Contingent Executive Search
Tech Recruiters
Founding Engineer through CTO, VP of Engineering, and VP of Product — building a startup or SaaS company's technical org from the ground up, direct-hire.
- Senior Practice Director, Blue Signal Search
- Contingent-first · No up-front retainer
- Twelve-month guarantee on every placement
I build technical organizations for startups and SaaS companies from the ground up — Founding Engineer through CTO, VP of Engineering, and VP of Product. Direct-hire, sourced against real early-stage company experience, not enterprise IT staffing applied to a startup context.
Building a startup’s technical org, not staffing an enterprise IT stack
Startups and SaaS companies building a technical organization for the first time need something different from enterprise IT staffing — a Founding Engineer willing to own ambiguous early architecture decisions, or a CTO who has actually taken a company through Series A to Series B scaling, not just managed an existing enterprise engineering team.
I build technical organizations for startups and SaaS companies from the ground up: Founding Engineer, CTO, VP of Engineering, VP of Product, and Head of Engineering — direct-hire, sourced against real early-stage company experience.
Roles I staff and place
Chief Technology Officer — technical leaders with real experience taking a startup through early funding rounds, not just managing an existing enterprise engineering org.
VP of Engineering — leaders who can scale a technical team and codebase through the specific growth-stage challenges a Series A or Series B company faces.
VP of Product — product leaders with real early-stage experience shaping product direction alongside a small founding team.
Founding Engineer — engineers evaluated against real early-stage ownership experience — architecture decisions, scaling through funding rounds — not generic senior engineer tenure.
Head of Engineering — leaders who can build and manage a growing engineering team at a growth-stage SaaS company.
Blue Signal Search vertical: as Senior Practice Director, my desk sources across this startup and SaaS technical org-building range — firm-level search infrastructure behind every mandate, not a generalist recruiter's claim.
Featured roles
- Chief Technology Officer — for VC-funded startups scaling through Seed and Series A.
- VP of Engineering — for VC-funded SaaS companies scaling their team through Series B.
- VP of Product — for VC-funded SaaS companies shaping product direction at Series B.
- Founding Engineer — for VC-funded startups at Seed stage needing early ownership.
- Head of Engineering — for growth-stage SaaS companies building out their engineering team.
Pain patterns I see every quarter
Enterprise IT staffing approaches get applied to early-stage technical hires. A Founding Engineer search needs a different evaluation lens than a contract developer search — ownership mindset and ambiguity tolerance matter more than a checklist of technologies.
CTO searches underweight funding-stage-specific experience. A CTO who has only led engineering at a mature enterprise often struggles with the ambiguity and resource constraints of a Seed or Series A company.
Founding Engineer roles get filled with candidates looking for a stepping-stone, not ownership. Early-stage technical hires need genuine investment in the company’s trajectory, not just a resume line.
VP of Engineering and VP of Product searches run without funding-stage context. What a VP needs to deliver at Series A looks very different from Series B, and sourcing against the wrong stage wastes a search cycle.
How I run the search
I start by mapping the company’s funding stage and existing technical org gap, because that context defines what “qualified” actually means for the role. From there, sourcing runs against real early-stage ownership and scaling experience specific to the company’s stage.
This search runs under Blue Signal Search, a national contingent and retained search firm — the affiliation gives this desk firm-level sourcing infrastructure and reference-checkable delivery history across startup and SaaS technical org-building.
Competitive positioning (respectful)
Heidrick & Struggles / Korn Ferry / Spencer Stuart — built for retained C-suite search at large enterprise scale, not the Founding Engineer through VP-level technical org-building most Seed through Series B startups actually need filled at speed. Not a competing lane for this hub.
Tech recruiters by city
- Tech Recruiters Boston
- Tech Recruiters New York City
- Tech Recruiters Bay Area
- Tech Recruiters Seattle
- Tech Recruiters San Francisco
- Tech Recruiters Chicago
Cross-hub and next steps
For contract, contract-to-hire, and enterprise-scale direct-hire technical staffing across the full IT stack, see IT Staffing. For fintech-specific technical and GTM leadership, see Fintech Recruiters. For CISO-level and senior security-specific leadership, see Cybersecurity Executive Search.
Schedule a 30-Minute Call with Dan — Calendly, dpoore@bluesignal.com, or 669-900-4504. That is the only conversion path.
How a search works
- 01 Map the company's stage and technical org gap
Seed, Series A, and Series B companies need different things from a technical hire — the search starts with that context.
- 02 Source against real early-stage ownership experience
Candidates evaluated against actual founding-level or early-stage scaling experience, not generic enterprise IT tenure.
- 03 Match level to the company's actual technical org design
Founding Engineer, CTO, VP of Engineering, and VP of Product searches carry different evaluation criteria depending on company stage and existing team structure.
Track record
Tech Recruiters Placements
Roles placed building startup and SaaS technical organizations from the ground up. Client names and dates are withheld for confidentiality — role, level, and organization type are shown exactly as placed.
| Role placed | Level | Platform scale |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Technology Officer | C-Suite | Direct-hire, VC-funded startup, Seed/Series A |
| VP of Engineering | VP | Direct-hire, VC-funded SaaS company, Series B |
| VP of Product | VP | Direct-hire, VC-funded SaaS company, Series B |
| Founding Engineer | Senior IC | Direct-hire, VC-funded startup, Seed |
| Head of Engineering | Director | Direct-hire, growth-stage SaaS company |
Every placement above carries a twelve-month guarantee. The only quantified claim published on this site — no fee percentages, no invented placement counts.
Case study
A recent placement
A Series A SaaS company needed a Founding Engineer who could own the initial architecture decisions and scale the codebase through the next two funding rounds, not a contractor looking for a short-term engagement. We sourced against that specific early-stage ownership mindset, and the hire was in seat building the platform's core infrastructure within the standard search window.
The commitment
Twelve-month guarantee
Every placement carries a twelve-month guarantee. That is the only quantified claim on this site — no fee percentages, no invented placement counts.
Get in touch
Schedule a 30-Minute Call with Dan
Contingent-first. No up-front retainer. One conversion path — book the call.
Frequently asked questions
What tech roles do you recruit for?
Founding Engineer through CTO, VP of Engineering, VP of Product, and Head of Engineering — building a startup or SaaS company's technical organization from the ground up.
How is this different from IT Staffing?
IT Staffing covers contract, contract-to-hire, and direct-hire technical talent across the full IT stack for companies of all sizes. This hub is specifically direct-hire, early-stage technical org-building for startups and SaaS companies — founding-level and leadership roles, not contract IC placements.
Do you place Founding Engineers?
Yes. Founding Engineer searches are evaluated against real early-stage ownership experience — architecture decisions, scaling through funding rounds — not generic senior engineer experience.
Do you only work with VC-funded companies?
Most engagements are VC-funded startups and SaaS companies, but growth-stage and bootstrapped technical org build-outs are in scope as well.
Do you place contract or contract-to-hire technical talent?
Not under this hub. For contract and contract-to-hire technical staffing, see IT Staffing. This hub is direct-hire only.
What funding stages do you typically work with?
Seed through Series B most commonly, when a company is building or scaling its core technical leadership and founding engineering team.
Who typically signs a tech recruiting engagement under this hub?
Founders, CEOs, and existing CTOs at VC-funded startups and SaaS companies building out their technical organization for the first time or scaling it through a funding round.