Several hard roles at once
A cluster of niche seats that will each take real research, not one easy req you could post.
Services
Embedded recruiting for infrastructure teams.
A dedicated recruiter operating inside your hiring process. You get research depth, weekly reporting and comp intelligence, and you keep the pipeline when the engagement ends.
What an embedded engagement includes
One accountable recruiter works your roles inside your systems and your interview loop. The engagement covers calibration, market mapping, direct outreach, screening against agreed scorecards, weekly reporting, offer support and handover of every research artifact produced along the way.
Why the commercial model changes the work
When compensation depends on a single placement, the incentive is to submit quickly and often. When the engagement is scoped around capacity and research, the incentive is to be right about the market, which includes telling you when the scope, comp band or location makes the role unfillable as written.
Triggers
When embedded is the right model.
Internal TA is at capacity
Your recruiters are covering volume hiring and cannot go deep on commissioning or platform roles.
You need the market intelligence too
Comp bands, supply density and competitor org structure matter as much as the hires themselves.
You want the work to stay in-house
The research and pipeline should belong to your team when the engagement ends.
Model comparison
Honest trade-offs between the options.
Contingency
No fee until a hire starts
Optimized for speed and volume; no market intelligence; the same candidates are sent to your competitors.
Internal TA only
Long-term ownership and employer brand
Rarely has niche network access; ramp time on a new discipline can exceed the hiring deadline.
Retained search
Committed senior-level effort
Priced per role; best reserved for a small number of executive or highly confidential seats.
Embedded (this practice)
Capacity, method and intelligence for a defined scope, pipeline transfers to you
Requires your engagement: named sponsor, approved comp, 48-hour feedback. Not a fire-and-forget option.
Engagements
Scopes and time boxes.
Embedded Search Sprint
When it fits: A defined set of hard roles that need a dedicated recruiter inside your process now.
- Calibrated scorecards per role
- Named target universe and direct outreach
- Weekly written pipeline reporting
- Written candidate cases including risks
- Offer strategy and counteroffer exposure review
- Full research and pipeline handover
- Time box
- Two-month minimum term
- Commercial structure
- Monthly engagement, capacity-based
- Investment
- See homepage engagement scopes
- Complete when
- Agreed roles are closed or formally re-scoped
Fractional Talent Partner
When it fits: You need recruiting leadership and process design without adding a permanent TA hire.
- Hiring plan and role sequencing
- Interview process and scorecard design
- Comp bands maintained against live market data
- Recruiter enablement and research library
- Monthly hiring review with leadership
- Time box
- Three-month initial term
- Commercial structure
- Capacity retainer, defined weekly commitment
- Investment
- Custom, scoped on the diagnostic call
- Complete when
- Your team can run the process without us
Selective Executive Search
When it fits: A site leadership, engineering leadership or confidential replacement seat that warrants retained focus.
- Confidential market approach reviewed with you
- Named universe and referencing plan
- Structured assessment against an agreed scorecard
- Offer and transition management
- Time box
- Milestone-based leadership search
- Commercial structure
- Retained milestones
- Investment
- Custom, scoped on the diagnostic call
- Complete when
- The seat is filled or the search is formally re-scoped
Talent Intelligence Sprint
When it fits: You need to know whether the role is fillable before committing to a search.
- Named target universe by discipline
- Supply density by metro
- Observed compensation ranges
- Adjacent pools and title translations
- Time box
- Defined research sprint
- Commercial structure
- Defined-scope research engagement
- Investment
- See homepage engagement scopes
- Complete when
- The written brief is delivered and reviewed
Reporting
What you receive every week.
Sample embedded engagement report
Illustrative reporting format. Sample data shown for demonstration only.
| Signal | Week 3 | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Roles in engagement | 4 | Two commissioning, two operations |
| Target universe mapped | 412 | Named, by discipline and metro |
| Outreach completed | 236 | Human-sent, sequenced weekly |
| Screened candidates | 22 | Against agreed scorecards |
| Submitted | 11 | With written cases and risks |
| In client process | 6 | Panel or final stage |
| Blockers raised | 1 | Comp band trailing market by one tier |
Method
Calibrate to Transfer.
- Step 01
Calibrate
A written role brief, an agreed scorecard, and a market reality check on scope, comp and location before outreach starts.
- Step 02
Map
AI-assisted mapping across AI infrastructure companies, operators, EPCs and OEMs, layered on a network built one conversation at a time.
- Step 03
Engage
Direct, human outreach with weekly reporting on volume, response quality and the objections we are hearing.
- Step 04
Validate
Structured screens against the scorecard, written candidate cases including risks, and comp expectations on the record.
- Step 05
Close
Offer strategy, counteroffer exposure assessment, and resignation and relocation support through the start date.
- Step 06
Transfer
Your team keeps the pipeline, research files, messaging and comp data. The work stays with you when the engagement ends.
What the engagement requires from you
- A named hiring sponsor who can make decisions
- An approved compensation range before outreach begins
- Feedback on submitted candidates within 48 hours
- Interview slots held open during the active search window
We commit to delivery standards, research depth, outreach volume, reporting cadence and response times. Outcomes depend on market conditions, scope, compensation and process speed.
FAQ
Buyer questions.
- What is embedded recruiting?
- A dedicated recruiter working inside your process: your scorecards, your ATS, your interview loop, your branding. You buy capacity and method rather than a resume push.
- How is this different from contingency recruiting?
- Contingency pays only on placement, which rewards speed and volume over calibration and makes market intelligence something you never see. Embedded engagements are paid for the work, so mapping, comp research and honest 'this role is not fillable as written' feedback are part of the deliverable.
- Why not just hire an internal recruiter?
- Internal TA is better long term for repeatable roles. Embedded is better when the need is niche and time-bound, a site launch, a platform team build, or a set of hard roles that would not justify a permanent headcount.
- Do we keep the pipeline when the engagement ends?
- Yes. Research files, named target universes, outreach messaging and comp data transfer to your team. That handover is the Transfer step of the method, not a paid add-on.
- What is the minimum term?
- Two months for an Embedded Search Sprint, three months for a Fractional Talent Partner engagement. Anything shorter cannot complete a full calibrate-to-close cycle honestly.
- How many roles can one engagement cover?
- It depends on difficulty and geography rather than a fixed number. We agree a role set at calibration and re-scope in writing if a role turns out to be harder than the market suggested.
Want to compare models against your actual roles?
Bring the role set and the deadline. We'll recommend embedded, retained, intelligence-first, or nothing at all.