Fractional recruiters for startups, embedded in your team.
Senior talent professionals for AI and SaaS startups. They run full-cycle hiring as part of your team, interview candidates the week we kick off, and bill hourly with no placement fees.
No minimum commitment. Scale hours up or down any time.
Speed and quality, measured.
Most hiring models trade one for the other. Embedded recruiting is built to deliver both.
Your network gets you the first hires. Then it runs dry.
Founder-led recruiting works until you have exhausted referrals and connections of connections. After that, finding quality talent gets slower and harder with every role you open.
An embedded recruiter builds the pipeline you do not have yet, so you hire for now and for the next twelve months.
Book a Free 20-Minute Intro CallSigns you have hit the wall
- You are still the one scheduling and screening interviews
- Referrals have stopped producing finalists
- Your best candidates are going quiet after slow rounds
- Engineers are losing sprint time to interviews
- The ATS is set up, but nobody owns it
Why embedded recruiting beats a recruiting agency for startups.
Agencies are paid when a candidate starts, so the model rewards speed to placement. An embedded recruiter works inside your team, so the model rewards the right hire and a pipeline you keep.
| Founder-led hiring | Contingency agency | FRC embedded recruiter | |
|---|---|---|---|
| How you pay | Your time and your network | Percentage of first-year salary per placement | Hourly. No placement fees. |
| Optimized for | Whoever you already know | Speed to placement | Speed and long-term culture add |
| Knows your team | Yes, but stretched thin | Rarely meets your hiring managers | Learns your culture, mission, and values. Meets your hiring managers and team. |
| Who owns the pipeline | You | The agency | You. Every candidate touched is your company's. |
| Recruiting infrastructure | Built as you go | Not their job | ATS optimization, hiring manager training, interview training |
| Flexibility | Fixed by your bandwidth | Per search | No minimum. Scale hours up or down. |
From intro call to interviews in the same week.
Intro call
20 minutes. We learn your roles, timeline, and team. You tell us what is stuck.
Contract and kickoff
Sign the contract, and we schedule kickoff right away. Your recruiter gets set up in your systems.
Intake within a day
Your recruiter meets your hiring managers, runs intake, and starts the search and application review.
Interviews that week
Candidates are interviewing in the same week. Scale hours up or down as your needs change.
A senior recruiter who works like part of your team.
We embed senior talent professionals who know the modern recruiting stack. Engineering, AI and ML, product, design, and go-to-market hiring, handled start to finish.
Full-cycle hiring
Sourcing, screening, scheduling, interview coordination, and closing, run end to end.
A pipeline you own
Every candidate touched becomes your company's, so your next hire starts with a warm bench.
Culture-add hiring
Your recruiter knows your mission and values, and hires for who will strengthen the team long term.
Recruiting infrastructure
ATS optimization, hiring manager training, interview training, and best practices that stay after the engagement.
Flexible capacity
No minimum commitment. Ramp hours up after a funding round, and dial them back when roles close.
Average engagement 3 to 6 months
Long enough to build momentum and short enough to stay lean.
Trusted by the people who work with us.
“She seamlessly worked alongside our hiring managers, HR, and leadership, fostering open communication and transparency at every stage of the recruitment process.”
“She was responsible for bringing a ton of great talent to our org and is an excellent part of a team.”
Questions founders ask before hiring a fractional recruiter.
What is an embedded fractional recruiter?
An embedded fractional recruiter is a senior recruiter who works inside your startup as an extension of your team, on a flexible hourly basis. They learn your culture and mission, meet your hiring managers, and run hiring end to end without becoming a full-time salary.
How is a fractional recruiter different from a recruiting agency?
Agencies typically charge a percentage of first-year salary and are paid when a candidate starts, which rewards speed to placement. An embedded recruiter bills hourly with no placement fees, works inside your team, and builds a pipeline that belongs to your company.
How fast can an embedded recruiter start?
After the contract is signed, we schedule kickoff right away. Your recruiter typically meets your hiring managers for intake within a day, and candidates are interviewing the same week.
Is there a minimum commitment or long-term contract?
No. There are no minimum commitments, and you can scale hours up or down at any time based on your hiring needs. The average engagement runs 3 to 6 months.
Is a fractional recruiter cheaper than a placement fee?
For many startups, yes. Contingency agencies commonly charge 15% to 25% of first-year salary per hire, so costs climb with every role and every salary negotiation. Hourly billing stays tied to the work done, and the savings grow when you are filling more than one role.
Should founders recruit themselves or hire a recruiter?
Founder-led recruiting works while referrals last. Once your network is drained, finding quality talent gets slower. An embedded recruiter builds the pipeline you need for current and future hires and frees you to focus on the business.
What does an embedded recruiter do besides sourcing?
They run intake with hiring managers, screen and schedule candidates, manage the interview process, and close offers. They also optimize your ATS and train hiring managers and interviewers, so your recruiting process improves for good.
Which tools do your recruiters use?
Our recruiters work in modern applicant tracking systems like Greenhouse, Lever, and Ashby, and use sourcing tools including Gem, Juicebox, AI sourcing tools, and LinkedIn Recruiter.
Do you hire for AI and SaaS startups?
Yes. We embed recruiters at AI and SaaS startups, typically after a funding round, to fill engineering, AI and ML, product, design, and go-to-market roles.
Book your free 20-minute intro call.
Tell us what you are hiring for. Fill out the short form below and we will reply with times for a 20-minute intro call.

