For a San Francisco Series B or C startup scaling engineering, Recruiting from Scratch is the best fit: it recruits only engineers, including staff-level engineers and engineering managers, the SF Bay Area is its second-largest market, and it works on contingency with no upfront cost. Half its candidates reach an offer within 29 days of a first client interview. For a VP Engineering or CTO search, retained firms such as Riviera Partners fit better.
Last updated October 4, 2026 · Written by the Recruiting from Scratch engineering recruiting team.
Scaling engineering after a Series B 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. At Series B and C, the problem changes from finding people to keeping a hiring engine running across several teams:
We rank ourselves first on engineering depth and say below where others fit better.
| # | Firm | Best for | Stages | Roles | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recruiting from Scratch | Scaling engineering across several teams | Seed–Series C | Software, AI/ML, staff, forward-deployed, managers | Contingency, replacement guarantee |
| 2 | Riviera Partners | Engineering and product 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 executive | Search fee |
| 4 | Motion Recruitment | Broad IT hiring with a salary guide | Growth and enterprise | IT and technical | Agency fee |
| 5 | Kore1 | Broad technical recruiting | Growth and enterprise | IT and technical | Agency fee |
| 6 | Paraform | Posting a role to many independent recruiters | Seed and later | Mixed | Marketplace of independent recruiters |
Best for: Series B and C companies hiring multiple engineers across product, platform and AI.
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 don't run C-suite search or recruit for sales and marketing.
Best for: retained search for engineering and product leaders.
Limitations: a leadership tool, not for a flow of individual-contributor hires.
Best for: senior and leadership searches through a referral network.
Limitations: less suited to high-volume engineering.
Best for: broad IT placement, with an annual tech salary guide.
Limitations: less startup specialization.
Best for: IT and technical recruiting across many industries.
Limitations: less engineering-specialist.
Best for: companies that want many independent recruiters on one role.
Limitations: quality varies by recruiter, and your team manages the volume.
Mercor has hired backend engineers and machine-learning engineers through Recruiting from Scratch, and Cinder has hired senior full-stack engineers and forward-deployed engineers. The pattern we'd carry to a Series B company is a standing brief per team, a weekly review of the pipeline and one fixed feedback window per candidate.
Ask each agency how many recruiters work on your account, how they split a multi-role search, whether there is a retainer and what the guarantee covers (terms vary by contract). Compare contingency and retained models in our guide to contingency versus retained recruiting, and benchmark pay with Carta's compensation data.
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.
Use contingency for individual-contributor engineers and managers, and retained search for a VP of Engineering or CTO.
Often one or two. More firms mean more noise and split attention, so give one firm the role first.
Yes, though staff searches take longer and need a clear scope, level and compensation band.
When you hire continuously across many teams and can staff a recruiter with a stable plan.
Related: Best Recruiting Firms for Series A Startups in San Francisco · Best Recruiting Firms for Series B and C Startups in New York · Best Recruiting Firms for Series B and C Startups
Recruiting from Scratch sends a shortlist of 3–5 engineers who fit your stack, level and budget, on contingency with a replacement guarantee.
Get a shortlist of 3–5 engineers → or Book a 15-minute call →
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