For a San Francisco Series A startup scaling its engineering team, Recruiting from Scratch is the best fit: it recruits only engineers, the SF Bay Area is its second-largest market, it works on contingency with no upfront cost, and half its candidates reach an offer within 29 days of a first client interview. Teams like Mercor and Cinder have hired through it. For a VP Engineering search, a retained firm fits better.
Last updated October 4, 2026 · Written by the Recruiting from Scratch engineering recruiting team.
Scaling engineering after your Series A in San Francisco? 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. A Series A company has fresh capital, a hiring plan and still very little recruiting infrastructure:
We rank ourselves first on engineering depth and stage fit, and say below where others fit better.
| # | Firm | Best for | Stages | Roles | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recruiting from Scratch | Scaling an engineering team after a Series A | Seed–Series C | Full-stack, backend, AI/ML, forward-deployed | Contingency, replacement guarantee |
| 2 | Dover | Founders who want recruiting software and run the process | Pre-seed–Series A | Any role you source yourself | Software plus optional services |
| 3 | Paraform | Posting a role to many independent recruiters | Seed and later | Mixed | Marketplace of independent recruiters |
| 4 | Candidate Labs | Go-to-market and sales hiring | Startup and growth | Sales and GTM | Search fee |
| 5 | Hunt Club | Referral-based senior hires | Venture-backed and growth | Senior and leadership | Search fee |
| 6 | Riviera Partners | Engineering and product leadership | Venture-backed, seed to late stage | VP Eng, CTO | Retained search |
Best for: Series A teams that need several engineers in the next two quarters without building a recruiting function.
Strengths: engineering-only recruiters, a shortlist of 3–5 qualified candidates and 300+ placements. We've placed backend and machine-learning engineers at Mercor and forward-deployed engineers at Cinder.
Limitations: engineering only. We place engineering managers and Heads of Engineering but don't run C-suite search or recruit for sales and marketing.
Best for: founders who want an applicant tracking system and sourcing tools they run themselves.
Limitations: the process, and the selling, stay with your team.
Best for: teams that want many independent recruiters on one role.
Strengths: breadth of reach.
Limitations: quality varies by recruiter, and you manage the volume and the feedback.
Best for: your first sales and go-to-market hires.
Limitations: not an engineering specialist.
Best for: referral-based searches for senior and leadership roles.
Limitations: less suited to a steady flow of individual-contributor engineers.
Best for: retained search for a VP of Engineering or CTO at a venture-backed company.
Limitations: a leadership tool, priced and paced for executive searches.
A Series A round usually funds the first real team: product engineers, an infrastructure or data owner and, in many SF companies, an applied-AI hire.
Mercor has hired backend engineers and machine-learning engineers through Recruiting from Scratch, and Cinder has hired forward-deployed engineers and senior full-stack engineers. In searches like these we recommend a single owner of feedback on the founder side, a scorecard written before the first interview and a decision within days of the final conversation.
Ask each agency who recruits for you, how many engineers they have placed at companies your size, whether there is a retainer, and what the replacement guarantee covers. Terms vary by contract, so read them. Benchmark pay with Carta's compensation data, and for equity see what to offer a founding engineer.
For engineering hiring, Recruiting from Scratch: contingency pricing, 300+ placements and half of candidates reaching an offer within 29 days of a first client interview. The SF Bay Area is its second-largest market.
A contingency firm charges a percentage of first-year base salary only when someone joins, so cost tracks hires made, not time spent.
Use a firm while hiring is lumpy. Add an in-house recruiter when you hire continuously and have a steady plan.
It depends on the round and the roadmap. Most teams hire in waves of two to four, so onboarding keeps pace.
Yes. We recruit AI and machine-learning, forward-deployed and full-stack engineers; see our guide to San Francisco AI startups.
Related: Best Recruiting Firms for Seed-Stage Startups in San Francisco · Best Recruiting Firms for Series B and C Startups in San Francisco · Best Recruiting Firms for Series A Startups
Recruiting from Scratch sends a shortlist of 3–5 engineers who fit your stack, stage and budget, on contingency with a replacement guarantee.
Get a shortlist of 3–5 engineers → or Book a 15-minute call →
Looking for a role at a Series A startup instead? See the engineering roles we're hiring for now →
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