Decade Energy
Executive search for senior Software Engineering profiles in the cleantech space.
days to shortlist
The challenge
Decade Energy needed senior Software Engineers with specific domain expertise in energy systems. They'd been searching for 3 months using job boards and their own network with zero qualified candidates. The profile was niche: strong backend engineering skills combined with an interest in climate tech, willing to join an early-stage startup.
Our approach
We started with a full market mapping: who are the 50 best people in Europe for this role, where do they work, what would make them move? No job posting. Pure direct approach.
We identified candidates from adjacent industries (smart grid, energy trading platforms, industrial IoT) who had the technical depth but hadn't considered cleantech yet. Our outreach was personalized: not a recruiter pitch, but a genuine conversation about the mission and the technical challenge.
The result
Qualified shortlist of 4 candidates delivered in 18 days. Two made it to final round. One was hired. The entire search, from kickoff to signed offer, took 5 weeks. The candidate later told us our initial message was the only recruiter outreach they'd responded to in two years.
We'd been looking for 3 months. Hugo had qualified candidates in front of us in under 3 weeks.
[Client Name], [Title], Decade Energy