18 days of kickoff.

Close & onboard

We manage offers, handle counteroffers, and stay close until your new hire's first day.

Services

Retained Search

For critical hires where quality and fit matter above all. We take full ownership of the search from day one with dedicated capacity and weekly progress reporting.

Best for VP+, Staff Eng

Embedded Recruiting

We plug into your team as your recruiting function — handling everything from pipeline to process while you focus on building. Flexible monthly engagements.

Best for high-volume hiring

Hiring Advisory

Structure your hiring process, interview frameworks, and employer brand before you scale. A strategic engagement for founders preparing to make their first 10 hires.

Best for pre-seed, seed

Who we work with

Built for startups at every growth stage.

Each stage of growth has different hiring challenges. We've built our process around the specific needs of startups — not enterprise hiring adapted down.

Seed

Your first engineers

Founding team hires that set the technical and cultural foundation. High stakes, high care.

Series A

Building the core

Growing from 5 to 25 engineers. Team leads, ICs, and specialists who can work at pace.

Series B

Scaling with structure

Staff engineers, EMs, and leaders who can build process without losing startup velocity.

Series C

Executive & senior

VPs, directors, and architects who've scaled teams before and can do it again, fast.

Roles we place

Every critical technical role, covered.

Software Engineer (FE/BE/FS) →

Staff & Principal Engineer →

Engineering Manager →

VP of Engineering →

CTO / Head of Engineering →

Data Engineer / Scientist →

ML / AI Engineer →

DevOps / Platform Engineer →

Security Engineer →

Product Manager →

Head of Product →

Engineering Director →

About

We've been inside startups. We know what actually matters.

Hirefer was built because the existing recruiting model doesn't fit how startups work. Too slow, too broad, too detached from the real pressures of building a company.

We work with a small number of clients at a time — by design. Every search gets our full attention, and every client gets a recruiting partner who understands the difference between a hire that looks good on paper and one who changes the trajectory of your company.

Startup-only focus We don't work with enterprises. Our entire methodology is built around the speed and constraints of high-growth startups.
Small client roster We cap the number of active searches so every client gets our full attention — not a junior researcher and a templated pitch.
No job boards Every candidate is sourced directly. We reach people who aren't looking — and make a compelling case for why they should be.
Transparent process You see every candidate we approach, every response, and every data point. No black box.