Hiring the engineer who sits with your customers

The problem

Nobody agrees what the job is, so the search drags

AI startups sell to large companies before the product can run on its own. So they hire an engineer to sit with the customer and close the gap. One founder wants a senior engineer who can live on site. Another wants someone who can demo. A third wants both and has budgeted for neither.

The job post gets copied from a company ten times bigger. The search drags while the founder covers customer calls at night. Then a wrong hire costs twice: the customer notices first, and the product fills up with custom code nobody planned to maintain.

What you have tried

Three ways this search usually goes

You run it yourself, at night, after the customer calls, with a borrowed job post. It gets done eventually. Meanwhile your pilots wait.

An agency runs it. You get backend profiles with “client-facing” added to the summary, and you spend your interview hours finding out they have never pushed back on a customer.

A marketplace runs it. Many recruiters work the role at once. You get volume. Nobody owns the question of what the seat is.

With me it is one seat at a time, defined with you before I source anyone.

How I work

Our first call is about the seat, not the job description

Which customer does this person serve first? How many days a month on site? When they build something custom, who decides if it goes into the product?

If we cannot answer those, we fix the role before I source anyone. Then I hire for two things at once: they ship production code, and they keep their judgment in front of a customer. I test the second with real customer moments, like a messy scope request, not a take-home.

Get this seat right and your first enterprise customers become the references for your next round. More on how I scope it →

The pilot

Thirty days, one role, terms in writing

• A role-definition session before any sourcing: first customer, days on site, who owns custom work, what “live” means at day 90.
• A level and pay check, so you do not lose finalists at the offer.
• A shortlist, and an interview step that tests customer judgment.
• A short written update every Friday: who I contacted, who replied, what candidates say about the role.
• Help with the offer, then check-ins at 30 and 90 days after your hire starts.

If you do not have three candidates worth interviewing within 21 days, you get the engagement fee back. If your hire leaves in the first 90 days, I run the search again at no charge.

A small engagement fee starts the search and is credited to the success fee when you hire. Pilot pricing on the call.

Straight talk

What I have done, and what I have not

Six-plus years of technical recruiting. Through Andiamo Partners I recruited 35-plus backend, ML, and full-stack engineers for Pinterest and Walmart and cut time-to-hire by 45%. Through Aditi Consulting I recruited L4 to L6 backend and systems engineers for Amazon. At Colligo Talent I placed 11 senior engineers across 10 startups, with 99% retention. Most recently I ran founder-facing searches for Harness and NexHealth. Across 35-plus ML and backend placements, offer acceptance has run at 90% or better.

I am recruiting forward deployed and solutions engineers now. I have not yet closed a placement in this seat, and I will not pretend I have. That is why the pilot comes with a refund.

Who this is for

Series A and B AI startups selling to enterprises

You have enterprise pilots running, a customer-facing engineering role open or about to open, and you are still carrying the hiring yourself.

Probably not a fit: you already have a large talent team, or the role fills easily from job posts.

Also: I recruit ML, data, and backend engineers, which is where most of my record comes from. If you need a full-time founding recruiter rather than a search, ask me about that too.

Background

I learned business before I learned recruiting

Before recruiting I worked in finance and operations. I built valuations (DCF, comps, precedent deals) as an investment banking summer analyst, reconciled trades daily at AssetMark, and worked on refugee financial services with the International Rescue Committee in Berlin.

That helps when your engineer’s customer is a bank, a fund, or a finance team, and when a candidate has to explain the work to the person who signs the contract.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and work with remote and hybrid teams. MA in Global Affairs and Management, Thunderbird at Arizona State University (2022). BS in Business Administration, Finance, San Francisco State University (2017).

From LinkedIn

What people I have worked with say

“Hisham is the best recruiter I have worked with… he builds relationships between applicants and employers.” Kevin A. Moos, UX Lead

“A 5-star recruiter… patient and stays in touch even after onboarding.” Lin Zhu, Senior Software Engineer

“A breath of fresh air… honesty and help with interview prep.” Aaron Arima, Data Engineer

Next step

15 minutes to pin down the seat

No slide deck. Bring the job post if you have one. We answer the three questions: which customer first, how many days on site, who owns custom work. You leave with a sharper role whether or not you hire me.

If I am the wrong person for the search, I will say so.

Email me to set up 15 minutes

Or call me at (415) 515-7859.