Three Frontend Engineers for an AI platform for designers: algorithms, System Design and relocation to the UK

A fast-growing UK company of up to 50 people, which builds one of the most popular AI platforms for designers, needed Frontend Engineers with deep knowledge of algorithms and System Design who were ready to relocate. NEWHR filled three roles: out of 38 candidates who passed agency interviews, 15 were sent to the client, and not a single CV was rejected. The first offer was made two months after the start, the third after six.

Request and constraints

The company is built on strong engineers. This is a distinctive feature of its culture and the key to its success on the market. That is why even a Frontend Engineer here is expected to have a deep understanding of algorithms and System Design principles.

At first there were two vacancies:

Senior Frontend Engineer for the Growth team;
Frontend Engineer for the mobile track (mobile app).

During the work a third position opened: Frontend Engineer in Growth.

Strong development skills, a deep understanding of algorithms and System Design, knowledge of React
Ability to work independently, leadership skills and experience developing product features
Willingness to relocate to the United Kingdom
Culture fit

Why it was hard

An unusual bar for frontend

Algorithms and System Design are a quality standard for the client, but for a Frontend Engineer this is an unusual requirement, and it makes the search much harder.

Relocation makes hiring longer and riskier

A move to an English-speaking country makes a vacancy more attractive to many candidates: a high standard of living, no need to learn another language. For the company, however, it takes longer and carries risk: a candidate may not get a visa. The client covered the paperwork and the cost of the move, but because the bureaucratic process took a long time, the first candidate started work only several months after the offer.

The third vacancy opened when the obvious candidates had run out

By then, the best candidates whose experience was clear from their CV and portfolio had already been exhausted.

“The client needed candidates who were well versed in algorithms and system design. For them, this is a quality standard. For a frontend developer, however, it is often an unusual requirement.
The client's logic was this: the company is a startup, which means it has to move fast and there is no time for fixes. If a candidate knows algorithms, that is a guarantee they will write high-quality code from the start that will not need to be redone. Besides, it is simply part of the company's culture.”
Anna Kulesh, Senior IT Recruiter NEWHR

How we searched

The search was led by Anna Kulesh, Senior IT Recruiter NEWHR.

We searched where the client's developers had come from

Anna analyzed where most of the client's developers had worked before and saw a pattern: they all had experience at large Russian tech companies. Those companies are known for the strong theoretical grounding of developers in every area.

We also looked at ex-employees of Microsoft and other tech giants, but in the end specialists from Russian big tech were the best fit for the client. We specifically looked for people from big tech that had kept a startup's flexibility: there, individual projects work as standalone startups, and employees drive large tasks from start to finish. This experience matched the client's culture best.

We looked for people who had already relocated: Southeastern Europe and the former Soviet Union

Anna's second hypothesis: search first of all in the countries of Southeastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. For example, in recent years Belgrade has become a full-fledged IT hub: it has offices of Microsoft and large Russian tech companies, as well as Wargaming, Altium, Playrix, Perplexity and other companies.

The practice of NEWHR recruiters and NEWHR's anonymous surveys show that most IT professionals who moved to Serbia see it not as a final destination but as a “transit point” on the way to Western Europe. An offer from a well-known startup with relocation to the United Kingdom is of interest to them.

Both hypotheses were confirmed.

“The client's representatives did not limit our search to particular locations and were ready to hire candidates from Russia as well. But we quickly realized that it was easier to search abroad. Relocation is a big change and a fairly labor-intensive process, even with the employer's support. If a candidate has already moved on their own and understands what emigration means, the risk for the employer is lower.”
Anna Kulesh, Senior IT Recruiter NEWHR

At the CV stage we screened out people without product features

At first Anna wrote to people whose relevant experience was clearly described on LinkedIn. She looked at their projects: what the person had in their background, whether they could describe the impact of their projects on the business, and which complex tasks they had done themselves.

“I know how high our client's standards are, and I looked closely at candidates' projects. What does the person have in their background? Can they describe their projects and their impact on the business? Do they show complex tasks that they personally carried out?
If a candidate had mostly refactored code or set up CI/CD, I knew they would not suit the client. Or if they had been responsible for some internal project that did not ‘face’ users at all. I was looking for portfolios with great product features.”
Anna Kulesh, Senior IT Recruiter NEWHR

When the third vacancy opened and the candidates with experience obvious from their CV had run out, Anna relied on the reputation of the source companies and moved the check to the agency interviews.

In agency interviews we established the candidate's area of responsibility

At NEWHR screening we checked that the candidate really fit the position, verified the information in the CV, assessed soft skills and checked that salary expectations matched the vacancy budget. The interview helps screen out those who exaggerate their skills and helps strong developers talk about their results in a structured way: even experienced specialists do not always know how to present them.

“Probably one of the biggest problems in a conversation with a developer applicant is understanding what their area of responsibility was. I use different approaches: I ask the candidate to talk about interesting cases — what task they faced, what solutions they proposed, what result they achieved. Some pick up this line and reveal their experience, while others never manage to single out valuable results and stick to general phrases like ‘we built features’. As a rule, such candidates do not suit us.”
Anna Kulesh, Senior IT Recruiter NEWHR

Detailed HR summaries instead of screening on the client's side

For each candidate Anna prepared a full profile: cases, motivation, expectations. Several agencies worked with the company, but only candidates from NEWHR were not screened again by the client: the HR summaries let it skip this stage.

How the search went over time

Date	Event
January 28	Work started on two vacancies (Growth and Mobile)
April 4	First offer: Senior Frontend Engineer in Growth
May 12	A third position opened, the search resumed
July 8	Offer to a candidate in Mobile
August 4	Offer to a second candidate in Growth

Funnel

Stage	Candidates	Conversion from previous stage	Conversion from start
Search	157	—	100%
First contact (First)	135	86.0%	86.0%
Correspondence (Email)	38	28.1%	24.2%
Agency interviews	38	100%	24.2%
CVs sent to the client	15	39.5%	9.6%
Interviews with the client	14	93.3%	8.9%
Offers	3	21.4%	1.9%
Starts	3	100%	1.9%

Result

Out of 38 candidates who passed agency interviews, Anna sent 15 to the client. The client did not reject a single CV, and 14 people went on to interviews with the client. Three received offers and filled all three roles: Senior Frontend Engineer and Frontend Engineer in Growth, and Frontend Engineer on the mobile track. The first offer was made two months after the start, the last one after six.