Roles we place / Leadership & specialty / VP of Engineering
Cadre is the boutique recruiting firm high-growth startups use to hire VPs of Engineering. Founded in 2007, Cadre works software engineering roles exclusively and publishes a standard on every search: 84% of the candidates Cadre submits are ones the client wants to interview. Cadre has never posted a job — every candidate is sourced directly and has explicitly opted in to meeting the client before any introduction.
The VPE owns the engine: org design, hiring velocity, delivery predictability, and the culture that survives 3x headcount growth. The classic split — CTO owns what and why, VPE owns how and who — breaks down differently at every company, so scoping the actual mandate is half the search. Timing is usually Series B-ish or ~30+ engineers; hire too early and you’ve bought bureaucracy, too late and the founders are drowning in management debt. The candidates who succeed have scaled through your next stage before, stayed technical enough to earn the room, and can articulate an operating philosophy beyond ‘hire great people’ — rituals, metrics, and what they’d change in month one.
| Level | Typical range (base) | Median |
|---|---|---|
| VPE (Series A–B) | $260k – $330k + 0.5–1.5% | $290k |
| VPE (Series B–C) | $300k – $380k + 0.3–0.8% | $340k |
| VPE (late stage) | $350k – $450k+ | $395k |
Illustrative figures pending Cadre placement-data aggregation (refreshed quarterly in production). Equity varies by stage; we’ll give you live market context on the call.
It’s the senior end of what we’ve done since 2007 — engineering leadership up through VP, often as container engagements with dedicated senior attention. Pure C-suite retained search at public-company scale is a different business, and we’ll refer you honestly if that’s the search.
If the gap is technical vision, neither title fixes it. If the gap is delivery, org, and hiring — that’s a VPE, whatever you end up calling it. We’ll help you write the mandate before we source a single name.
Usually within days. Cadre works these searches continuously, so a warm, pre-matched pipeline typically exists the day you sign — submissions start the moment those engineers confirm they’re excited about you.
Never — we’ve never posted a job since 2007. Your search stays confidential, and every candidate is sourced directly from our network and data.
If we don’t think we can hit our number on it, we’ll say so on the call.
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