Permanent
Permanent AI search is run as a mapped process rather than a database query. We agree the comparator set, the seniority bar and the evaluation signals up front, then work the market systematically.
AI recruitment and search
Research, machine learning and applied AI hiring, from individual contributors to the people who lead them.
United Kingdom · Europe · Middle East · North America
Overview
How we approach artificial intelligence hiring
AI hiring rarely fails on sourcing. It fails on calibration: briefs written for a generalist market, interview loops that cannot separate research taste from tooling familiarity, and offers benchmarked against the wrong comparator set.
We work only inside a narrow band of technology markets, so an AI brief is scoped by someone who can discuss post-training, evaluation design or inference economics before a single profile is sent.
- 01
Research
Research scientists and research engineers across pre-training, post-training, alignment and evaluation.
- 02
Machine learning engineering
Model development, fine-tuning, retrieval, agents and production ML systems.
- 03
ML platform and MLOps
Training infrastructure, GPU scheduling, serving, observability and inference performance.
- 04
Data
Data engineering, data platform and analytics functions that AI teams depend on.
- 05
Applied AI product
Engineers and product specialists shipping AI features to real users.
Roles we recruit
Mandates handled inside this practice
- Research Scientist / Member of Technical Staff
- Research Engineer, pre-training and post-training
- Machine Learning Engineer
- Applied AI / LLM Engineer
- ML Platform and Inference Engineer
- Data Engineer and Analytics Engineer
- Head of AI, Director of ML, VP AI
Who we work with
The teams that brief us
- Research labs and foundation model teams
- Applied AI product companies from seed through growth stage
- AI infrastructure and developer tooling businesses
- Enterprises building internal AI capability
Engagement
Permanent, contract and leadership search
Contract and interim
Contract and fractional engagement for time-boxed work: evaluation build-outs, model migrations, platform hardening and interim leadership while a permanent search runs.
Leadership search
Head of AI, Director of Machine Learning and VP-level appointments are handled as confidential leadership search inside this practice.
For candidates
A confidential conversation, not a CV database
If you work in research or machine learning, a conversation with us is confidential and carries no obligation. We will tell you plainly when a role is not right for you.
Related opportunities
Searches in this practice
- Staff Research Engineer, Post-trainingRepresentative searchSan Francisco / Remote · Full-time
- Founding AI EngineerRepresentative searchRemote (Global) · Full-time
- Member of Technical Staff, AlignmentRepresentative searchSan Francisco / London · Full-time
Representative searches illustrate the type and seniority of mandate we run. They are not currently available positions.
Questions
AI hiring, answered
- Do you recruit research scientists as well as engineers?
- Yes. We cover research and engineering across the same teams, including research engineers who sit between the two.
- Can you work with pre-product AI startups?
- Yes. Founding engineer and first-research-hire searches are a regular part of this practice.
- Do you cover AI infrastructure roles?
- Yes, including training infrastructure, GPU platform, serving and inference performance engineering.
Other practices
Explore the rest of the practice
Speak with a search partner.
Tell us what you are building or where you want to go next. Every conversation is confidential.