01The one hiring
Founders & CTOs
You need a senior engineer who ships in week one, and you don't have three months. We run the search so you only ever look at people worth your time.
Start a searchStartup searches only
Hire thestaff engineeryou can't find.
The best people are already employed. We know where they are, and what would move them.
Seed to Series C · engineering, data & operating roles · nothing owed until your hire accepts and starts
Software engineers✦Data scientists✦ML engineers✦Security leads✦Platform & SRE✦Engineering managers✦Founding engineers✦Chiefs of staff & COOs✦
Who we work with
Three people, one search.
Every hire has the same three people in it. Here is what each one gets.
02The one moving
Engineers
Most people we place weren't looking. We only reach out when the role genuinely clears your bar — and we tell you the comp band in the first message.
See open roles03The one in between
Your recruiter
One named person owns your search end to end — sourcing, screening, scheduling, and the awkward conversations. Not a pod, not a queue.
How a search runsWhat we recruit for
The hires that decide your next year.
Engineering, data, and the operators who keep a scaling company upright. Startups only: that constraint is what makes us fast.
01
Software Engineers
Full-stack, frontend, backend and mobile engineers who ship production code from week one.
02
Data Scientists
Rigorous statistics with commercial instinct. Experiments and models founders can act on.
03
ML Engineers
Engineers who have taken models from notebook to production traffic.
04
Data Engineers
Pipelines that scale from thousands to billions of events without wrecking the warehouse bill.
05
Site Reliability Engineers
Platform engineers who have carried the pager at scale and know which nines matter.
06
Cybersecurity Engineers
Pragmatic security that unblocks enterprise deals without blocking shipping.
07
Operations & COO
The operator who turns a founder-run company into a company.
08
Engineering Leaders
VPs, directors and Staff+ who have scaled teams and still read the code.
How a search runs
Fourteen working days.
- 01 · Day 1
Discovery Call
Thirty minutes on your stack, your bar, and who has already turned you down. That last part matters most.
- 02 · Days 2–3
Network Activation
We go to the people who are not looking. Most of our placements start as a cold conversation.
- 03 · Day 3
First Batch
Three to five people in your inbox, each with a written case for them and the one reason you might say no.
- 04 · Day 5
Interviews Scheduled
First screens on the calendar by day five. We own scheduling, prep, and chasing — your only job is to form an opinion.
- 05 · Week 2
Onsites & Close
Onsites in the second week, then offer, counter-offer, and the resignation wobble. We check in at 30, 60, and 90 days.
What lands in your inbox
A shortlist you can read in two minutes.
Three to five people, each with a written case and the honest reason you might pass. Here's one, redacted.
Shortlist 1 of 4 · Staff Backend EngineerConfidential
Redacted candidate.Staff Engineer at a Series C data company
- 9 years
- Go · Kafka · AWS
- 3 weeks notice
Why this person
- Rebuilt an ingestion path from 40k to 900k events a second without a rewrite freeze.
- Has been the second engineer twice. Comfortable owning a system nobody documented.
- Asked better questions about your data model than most of your current team.
The reason you might pass
Hasn't managed people and doesn't want to for two years. If this hire must grow into a lead by spring, say so now.
- Expects
- $225–240k + equity
- Interest
- High, if remote-first
Recruiter's note. Spoke twice. Would move for the problem, not the title.
Why founders stay
Built for twelve people, not twelve thousand.
Enterprise agencies move at enterprise speed and screen for enterprise skills.
- 01
Speed that matches the market
You lose good candidates to slow processes, not better offers.
- 02
Vetted for startups
A strong engineer at a 2,000-person company can drown at a twelve-person one. We screen for that.
- 03
Matched to your stage
Seed needs someone who ships without a spec. Series C needs someone who builds a team.
- 04
Updates, including the bad ones
You see the pipeline as we see it. Silence from us means something is wrong.
Discretion, by design
We never name clients. That's the point.
Stealth teams and fast growers treat their hiring plan as their roadmap. Who they hire tells competitors what they're building next, so it never leaves our desk.
Recent searches
Client field redacted
- PlacedStealth · SeedFounding ML Engineer
- In interviewsSeries B · AI infrastructureStaff Backend Engineer
- Shortlist sentSeries A · FintechChief Operating Officer
- PlacedSeries B · HealthHead of Security
- NDA firstSigned before the brief.
- CodenamedCandidates learn the name late.
- No logosNo case studies, ever.
How our fee works
Paid when your hire starts. Not before.
No retainer, no exclusivity fee. The engagement letter spells all of this out before we start.
Success only
Nothing is owed until your hire accepts and starts.
One clear rate
A set percentage of first-year base, agreed in writing before the search begins.
Replacement guarantee
If a hire leaves early, we run the search again at no cost.
No lock-in
If it isn't working, stop. You owe nothing for the time spent.
Founder letter
A note from the founder
Dear founder,
Most recruiting is built for volume: more candidates, more calls, more noise. We started Forecareer because the hires that matter at a startup don't come from volume. They come from knowing who is quietly great, and what it would take to move them.
So we stay small on purpose. The person you brief is the person who searches, screens, and sits with you through the offer. We never name clients, we never send someone we wouldn't hire ourselves, and we're paid only when your hire accepts and starts.
If that's how you'd like to hire, I'd love to hear what you're building.
Atie Sayadi
Founder & CEO · September 2026
Every candidate they sent was exactly what we asked for. Engineers who moved fast and hit the ground running.
Start a search
Tell us who you need.
One form, then a 30-minute call. A written search plan inside 24 hours, nothing owed until your hire accepts and starts.
Email UsWe'll respond within 24 hourshello@forecareer.comFollow UsSearches, placements and notes from the deskForecareer on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Book a Call
Schedule a discovery call
What happens next
- A named recruiter, within a day
- Thirty-minute call on your terms
- First batch of candidates on day 3
- Nothing owed until your hire accepts and starts
For candidates
Looking? Here's what's on the desk right now.
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