For a New York fintech startup hiring backend, payments and infrastructure engineers between Seed and Series C, Recruiting from Scratch is the strongest fit: New York is its largest market, it recruits only engineers, works on contingency with no upfront cost, and half of its candidates reach an offer within 29 days of a first client interview. Mercor has hired a payments engineer through it. For a CTO search, retained search is the better choice.
Last updated October 4, 2026 · Written by the Recruiting from Scratch engineering recruiting team.
Hiring fintech engineers in New York? Recruiting from Scratch sends 3–5 qualified engineers, on contingency. Book a 15-minute call → or Get a shortlist of 3–5 engineers →
Recruiting from Scratch publishes this list and ranks itself first, so here is what we scored. Fintech engineering is judged on correctness and trust, so the criteria reflect that:
We rank ourselves first on depth and market access, and say below where others fit better.
| # | Firm | Best for | Stages | Roles | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recruiting from Scratch | Backend, payments and infrastructure engineers at fintech startups | Seed to Series C | Backend, full-stack, infrastructure, staff | Contingency, replacement guarantee |
| 2 | Riviera Partners | Engineering leadership | Venture-backed, seed to late stage | VP Eng, CTO | Retained search |
| 3 | Hunt Club | Senior hires via referrals | Venture-backed and growth | Senior and leadership roles | Search fee |
| 4 | Motion Recruitment | Broad IT placement | Growth and enterprise | Wide range of technical roles | Agency fee |
| 5 | Kore1 | Broad technical recruiting | Growth and enterprise | IT and technical | Agency fee |
| 6 | Dover | Founders running their own process | Pre-seed to Series A | Any role you source yourself | Software plus optional services |
Best for: New York fintech startups building backend, payments and platform teams from Seed through Series C.
Strengths: engineering-only recruiters, New York as our largest market, a shortlist of 3–5 qualified candidates and 300+ placements. Mercor has hired a payments engineer and backend engineers (3) through us, among other roles.
Limitations: engineering only; we don't run C-suite search or recruit for sales, compliance or risk roles. Low-latency trading seats are a specialist niche; see our quant engineering guide.
Best for: retained search for a CTO or VP Engineering at a venture-backed company.
Limitations: not designed for several individual-contributor hires.
Best for: senior searches through a referral network.
Limitations: less suited to volume engineering hiring.
Best for: broad technical placement and salary data from its annual guide.
Limitations: breadth over fintech-startup depth.
Best for: IT and technical recruiting across industries.
Limitations: less specialised in venture-backed fintech.
Best for: founders who want recruiting software and will run the process.
Limitations: the founder still sources, screens and closes.
New York sits next to large banks, asset managers and payments companies, so fintech startups here recruit from a deep pool of engineers with financial-systems experience, and they compete with those incumbents for them.
For more detail see our fintech startups ranking, low-latency engineers at fintech companies and New York staff engineers.
Mercor has hired a payments engineer through Recruiting from Scratch. It is a single hire, alongside backend, infrastructure, data and developer-experience placements. The common thread in money-moving systems is the brief: what must never be wrong, what the engineer owns, and how the team will review their work.
For backend and payments engineers, a contingency engineering agency works and you pay only on hire. For a CTO, use retained search. Ask any agency whether it has placed backend or payments engineers, who recruits for you, and what the replacement guarantee covers. Our New York technical recruiting ranking compares agencies across every seat.
Recruiting from Scratch, for backend, payments and infrastructure engineers from Seed to Series C: New York is its largest market, with contingency pricing and half of candidates reaching an offer within 29 days of a first client interview.
Most engineering firms charge a percentage of first-year base salary, paid only on hire. Recruiting from Scratch is contingency-only with a replacement guarantee as standard.
Yes. Mercor has hired a payments engineer through us, alongside backend and infrastructure engineers.
Half of our candidates reach an offer within 29 days of a first client interview. Reliable loops and quick decisions help in a market with large competitors.
Often yes, for product and platform seats. Payments and ledger roles benefit from domain experience, so decide which matters before you search.
Related: Best Technical Recruiting Firms in New York City for Startups, by Stage and Vertical · Best Recruiting Firms for Fintech Startups Hiring Engineers · Best Recruiting Firms for Series A Startups in New York
Recruiting from Scratch sends a shortlist of 3–5 New York engineers who fit your stack, stage and budget, on contingency with a replacement guarantee.
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