Engineering Recruiting · Software Engineer

Hire a senior software engineer who's actually shipped it

Beacon recruits senior individual-contributor engineers, including specialists who've handled data-intensive and privacy-sensitive systems in production, not just in a portfolio project.

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Engineering leaders we've placed

These are real searches Beacon has run and closed, not hypothetical examples.

VP of Engineering Engineering Manager AI/ML & Data Leadership Software Engineering Privacy Engineering
VP of Engineering
Ladders
$300K total comp
Engineering Manager
AthenaHQ
$300K total comp
Privacy Engineer
Dandelion Health
$140K total comp
This was the largest funnel of any engineering search we've run: 884 candidates, mostly inbound applications, narrowed down to one specialist who could actually own healthcare data pipelines end to end.

Read the full Software Engineer case study → · see all case studies

What we mean by a specialist software engineer

Not every software engineering search is the same. A generalist backend or full-stack search can pull from a wide pool. A specialist search, an engineer who's genuinely handled sensitive data in production, built ETL pipelines processing terabytes of data, or owned a system with real compliance stakes, narrows that pool sharply. Beacon runs both kinds of searches, and treats them differently from the start.

Python AWS Snowflake / Redshift Pandas Docker SQL warehouses

Why a specialist search takes longer, and why that's the point

Our own specialist software engineering search ran 105 days and drew 884 total candidates, mostly inbound applications, before landing the right hire. That's not inefficiency, it's what it actually takes to find someone who's handled sensitive production data before, versus someone who just says they can.

Real production experience with sensitive data

Ask for the specific data type, the volume, and what happened when something went wrong.

Ownership, not just contribution

Sole ownership of a data pipeline is a different signal than being one of six engineers who touched it.

Comfortable with a structured technical evaluation

A coding assessment plus a real interview loop with the hiring team, not a single unstructured chat.

Clear reason for the move

Ask directly why they're leaving their current role. Vague answers are worth probing further.

What to pay

On Beacon's own recent search, a senior software engineer specializing in data privacy closed at $150K total comp. Specialist skill sets, particularly around sensitive or regulated data, are commanding more than a generalist role at the same seniority level.

If you'd rather have someone run this for you

We manage the full technical evaluation, coding assessments, structured interview loops with your hiring team, and reference checks focused on what a candidate actually owned, not just what they were near.

Hiring a Software Engineer: FAQ

What kind of software engineering roles does Beacon place?

Senior individual-contributor engineers, often with a specialization: data-intensive applications, ETL pipelines, cloud infrastructure, and privacy or compliance-adjacent engineering.

Why does a specialist search take longer than a generalist one?

A specialist role narrows the pool sharply. Our own specialist search ran 105 days and drew 884 total candidates before landing the right one.

How much does a senior software engineer cost to hire and to pay?

Our own recent search, a data privacy specialist, closed at $150K total comp.

How do you evaluate a software engineer's real skill level?

We push for the specific systems a candidate built end to end, run structured technical assessments, and coordinate real interview loops including coding exercises.

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