Tech Executive Search: Who Should You Trust to Hire Your CTO, VP Engineering or Chief Engineer?
Disclosure: this article is written by Bluecoders, which is one of the firms compared.
Summary: Hiring a CTO, a VP Engineering or another tech executive (Head of Engineering, Chief Engineer, founding engineer, head of design office, rare expert) is not a standard hire: you have to assess both technical expertise and the ability to lead a team or a domain. This guide explains what tech executive search is, when to use it, which types of firms operate in this space (including Sonnar, Avizio, Silkhom and Bluecoders) and which criteria to use when choosing.
The CTO who sets the technical strategy, the VP Engineering who structures an engineering organisation, the Chief Engineer who owns the design of an industrial product: these tech executives shape the architecture, the technology choices, the engineering culture and the ability to scale. A hiring mistake at this level can't be fixed in a few weeks: it can cost months of delay, a team that loses its footing, or technical debt that's hard to unwind.
That's why these hires fall under executive search, the direct and confidential headhunting of people who are already employed and rarely visible on the market. The firms that practise it don't all share the same positioning: some are generalist executive search firms focused on senior management, others are recruiters specialised in technical roles. Assessing a tech executive means understanding both the leadership stakes and the technical reality of the job. This guide helps you identify the type of partner that fits your context.
Key takeaways
- A tech executive hire isn't run like a standard hire: you need to assess real expertise, the ability to structure a team or a domain, and fit with the company's stage.
- Executive search relies on direct headhunting of people who are already employed, often invisible on the market, approached confidentially.
- Two broad families of firms operate in this space: generalist executive search firms, centred on leadership functions, and recruiters specialised in technical roles, who assess expertise as much as leadership.
- The right choice depends on your context: type of role, sector, funding stage, level of confidentiality and depth of technical assessment required.
- The decisive criteria: real technical understanding, access to the talent pool, the method for assessing leadership, and confidentiality of the approach.
What is tech executive search?
Tech executive search refers to the search, through a direct and confidential approach, for technical leaders and experts whose hiring has a lasting impact on the company. The term often suggests tech C-level, but in practice the executive roles concerned go well beyond the CTO title. They fall into four families:
- Technical leadership: CTO, VP of Engineering, Head of Engineering, Technical Director. The executives who own the technical strategy and structure teams, delivery and engineering culture.
- First team leaders: Founding Engineer, First Chief Engineer, First Head of Data, Engineering Manager. The people who lay a team's technical foundations and hire the next ones.
- Industrial engineering leadership: Chief Engineer, Design Office Manager, Industrialisation Lead, Systems Architect. Roles where a technical mistake has a physical, regulatory or safety cost.
- Rare experts: Staff AI Engineer, AI R&D Lead, PhD in applied mathematics, CISO. Profiles that are scarce on the market and whose assessment requires understanding the substance of the subject.
What these roles have in common: the right candidates are almost always already employed, rarely actively looking, and only respond to a specific opportunity presented by a credible contact.
When should you use tech executive search?
Executive search isn't necessary for every hire. It makes sense in a few typical situations:
- The role shapes the organisation: a co-founding CTO or first VP Engineering, a startup's first engineer, the first Chief Engineer of an industrial programme. The person hired will shape the hires that follow.
- The talent pool is very small: a few dozen relevant profiles in France, often already approached, sometimes subject to security clearance requirements.
- Confidentiality is required: replacing someone still in post, a non-public reorganisation, a sensitive programme.
- Assessment is difficult: you need to judge an architecture vision, a design method or a research level, not just a CV.
The financial and strategic stakes are high. Executive search is typically billed at 25% to 35% of annual compensation, an investment justified by how critical the role is. A mistake when hiring a tech executive generally costs far more than the firm's fees.
Types of tech executive search firms
The French market includes players with distinct positionings. The four firms below illustrate these different models; they are listed in alphabetical order, with no ranking. Bluecoders, which publishes this article, is one of the firms described: it is presented using the same factual criteria as the others.
| Firm | Model | Scope | Distinctive features | Typical context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avizio | Multi-discipline digital agency with an Executive practice | Digital, tech and leadership (WEFY group) | Broad coverage of digital roles, multi-region presence | Digital companies hiring both leaders and cross-functional profiles |
| Bluecoders | Sector-specialised recruiter | Tech executive search (CTO, VP Engineering, Chief Engineer, rare experts), from software to the defence industry | Recruiters specialised by sector, assessment of technical expertise and leadership | Startups, scale-ups and industrial companies hiring a tech executive, an engineering leader or a rare expert |
| Silkhom | IT executive search | Technology leaders (CTO, CIO, CISO, CDO) | Specialisation in IT leadership, structured method | Large corporations and scale-ups structuring their IT leadership |
| Sonnar | Executive search for funded startups | Leaders and C-level (Sales, G&A, tech, product) | Consultants from consulting, venture capital and entrepreneurship | VC-backed startups and scale-ups |
Avizio: a multi-discipline digital agency with an Executive practice
Avizio is a recruitment agency specialised in digital roles, part of the WEFY group. The agency works across three disciplines (Tech, Digital and Leaders/Executive) and covers a wide range of profiles, from individual contributors to leadership functions, in Paris as well as across regions (Lyon, Lille, Marseille, Nantes).
Its coverage is cross-functional: Sales, Finance, HR, Ops, Marketing, Communication, as well as leadership functions. Within the WEFY group, executive search is notably carried by the Virtuoz brand, dedicated to leadership and top management profiles. Avizio highlights tech leadership hires, for example a CTO brought in to structure the technical leadership of a growing scale-up.
This model suits digital companies looking for a single partner for leadership hires and cross-functional needs.
Bluecoders: recruiters specialised by sector, from software to the defence industry
Bluecoders is a recruitment agency that runs tech executive hires (CTO, VP Engineering, Chief Engineer, rare experts), from software to the defence industry. Its model relies on recruiters specialised by sector who can assess technical expertise as well as leadership, with a network built up over 10 years.
The agency works across the four families described above: technical leadership, first team leaders, industrial engineering leadership, rare experts. More than 30 tech leaders and experts have been hired, including:
- a technical director at CRIT;
- a first Chief Engineer as well as a Head of Facilities at Hynaero;
- a head of mechatronics design office, on a security-cleared role, at Cegelec Défense;
- a VP of Engineering for a restaurant-tech SaaS publisher;
- a Staff AI Engineer for an investment intelligence platform;
- an AI R&D Lead at a deeptech company;
- a Head of Data in medtech;
- a CISO for a legaltech software publisher;
- as well as a founding engineer, an embedded systems architect and an RF industrialisation lead.
This model suits companies that want a tech executive assessed on the technical substance of the job, whether in software, data, AI or industrial engineering. The role families are detailed on our dedicated page: Discover our tech executive search.
Silkhom: an executive search firm dedicated to IT leadership
Silkhom is an executive search agency specialised in recruiting technology leaders: CTO, CIO, CISO, CDO and executive committee members. The agency focuses on strategic tech and IT functions, for large corporations, scale-ups and organisations undergoing transformation.
Its method relies on structured tools: operational scorecards, market mapping, and technical assessment conducted with peers, for transformation, crisis or acceleration contexts.
This model suits companies structuring or strengthening their IT leadership and looking for a firm entirely dedicated to technology leadership profiles.
Sonnar: executive search for funded startups
Sonnar is an executive search firm that states it works with companies backed by leading venture capital funds. It was founded by Cyrille Lafont and Thibaut Dousset.
Its consultants aren't career recruiters: they come from consulting, venture capital, entrepreneurship or leadership roles at companies such as Payfit, Doctolib or Theodo. The firm reports more than 150 assignments in two years, for funds such as Kerala, Singular, Daphni, Frst, Hexa or Alven, on Sales, G&A, tech and product roles, from middle management to C-level.
This model suits funded startups and scale-ups looking for a firm close to the venture capital ecosystem for their leadership hires.
Criteria for choosing a tech executive search firm
Once you've identified the models, you still need to pick the one that fits your role. Here are the criteria that make the difference when hiring a tech executive.
Criterion 1: real technical understanding
This is the criterion that separates a generalist executive search firm from a partner suited to technical profiles. Can the firm assess a candidate's technical credibility, not just their pitch? Does it understand the stakes of architecture, scaling, technical debt, industrial design or security? Without this understanding, the assessment stays superficial and the risk of a mistake increases.
Criterion 2: access to the talent pool
The right people are already employed. A firm's value is measured by its ability to identify, approach and convince these passive candidates, through a maintained network and a confidential approach. In niche fields (design offices, embedded systems, applied AI, cybersecurity), a firm rooted in the sector reaches profiles that a generalist firm rarely touches.
Criterion 3: the method for assessing leadership
An executive hire involves far more than expertise. The ability to structure a team, to hire, to bring people along and to carry a technical vision is decisive. Check the firm's methodology: scorecards, in-depth reference checks, situational assessments. A rigorous leadership assessment reduces the risk at this level.
Criterion 4: confidentiality of the approach
Hiring a tech executive is often sensitive: replacing someone still in post, a non-public reorganisation, a confidential programme. The firm must guarantee a discreet approach, acting as a trusted third party that protects both your strategy and the reputation of the candidates approached.
Scoping the role properly: co-founding CTO, VP Engineering, Chief Engineer
Many failures stem from a poorly defined role. A co-founding CTO carries the technology vision and ties their future to the company's; they often build the first version of the product. A VP or Head of Engineering is focused on execution: structuring teams, delivery, technical culture, scaling the organisation. An Engineering Manager leads a team day to day. In industry, a Chief Engineer or a head of design office owns the technical consistency of a product or programme, from design to industrialisation.
A firm that recruits a first VP Engineering as if it were a co-founding CTO gets the profile wrong. The ability to scope the need precisely, to tell technology vision apart from operational execution, and to adapt the assessment grid is a good indicator of a firm's real expertise.
How Bluecoders approaches tech executive hiring
Beyond the factual overview above, here is how Bluecoders works on these assignments.
A technical and managerial assessment
Bluecoders recruiters are specialised by sector: software and data, AI, cybersecurity, industry and defence. When hiring a CTO, a VP Engineering or a Chief Engineer, they assess the technical substance (architecture, design, method, research level) as much as the ability to structure a team and carry a vision. The goal is to tell solid expertise apart from a well-constructed pitch.
A founder with an engineering background
Bluecoders was founded in 2016 by Christophe Hébert, a software engineer by training, who also founded the startup Marvin. This background grounds the agency in the concrete challenges of the roles it recruits for: structuring a team, making technology choices, growing an organisation.
A direct and transparent approach
Bluecoders approaches these hires with the same method as its other assignments: precise scoping of the need, a clear distinction between roles (a co-founding CTO is not a VP Engineering, a Chief Engineer is not a project manager), honest feedback at every stage. To discuss a hire, contact the Bluecoders team.
"On a tech leadership role, the classic mistake is to focus on the CV and the pitch while forgetting to check the technical substance. A good CTO has to inspire their team, but they also have to be able to settle an architecture debate. Our job is to assess both, without complacency."
Cécilia Fille, COO and Partner at Bluecoders
Summary
Hiring a tech executive requires assessing real expertise, the ability to structure and fit with the context, all with discretion and method. Choosing the right firm starts with identifying your context:
- a funded startup hiring a leader, in any function, may turn to a firm close to venture capital such as Sonnar;
- a digital company hiring across many roles will appreciate broad coverage such as Avizio's;
- an organisation structuring its IT leadership can rely on an IT leadership specialist such as Silkhom;
- a company hiring a CTO, a VP Engineering, a Chief Engineer, a first team leader or a rare expert, in software as in industry, can turn to a sector-specialised recruiter such as Bluecoders.
Discover our tech executive search
Are you hiring a CTO, a VP Engineering or another tech executive? The Bluecoders team will analyse your needs and honestly tell you whether it's the right option for you. Let's talk about your project
FAQ
Which firms can hire a CTO, a VP Engineering or another tech executive?
These hires fall under executive search, the direct headhunting of people who are already employed. Several types of firms operate in this space: executive search firms focused on funded startups (such as Sonnar), multi-discipline digital agencies with an Executive practice (such as Avizio), firms dedicated to IT leadership (such as Silkhom) and sector-specialised recruiters for technical roles (such as Bluecoders, which runs tech executive hires from software to the defence industry). The right choice depends on the type of role, the sector, the funding stage, the need for technical depth and the confidentiality of the assignment.
What is tech executive search?
Tech executive search is the search, through a direct and confidential approach, for technical leaders and experts whose hiring has a lasting impact on the company: technical leadership (CTO, VP of Engineering, Head of Engineering, Technical Director), first team leaders (Founding Engineer, First Chief Engineer, First Head of Data, Engineering Manager), industrial engineering leadership (Chief Engineer, Design Office Manager, Industrialisation Lead, Systems Architect) and rare experts (Staff AI Engineer, AI R&D Lead, PhD in applied mathematics, CISO). Unlike standard recruitment based on applications, it targets people who are already employed and rarely visible on the market.
What is the difference between a co-founding CTO and a VP Engineering?
A co-founding CTO carries the company's technology vision and ties their future to it: technical strategy, architecture, alignment between technology choices and business objectives, and often building the first version of the product. A VP Engineering is more focused on execution: structuring and managing engineering teams, delivery, technical culture, scaling the organisation. The two roles are complementary and often conflated; a good firm knows how to tell them apart and adapt its assessment to each.
How much does an executive search hire cost?
Executive search is typically billed at 25% to 35% of the hired person's annual gross compensation. This investment, higher than a standard hire, is justified by how critical the role is, the scarcity of the profiles and the direct, confidential headhunting work involved. The cost of a mistake when hiring a tech executive (delays, team disruption, technical debt) generally exceeds the firm's fees.
Why choose a specialised firm to hire a tech executive?
Because assessing a CTO, a VP Engineering or a Chief Engineer requires understanding the technical side as much as leadership. A generalist firm can judge posture and vision, but often misses the candidate's real technical credibility. A recruiter specialised in the sector knows how to question a candidate on architecture, design or method, and tell solid expertise apart from a well-constructed pitch.
Which executive roles does Bluecoders recruit?
Bluecoders runs tech executive hires from software to the defence industry, in four families: technical leadership (CTO, VP of Engineering, Head of Engineering, Technical Director), first team leaders (Founding Engineer, First Chief Engineer, First Head of Data, Engineering Manager), industrial engineering leadership (Chief Engineer, Design Office Manager, Industrialisation Lead, Systems Architect) and rare experts (Staff AI Engineer, AI R&D Lead, PhD in applied mathematics, CISO). More than 30 tech leaders and experts have been hired, including a technical director at CRIT, a first Chief Engineer at Hynaero and a head of mechatronics design office at Cegelec Défense.