The leader above your engineering managers
Hire a VP of Engineering for Your NYC AI Startup
By Series B, engineering usually needs someone who runs it through managers and reports delivery to the board. We recruit VPs of Engineering for New York City AI startups and judge them on the managers they developed and how often they hit their plans.
At a glance
Scope of a VP of Engineering search
Some candidates are Directors stepping up for the first time. Others have held the title before. We tell you which suits your stage.
Roles we recruit for
VPs and Directors of Engineering, including Directors ready for their first VP role
Stages
Series A to Series C
Where
New York City. In office, hybrid or remote
Who we look for
Leaders who have managed managers and scaled delivery through a funding stage
Speed
Our last 3 hires averaged 17 days
How you pay
Retained, success-based or embedded. Terms agreed upfront
How we assess
Leaders who have scaled engineering through managers
At this level the work is people, planning and delivery. We check each one against the team you'll have in two years.
01
Has managed managers
How many managers reported to them, who they promoted and who they moved on. Those answers show how they develop leaders.
02
Scaled through a stage
We look for leaders who took a team from roughly your size to the size you're planning, and can say what broke along the way.
03
Delivery the business trusts
We ask how they planned, forecast and reported delivery to founders and the board, and how often they hit their forecasts.
04
Hires well at volume
A VP sets the hiring bar for dozens of engineers. Their process, their worst mis-hire and their best hire tell us whether that bar holds.
Managers they developed
Scaling history
Delivery record
Comp and equity terms
Technical judgment
Fit with the CTO
Leadership approach
Who runs your search
Liam, Founder of StellarSearch
Our team brings 20+ years of search experience across engineering, AI/ML, product and GTM.
LinkedIn ↗
Client feedback
Feedback from founders and the engineers we placed
I'm not really sure how he does it, but he continues to find us top tier talent that fits exactly what we're looking for."
I'm very grateful they reached out."
Would highly recommend."
They did a great job explaining roles, companies, and interview processes and was friendly + supportive throughout."
Where our hires come from
We've placed people from teams like these
We look past titles to the work: ex-founders, early employees and people doing their best work outside the day job.
How we work
How we run your search
From the first call to an accepted offer. What we handle, and the few places we need you.
Learn what you're building, what the hire owns in the first 90 days, and the comp, equity and location you can offer.
One call with the founders.
Map the market from day one. If the problem is sourcing, pay, location, process or the profile, we tell you early.
Agree any changes to the brief.
Approach people who aren't applying anywhere, and assess each one on evidence before they reach you.
Nothing. This part is ours.
Send each candidate with our write-up, then schedule and keep the process moving.
Run your interviews.
Advise on the offer, handle the back and forth, and close.
Make the final call.
If the search isn't working, we tell you fast. We use market data to recalibrate instead of sending weaker candidates for weeks.
Ways to work with us
Three ways to work with us
Pick the model that fits the hire. All terms are agreed upfront, with no hidden fees.
Best for a priority hire
Retained
A dedicated search for the one hire that can't wait. We commit time to your role from day one.
Dedicated search from the first call
Market map shared with you
Fee agreed upfront
Best for a single hire
Success-based
We run the search and you pay when the hire is made.
No fee until you hire
Same assessment on every candidate
Terms agreed before we start
Best for several roles
Embedded
We work as part of your team across several hires, for a monthly fee plus a reduced success fee.
Monthly fee plus reduced success fee
One hiring standard across roles
Works alongside your in-house team
Start a search
Talk to us about your VP of Engineering search
Tell us what you're building. We'll come back with how we'd run the search.
Looking for a role? See open jobs
VP of Engineering vs CTO: who owns what?
At what stage do startups hire a VP of Engineering?
Should we hire a VP of Engineering from big tech?
Who should a VP of Engineering report to?
Should a VP of Engineering still be close to the technical work?
Can one person be our VP of Engineering and Head of Product?
How quickly will we see candidates?
We already have an in-house recruiter. Why use you?
How much of the process do you own?
What if the search isn't working?
How do you charge?
Hiring your founding team?
Tell us what you're building. We'll find the experts who can build and ship it.
Start Hiring
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