2026 SALARY SURVEY - NOW AVAILABLE
ROLES WE HIRE
BUILD
-
AI engineers
-
Applied AI engineers
-
LLM engineers
-
Generative AI engineers
-
AI product engineers
MODEL
-
Machine learning engineers
-
NLP engineers
-
Applied scientists
-
Research scientists and engineers
RUN
-
MLOps engineers
-
ML platform engineers
-
AI infrastructure engineers
-
AI evaluation and safety engineers
LEAD
-
Founding AI engineers
-
AI and ML team leads
-
Heads of AI and ML
-
Directors and VPs of AI
WHO WE WORK WITH
We work with startups building AI into their product for the first time and scaleups growing an AI or machine learning team.
"We need an AI engineer" can mean very different hires: someone integrating models into your product, someone training and fine-tuning them, or someone running them reliably in production. Getting that right before the search starts is half the job.
Either way, we start by understanding what you're building and what the AI needs to do, not just the role in front of us.
OUR PROCESS
01
TODAY.
Getting to know each other.
We ask why the role exists, what problem the hire solves and what good looks like in six months.
02
24-48 HOURS.
What does good look like?
We'll share example profiles to gather comprehensive live feedback about what you like/dislike about each.
03
48-72 HOURS.
Search officially starts.
We longlist and assess candidates against your brief, beyond what's on their CV.
04
END OF WEEK 1.
Candidates introductions.
Your first hand-picked shortlist lands, with our notes on every candidate.
WHAT WE LOOK FOR IN EVERY AI HIRE
Technical depth - Their experience against your stack and the models and problems you're working with.
Production experience - Have they shipped AI that real users rely on, not just demos and prototypes?
Product sense - Can they judge when AI is the right answer, and when it isn't?
Fit with your stage - Do they want the pace of a startup or scaleup, or just like the idea of it?
YOUR DESK LEADS
ELLIE DYER
SENIOR TALENT PARTNER II
AI & SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
FAQS
How long does it take to hire an AI engineer?
Your first shortlist lands by the end of week one. Our average time to fill is 36 days, so we'd expect to have secured your hire, or have them in the final stages, by around week five. Specialist and leadership AI roles can take longer.
Can you help us work out which AI role we need?
Yes. An AI engineer, a machine learning engineer and an MLOps engineer do very different jobs. We start by understanding what you need the AI to do, then recommend the right hire before the search starts.
Do you recruit LLM and generative AI engineers?
Yes. We recruit engineers who build products on large language models and generative AI, from integrating and fine-tuning models to building the systems around them.
Do you recruit MLOps engineers?
Yes. We recruit MLOps and ML platform engineers who deploy, monitor and scale models in production, so the AI your team builds keeps working once real users rely on it.
Do you recruit heads of AI?
Yes. We recruit AI and machine learning leaders from team lead up to head of AI, director and VP, for startups building their first AI team and scaleups growing one.
KEEP READING
WHAT WE HIRE
WHAT WE HIRE
HIRING DONE RIGHT, SO YOU CAN BUILD FASTER
We help startups scale by matching them with the right people - not just by skillset but by culture and ambition.