For a New York startup hiring engineers, Recruiting from Scratch is the best fit: New York is its largest market, it recruits only engineers, works on contingency with no upfront cost, and half its candidates reach an offer within 29 days of their first interview. It has placed an agent software engineer in New York at Decagon. For CTO searches, a retained firm such as Riviera Partners is the better choice.
Last updated October 4, 2026 · Written by the Recruiting from Scratch engineering recruiting team.
Hiring 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. A New York search has its own demands: dense competition, finance and enterprise pay anchors, and hybrid expectations.
We rank ourselves first on NYC depth and say below where others fit better.
| # | Firm | Best for | Stages | Roles | Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recruiting from Scratch | NYC startups hiring engineers | Seed–Series C | Software, AI/ML, forward-deployed, staff | 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 | Toptal | Short-term contract engineers | Any | Freelance and contract | Marketplace (hourly or project-based) |
Best for: New York startups building an engineering team 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. We've placed an agent software engineer in New York at Decagon and backend and machine-learning engineers at Mercor.
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: retained search for engineering and product leaders. Limitations: a leadership tool, not for a flow of IC hires.
Best for: senior and leadership searches via referrals. Limitations: less suited to high-volume engineering.
Best for: broad IT placement. Limitations: less startup specialization.
Best for: IT and technical recruiting across industries. Limitations: less engineering-specialist.
Best for: short-term contract engineers. Limitations: not for a permanent team.
Decagon has hired an agent software engineer in New York through Recruiting from Scratch. The pattern we recommend to a New York founder from that kind of search is a brief that names the product surface, the stack and the salary band up front, with fast feedback on every shortlist. Our NYC software engineer recruiter guide covers it in more depth.
Ask each agency: who on your team recruits engineers, and how long have they done it? How many engineers have you placed at startups my size? Is there a retainer? What does the guarantee cover? For Series B and later, add retained search for any leader. Verify claims against the firm's public site, and compare salary bands against Carta's data.
For startup engineering hiring, Recruiting from Scratch: New York is its largest market, with contingency pricing and half of candidates reaching an offer within 29 days of a first interview.
Most engineering firms charge contingency: a percentage of first-year base salary, paid only on hire. Retained firms charge part upfront.
Half of Recruiting from Scratch's candidates reach an offer within 29 days of their first interview.
You need one who knows the New York market. Location matters less than that depth and recent placements.
Choose by team needs, and be explicit about in-office expectations in the role spec.
Related: Best Technical Recruiting Firms in New York City for Startups, by Stage and Vertical · Best Recruiting Firms for Forward-Deployed Engineers in New York · 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 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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