Done-for-you tech hiring
Hand us the roles you can't fill
Your dedicated talent partner runs the entire search: sourcing, screening, scheduling, offers and onboarding. You give us a 30 minute brief and turn up to final interviews. That's it.
Trusted by leading tech employers
21 days
Typical time from brief to signed offer, or less
48h
From brief to first interviews scheduled
8+
Specialist tech markets we hire in every day
403,138
Candidates in our network, plus direct headhunting beyond it
Sound familiar?
Sound familiar?
You don't need another tool. You need someone to take the whole thing off your plate.
The role has been open for months
Every week it stays open the roadmap slips, the team picks up the slack and the ask on the eventual hire gets bigger.
You're screening CVs at 11pm
Between your actual job, you're sifting inbound, chasing recruiters and trying to remember which candidate said what. Hiring is a full-time job you don't have.
Every agency sends the same profiles
The same recycled CVs, the same 25% fee on top, and no one who actually understands the market you're hiring into.
Your embedded talent partner
You don't lift a finger
One expert partner. Every part of the search handled. A shortlist in your inbox when it's ready.
The whole search, handled
We take the whole search off your plate
Everything that normally lands on you - or gets half-done by an agency - is owned by one named partner from day one.
- Kick-off brief
- Live salary benchmarking
- Job description written
- Sourcing & headhunting
- Outreach to passive candidates
- Screening interviews
- Interview scheduling & chasing
- Candidate prep
- Offer negotiation
- References & background checks
Your account manager
Weekly summary · 3 active roles
- Senior Backend Engineer14 shortlisted
- Staff Product Designer4 interviewing
- ML Platform Engineeroffer sent
● weekly_report · sent Mon 09:00
Senior Backend Engineer · London
live rate card · your partner already knew this
Specialists who live in your market
Recruiters who work these niches every single day
Your partner already knows the rate cards, where the good people hide and which companies have just had a re-org. You skip the "getting-up-to-speed" tax that costs you weeks with generalists.
- Live salary bands by role, seniority and location
- Warm relationships with passive senior talent
- Read on which competitors are shedding people
Total visibility without any admin
You review a shortlist, not a haystack
A live pipeline you can check any time, a weekly report that arrives before you ask for it, and a shortlist of interview-ready candidates. No status meetings, no chasing email threads.
- Weekly report - no need to ask where the role stands
- Live pipeline dashboard, always current
- Only pre-screened, interview-ready candidates surface
Shortlist · Staff Product Designer
4 ready to interview- AP96%
Anya Patel
Design systems · B2B SaaS
- TR93%
Tom Reid
Fintech · 0-1 product
- JO91%
Jess Okoye
Design ops · Scaleups
pre-screened by your account manager
The Haystack playbook
Five steps. You show up for two of them
You're needed for exactly two of these: the first call and the interviews you choose to join. We run everything else.
- 01
Kick-off brief
One 30 minute call. We take the brief, benchmark the salary against live market data and write the JD. You approve it.
- 02
Sourcing
We work 403,138 verified candidates in our network plus direct headhunting to passive talent. You do nothing.
- 03
Screening
Your dedicated partner interviews every candidate on skills, motivations and culture fit. Only the ones worth your time reach your inbox.
- 04
Interviews
We schedule, chase, reschedule and prep candidates. You show up to the interviews you choose to join.
- 05
Offer & onboarding
We handle offer negotiation, references, background checks and start date. You welcome the new hire on day one.
Side-by-side
One expert partner vs the alternatives
What the same open role looks like with Haystack, with a traditional agency, or on your own.
| What matters | Haystack embedded | Traditional agency | Going it alone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who owns the search | One expert partner owns it end to end | Whoever picks up the account this week | You, on top of your actual job |
| Engagement model | Transparent, flat engagement - no per-hire surprises | 20-30% of first-year salary per hire | Job boards, LinkedIn seats and your evenings |
| Where candidates come from | 403,138 verified network plus direct headhunting | The same recycled agency database | Whoever happens to apply |
| Employer brand | Candidates hear about you, not a middleman | You're pitched behind an agent | Whatever your careers page does on its own |
| Speed to shortlist | First interviews scheduled within 48 hours | Days to weeks, then a rush at the end | Whenever inbound trickles in |
| What you actually see | Live pipeline, weekly report, nothing to chase | Ad-hoc emails when they remember | A spreadsheet you're maintaining yourself |
Specialist markets
Markets we hire in every single day
Our partners live in these talent pools. They know the salary bands, the companies worth poaching from and, often, the shortlist before the search starts.
Leading tech employers use Haystack to hire world-class candidates
"For anyone in the industry struggling with tech hiring and finding those really niche candidates, I'd highly recommend using Haystack. Ultimately Haystack helped us find great candidates that we couldn't find anywhere else."
"Working with Haystack has helped us widen our brand, it's helped us recruit great people, and it's been an easy thing to do. When we think about our candidate experience and the experience of people in my team, I want that rounded experience and that's what we've seen with Haystack."
"I'm really impressed with the candidates that I'm finding on Haystack, I'm looking at them and thinking, 'wow, this looks like a great engineer'. We made multiple hires in our first year. It's been a really nice way to hire tech talent, with a very unique approach."
FAQ
What you'll want to know before handing over a role
What do I actually have to do?+
Two things. A 30 minute kick-off call so we understand the role, the team and what good looks like, and the interviews you choose to join. Everything else - JD, salary benchmarking, sourcing, outreach, screening, scheduling, chasing, offer negotiation, references - is handled by your dedicated partner.
How is this different from the self-serve Haystack platform?+
The self-serve platform gives your team direct access to verified candidates so you can run the process yourselves. Embedded is the opposite: we run the entire search for you. You get a named specialist who owns the role end to end and delivers a shortlist you can actually interview.
How fast will I see candidates?+
First interviews are typically scheduled within 48 hours of kick-off, and most teams sign an offer within 21 days. Because we don't wait for candidates to come to us, the pipeline starts moving from day one.
What roles and markets do you cover?+
Tech specialists only: Engineering, Product, Design, Data, AI & ML, Platform & DevOps and Security, at every level of seniority. We hire across the UK, US and EU. Your partner works these niches every day - they know the salary bands, the shortlists and where the good people actually are.
How does pricing work?+
A transparent, flat engagement rather than a per-hire agency fee. Book a chat and we'll price the exact roles you're trying to fill. There's a platform pricing page too if you'd rather run it yourself.
What happens after the offer is signed?+
We handle salary negotiation, contract queries, references and background checks so you just welcome your new hire. Your partner stays on for the next role whenever you need them - no re-onboarding, no re-briefing.
Hiring resources
Free reports and playbooks from thousands of opted-in tech candidates and hundreds of UK hires.
The Real Reason You Can't Fill Your Tech Roles 2026
What employers want vs what candidates expect - and how to close the gap.
UK Tech Salaries Report 2025
Benchmark UK tech compensation across roles, regions and stacks.
The Ultimate Guide to Tech Recruitment
Sourcing, employer brand, DE&I and closing - all in one playbook.
Tell us about the role you're struggling to fill
One 30 minute chat. We'll tell you honestly whether we can fill it, how fast, and what it will take.