Engineering search
Founding engineers, staff+ ICs, and technical leadership. We read the codebase context before we read résumés.
- Systems & infra
- Full-stack product engineers
- Applied research & MLE
- Founding engineers
Systmatic is a boutique executive search partner for venture-backed startups. We don't fill seats — we find the few people who can change the trajectory of a company.
Representative placeholders. Client references available on request.
Traditional recruiting optimizes for volume. Startups need judgment. The right hire at Series A rewrites what's possible; the wrong one costs a year of runway.
Every search begins with the founder's vision, the product, the technical shape of the problem, and the company's long-term trajectory — before a single candidate name is written down.
Founding engineers, staff+ ICs, and technical leadership. We read the codebase context before we read résumés.
Research scientists, ML engineers, and applied AI leaders. We know the labs, the papers, and who ships.
Founding AEs, first sales leaders, PMMs, and growth engineers. Hired for the stage, not the title.
We speak to fewer people, more deeply. A shortlist of four we can defend beats a longlist of forty.
Every candidate is evaluated against your product surface, technical shape, and next 18 months — not a generic rubric.
We look for people who have already solved the problem you're about to face, wherever they solved it.
If a role isn't hireable at the level you're asking, we'll say so in the first week — not the twelfth.
Vision, stage, technical shape, hiring context.
Illustrative placeholders. Real numbers, per search, on request.
Anonymized placeholders. Real case studies shared under NDA.
"They introduced us to two people. We hired one. She rewrote the trajectory of the company."
"The first firm we've worked with that actually understood our codebase before writing a spec."
"They told us the role wasn't hireable at the level we were asking. Nobody had ever done that."
Placeholder testimonials pending client approval.
We're retained, small caseload, research-first. We work on a limited number of searches at a time so each one gets founder-caliber attention.
Pre-Seed through Series C. Our work is most valuable when the wrong hire meaningfully changes the trajectory of the business.
Engineering, AI/ML, Product, Design, and GTM leadership. Founding hires, staff+ ICs, and first executive layer.
Based in SF and NYC. We recruit worldwide — most searches touch at least three metros.
Shortlist in ~14 days. Signed offer in 4–8 weeks for most roles. Executive searches run longer.
Retained engagement with a milestone structure. We share fees on the first call — no surprises.
A 30-minute strategy call. We'll pressure-test the role, the market, and whether we're the right partner. No pitch deck.