Werecruitthepeople
buildingthefuture.
An international recruitment practice specialising in AI, cyber security, Product & Engineering and technical sales. We connect exceptional researchers, engineers, sales leaders and operators with the teams shaping what comes next - across every major hub, worldwide.
A boutique practice, built around people.
We are a partner-led practice, not a volume agency. We work with a small number of teams at any time, only in AI, cyber security, product & engineering, and technical sales, so every search gets a senior eye from the first call.
We would rather be the firm three teams call every year than the one a hundred teams call once. So we give honest advice when a role is not right, keep fees transparent, and put a written guarantee behind every permanent placement.
Specialist, not generalist
Four practices only: AI, cyber security, product & engineering, and technical sales. We turn down mandates outside them.
Technical partners
Every search is run by a partner who has worked with these teams for years and can hold a real technical conversation before a CV is ever sent.
Small book, by design
We take on a limited number of mandates each quarter so every client gets partner attention rather than a delivery queue.
Global by default
Searches run across the US, UK, EU and Middle East, including fully remote mandates, with compliant contract engagement in every major jurisdiction.
Mutual NDA and terms signed before any name, brief or salary band is shared - both directions.
One partner owns your search end to end. No handoffs to a delivery desk you never met.
Candidates see a curated shortlist, not a mass mail-out. Clients get 3-5 briefed profiles.
Permanent placements carry a 12-month replacement guarantee, written into our terms.
Roles you won't find on a job board.
A curated slate of mandates from the labs and startups defining the frontier. Every role is briefed, calibrated and championed by a partner.
Head of Offensive Security
Principal Cloud Security Architect
VP Product & Engineering
Principal Systems Engineer, Robotics
Director of Detection Engineering
Member of Technical Staff, Alignment
VP Sales, Enterprise AI
Sales Engineer, Cyber Security
Enterprise Account Executive
Career moves, handled with care.
Whether you're a research scientist weighing a lab move, a security lead ready for a bigger mandate, or a staff engineer hunting for real ownership - we work with you for years, not weeks, and we operate everywhere our clients do.
- Confidentiality
- NDA before any client is named. Never approached at your current employer.
- Cost to you
- Nothing, ever. Candidates are never charged a fee.
Introduce yourself
Step 01Share your CV or profile. Two-way NDA before we discuss any client.
Calibration call
Step 02A 45-minute session with a partner to map ambitions, constraints and comp.
Curated shortlist
Step 03You see three roles at a time - briefed thoroughly, ranked to your priorities.
Offer & landing
Step 04We negotiate on your behalf and stay close through your first 90 days.
Hires that stick, handled end-to-end.
We partner with a small number of AI, cyber security and Product & Engineering teams each quarter - from Series A scale-ups to global enterprises. Every mandate is led by a partner with a technical background and a personal network in the field.
- Shortlist in
- 10-14 days for most permanent mandates; 72 hours for critical contract cover.
- Guarantee
- 12-month replacement guarantee on permanent placements.
Discovery & scoping
Step 01A partner-led session to pressure-test the brief, map the market and agree success criteria before we start.
NDA & terms signed
Step 02A mutual NDA and our terms of business are signed up front - before any candidate names, salary bands or confidential briefs change hands.
Targeted market map
Step 03A confidential long-list from our AI, cyber and Product & Engineering networks - benchmarked on skills, comp and motivation.
Curated shortlist
Step 043–5 pre-qualified candidates with structured notes, references on request and a clear rationale for every inclusion.
Offer & onboarding
Step 05We manage negotiations, counter-offers and notice periods, then stay close through the first 90 days on the job.
"Progress Lane placed our head of security, four research hires and a principal platform engineer inside a year - across three countries. Every one is still with us."
Company and individual name withheld under NDA. Full attribution and references are available to prospective clients on request.
Permanent and contract, across three niches.
Whether you're building a founding team, scaling a platform, or plugging a critical gap - we deliver the same specialist bench in whichever engagement model fits, worldwide.
Permanent search
Retained and exclusive search for full-time hires - from senior individual contributors to C-suite.
- Retained, exclusive or contingent models
- Typical time-to-shortlist: 10–14 days
- 12-month replacement guarantee
- Salary benchmarking + offer strategy included
Contract & interim
Vetted contractors and fractional leaders - deployed in days, compliant across every major jurisdiction.
- Day-rate, fixed-term and statement-of-work
- Global payroll, IR35, AOR & EOR handled end-to-end
- Shortlist inside 72 hours for critical roles
- Extend, convert to permanent, or rotate seamlessly
Artificial Intelligence
- Research Scientists
- ML / MLOps Engineers
- Applied AI Leaders
- Data & Foundation-Model Teams
Cyber Security
- Offensive Security / Red Team
- Detection & Response
- AppSec & Cloud Security
- CISO & Security Leadership
Product & Engineering
- Staff & Principal Engineers
- Cloud / Platform / SRE
- Embedded, Systems & Robotics
- VP Product & Engineering / CTO
Protection, not just people.
Alongside cyber security hiring, we also deliver cyber security as a service through our sister practice, Cyber Tech Guardians. From strategic advisory to managed detection and response, we help teams build defences while they scale.
- Advisory & vCISO
- Managed detection & response
- Offensive security & red team
- Cloud & application security
- Compliance, GRC & audit prep
Sales talent for technical companies.
We also place the revenue teams that take frontier technology to market - from first BDRs to global sales leadership, across SaaS, AI, cyber security and Product & Engineering.
Business Development Reps
Top-of-funnel hunters who open enterprise technical accounts.
Inside Sales Reps
Mid-market closers who understand complex SaaS and platform sales cycles.
Business Development Managers
Strategic account expansion, partner-led growth and new-market entry.
Account Managers
Retention, expansion and long-term customer success for technical products.
Sales Engineers
Technical pre-sales for AI, cyber security and Product & Engineering platforms.
Sales Directors & VPs
Revenue leaders who can scale teams from first revenue to $50M+ ARR.
A search process engineered like software.
Calibration
We meet the founders, the hiring managers, and - where relevant - the team. Success is defined before search begins.
Mapping
A structured sweep of the market. Every plausible candidate identified, ranked and prioritised.
Engagement
Warm, personal outreach. We represent the opportunity in the language of the researcher, engineer or operator we're speaking to.
Landing
Offer strategy, negotiation, references, onboarding. We stay close through the first 90 days.
Things worth asking.
Four, deeply: AI (research, ML engineering, applied AI), cyber security (offensive, defensive, platform, GRC), Product & Engineering (staff/principal ICs and leadership across cloud, systems, embedded and robotics), and technical sales (BDRs, ISRs, BDMs, account managers, sales engineers, sales directors and VPs).
Internationally. Partners are based across the US, UK, EU and Middle East, and we run searches in every major tech hub - plus fully remote mandates worldwide.
Both, depending on the engagement. We operate as a recruitment consultancy: retained search for named partner-led mandates; contingent placement for well-scoped IC roles; embedded talent for scaling teams.
Fees are capped at a maximum of 40% of first-year cash compensation, and typically land well below that depending on role, seniority and engagement model. Permanent search fees are structured across three milestones; contract engagements are a transparent day-rate margin. Candidates are never charged.
Every candidate conversation is under NDA before company names are shared. We never approach your current employer without written consent.
First shortlist within 14 days. Offer accepted within 8–12 weeks for most roles. Executive searches typically 12–16 weeks.
Ready to make the move?
Tell us a little about yourself - or your team - and a partner will be in touch within one working day.