Rare Talent: How We Secured 3 Low-Level Engineers for Certeq
Maria
Head of IT recruitment in Lucky Hunter
About the company
Certeq is a young research startup developing fundamental ML models for analysing financial markets. The company benefits from the scientific leadership of a Professor from the Université de Montréal and Mila – Quebec AI Institute, with its engineering and research teams driving ambitious R&D projects.
< 20
Employees
Canada
Headquarters
Building ML models for financial analysis
Key Feature
Main Task
Certeq needed to hire Low-level Engineers to manage critical infrastructure involving machine learning and compilers. As this was a completely new role within the company, the process required us to first calibrate the profile before building a targeted search strategy in a highly niche technical market.
By the way, Certeq was simultaneously searching for strong ML Researchers. We successfully secured three of those specialists. You can read how we closed that complex task in this case study.
Who We Were Looking For
- Low-level Engineer (C++ / MLIR)
- Deep expertise in C++ Experience with MLIR or LLVM.
Challenges
The core difficulty stemmed from the fact that the role was entirely new to Certeq, necessitating a complete calibration of the final profile. Even after successful calibration, we confronted an extremely constrained market: engineers with this specific skill set are exceptionally few globally, which dictated a strictly targeted, headhunting approach.
Our solution
We initiated the process by collaborating with the client on a market analysis and identifying key donor companies to pinpoint where professionals with the required experience were employed (based on their open-source contributions and projects). Using this data, we refined the hiring profile, jointly defined the core criteria, and designed a precise search strategy.
3
Time to Close
49
Resumes Screened
3
Vacancies Closed
We also developed a highly compelling positioning for the role to ensure we could attract these rare professionals. Throughout the process, we maintained continuous communication, discussing candidate feedback and making real-time adjustments to the search direction.
How We Recruited 3 Rust Developers for an IT Company
Results
The most gratifying aspect of this partnership was the complete involvement of the Certeq team. We brainstormed collaboratively on sourcing candidates, discussing the market and profiles. For roles this rare, that client transparency is the decisive factor: when a client is open to dialogue and willing to adapt, the outcome is always achieved faster.
Recruiter’s Feedback
Maria
Head of IT Recruitment in Lucky Hunter
Share
Recent Cases