- Recruitment -

Engineering recruitment across Europe and the UK

Senior, staff and principal engineers, engineering managers and VPs of Engineering placed across the six core European markets.

- Why this practice exists -

A senior, cross-border practice for engineering

Engineering recruitment in Europe is a two-language problem. You need someone who can hold a real technical conversation with a Staff Engineer, and someone who understands the local hiring norms in Amsterdam, London, Berlin, Paris, Madrid or Milan. Go Ahead HiRe brings both into the same search.

We focus on the senior end of the org chart: Senior, Staff and Principal Engineers, Engineering Managers, Directors of Engineering and VPs of Engineering. We also handle technical leadership for adjacent functions like Head of Platform, Head of Data and Head of Security. Searches are run by a lead consultant who works with technical advisors when a deeper systems-level conversation is required.

Read more about our six-step approach or the six European markets we cover.

- What we do -

Inside the engineering recruitment practice

A focused set of services delivered by a single accountable consultant, with senior calibration on every shortlist.

  • Retained search for VP Engineering, Director of Engineering and Head of Platform across the six core European markets.
  • Headhunting for Staff and Principal Engineers in distributed systems, platform, data, security and ML.
  • Engineering Manager searches for scale-ups moving from a flat to a layered organisation for the first time.
  • Cross-border searches involving relocation, hybrid setups and remote-first teams across European time zones.
  • Salary and equity benchmarking against the local engineering market for every shortlisted candidate.

- Typical mandates -

Roles we recruit, week in week out

A snapshot of the engineering recruitment mandates that come across our desk most often. If your role is not listed but lives at the senior end of the function, send us a one-paragraph brief.

  • VP Engineering
  • Director of Engineering
  • Head of Platform or Head of Infrastructure
  • Head of Data or Head of ML
  • Engineering Manager (backend, frontend, fullstack, mobile)
  • Staff and Principal Software Engineer
  • Senior Site Reliability or DevOps Engineer
  • Head of Security or Senior Security Engineer

Looking for a current opening? Browse our live open positions or submit your CV confidentially.

- Who we work with -

The kind of clients on this practice

A representative cross-section of the engineering recruitment clients we partner with across Europe and the UK.

B2B SaaS scale-ups hiring their first VP Engineering or Head of Platform in Europe.

Established European product companies upgrading senior engineering leadership.

US-headquartered companies opening or scaling an engineering hub in Amsterdam, London or Berlin.

Private equity-backed groups consolidating multiple engineering teams under a single technical leader.

See the broader picture of who we work with.

- Our approach -

A six-step search method, applied consistently

Every engineering recruitment engagement runs on the same six-step search process: discovery, market mapping, sourcing and longlisting, calibrated shortlisting, client interviews and selection, and offer plus onboarding support. Most senior searches close within 6 to 10 weeks, with a calibrated longlist visible to you within 2 to 3 weeks of kickoff.

See the full six-step approach

- Why choose us -

Why clients pick Go Ahead HiRe for engineering

01

Senior, technical conversations

Our lead consultants can hold a real conversation about distributed systems, platform engineering and team topology. Where a search needs deeper systems-level review we bring in a technical advisor for the longlist calibration call.

02

Honest market benchmarking

European engineering compensation is fragmented across the Netherlands, UK, DACH, France, Iberia and Italy. We benchmark base, bonus, equity and total comp against the actual local pool, not against US or London-only benchmarks.

03

Hybrid, remote and relocation

We are pragmatic about hybrid setups and remote-first teams across European time zones. For relocation hires we coordinate with global mobility partners on visas, the Dutch 30 percent ruling, the German Blue Card and the equivalent in other countries.

Ready to start a engineering search?

Brief us on the role and Darcie will personally come back within one business day with proposed next steps. Want to see how we run cross-border searches first? Read about our six-step approach or the six European markets we cover.

- Country specialisations -

Engineering Recruitment by country

Country-specific landing pages for engineering recruitment, with local salary benchmarks, market context and FAQs.

Engineering recruitment in Netherlands

Staff and Principal Engineers, Engineering Managers and VP Engineering placed across Amsterdam SaaS, Eindhoven Brainport deep-tech and Utrecht B2B platforms. Technical sourcing led...

Open

Engineering recruitment in United Kingdom

Staff and Principal Engineers, Engineering Managers and VP Engineering placed across London SaaS, Cambridge deep-science, Edinburgh fintech and Manchester platform. Sourcing led by...

Open

Engineering recruitment in Germany

Senior engineering leaders placed across Berlin, Munich, Hamburg. Native local sourcing, written Germany compensation benchmarks and a single accountable consultant on every search...

Open

Engineering recruitment in France

Senior engineering leaders placed across Paris, Lyon, Toulouse. Native local sourcing, written France compensation benchmarks and a single accountable consultant on every search.

Open

Engineering recruitment in Spain

Senior engineering leaders placed across Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia. Native local sourcing, written Spain compensation benchmarks and a single accountable consultant on every sear...

Open

Engineering recruitment in Italy

Senior engineering leaders placed across Milan, Rome, Turin. Native local sourcing, written Italy compensation benchmarks and a single accountable consultant on every search.

Open

Engineering recruitment in Portugal

Senior engineering leaders placed across Lisbon, Porto, Braga. Native local sourcing, written Portugal compensation benchmarks and a single accountable consultant on every search.

Open

- Engineering Recruitment FAQ -

Process, pricing and how we work

Five questions we are asked most often about engineering recruitment at Go Ahead HiRe.

Last reviewed: · Source: goaheadhire.com

How technical are your engineering searches?

Our lead consultants screen on architectural breadth, scope of ownership and team-design experience for Staff Engineer and above. For deep-domain searches (for example a Head of ML for a generative-AI scale-up, or a Principal Distributed Systems Engineer) we bring in a technical advisor for the longlist calibration call so the shortlist holds up under client interview pressure.

Related: See our six-step approach, Brief us on an engineering role

Reviewed · Source: goaheadhire.com

Do you recruit individual contributors or only engineering managers?

Both, at the senior end. For ICs we focus on Senior, Staff and Principal Engineers where a structured headhunt actually pays off. For management we cover Engineering Manager through VP of Engineering. We do not recruit junior or mid-level engineers - those roles are better served by an in-house talent team or a high-volume agency.

Related: See who we work with

Reviewed · Source: goaheadhire.com

Can you handle relocation, work permits and visas for an international engineer?

We coordinate with specialist global mobility partners rather than acting as an EOR ourselves. For relocation hires we brief candidates on the Dutch 30 percent ruling, the German Blue Card, the UK Skilled Worker visa, the French talent passport and the Spanish digital nomad visa so there are no surprises during offer stage.

Related: See the six European countries we cover

Reviewed · Source: goaheadhire.com

How do you benchmark engineering compensation across European markets?

For every shortlist we share a written compensation benchmark covering base, target bonus, equity (refresh and new grants), benefits and total comp. The benchmark is calibrated against the actual local market in the relevant country, not a US or London-only reference. This makes offer conversations faster and reduces the risk of an aggressive counter-offer landing late in the process.

Related: Speak to a recruiter

Reviewed · Source: goaheadhire.com

Can you run a confidential VP Engineering search?

Yes. Confidential VP Engineering replacements are a regular part of our work. We run them off-market with no public job ad, a tightly scoped longlist visible only to a named client contact (typically the CEO or CTO) and reference calls handled through encrypted channels. The existing VP Engineering only learns about the search at the point of transition, on your timeline.

Related: See our management practice

Reviewed · Source: goaheadhire.com