For French companies and international groups growing their R&D in France.
Senior engineering, data, product and AI hiring, with offers that win and support for your managers at every step.
Hiring in the US? See how we work there
Every company starts from a different place. Here is what we do in the situations we see most often in France.
Your best candidates are already employed and courted by big tech, AI startups and other scaleups. Reaching them takes a direct approach, and convincing them takes an offer built for them.
What we doYour group has its own levels, titles and salary bands, often designed elsewhere. In France, candidates read them differently, and the gap can cost you your best options.
What we doEverything is new: the market, the contracts, the notice periods and what a strong offer looks like. Your first hires will also shape the culture of the whole site.
What we doA new CTO, VP Engineering or Head of Product will set the direction for years. The search needs discretion, a clear view of the market and a deep assessment of each candidate.
What we doYour situation looks different? Tell us about it
Many founders and CTOs lead their hiring with little HR support at their side. In every search, we bring that expertise to your team, from the hiring plan to the final decision.
You focus on the product. We bring the people side, from the first brief to the first day.
We help you set your priorities, plan the order of your hires and choose start dates that match your roadmap.
We design each step with you: the manager interview, the technical exercise or live session, and the team meeting.
Each step comes with clear criteria, so every interviewer assesses the same skills and decisions rest on facts.
We brief your managers before their interviews, help them ask the right questions and run the debriefs with them.
We share the rules for fair interviews in France: the questions to ask, the topics to leave aside and how to explain a decision.
Quick feedback, a clear offer and close contact with each candidate, so your company makes a strong impression.
The full method is on our Companies page: how we can work together, each step of a search and the commitments we make on both sides.
What we see in our searches across France, and what it means for your hiring plan.
French engineers are courted by big tech, AI startups and foreign companies hiring remotely with international salaries. AI and ML, platform and SRE, security and senior product profiles are the hardest to find.
What it means for youYour offer competes worldwide and needs a direct approach and a strong story.
Most are employed and run several processes at once. They expect a salary range from the first call, want to meet the team early and lose interest with slow feedback. Many get a counteroffer.
What it means for youA short process, quick feedback and an early meeting with the team make the difference.
In France, a Lead Developer, an Architect or a Tech Lead can cover very different scopes from one company to another. Levels such as Staff or Principal are still new in many French companies, so one title can hide two jobs.
What it means for youDefine each role by its scope and impact, and let us map it to the right profiles in the market.
Beyond the fixed salary, candidates look at the bonus, profit sharing, health insurance (mutuelle), meal vouchers and equity. Two offers with the same salary can feel very different once everything is added up.
What it means for youPresent your full package clearly in the offer, as candidates will compare it line by line.
In our searches, most senior engineers expect two or three days of remote work a week, and some only consider fully remote roles. Remote roles also widen the pool beyond Paris, to Lyon, Toulouse, Nantes and Bordeaux.
What it means for youYour remote policy is part of your offer, and it is often the point that decides a candidate.
Many senior engineers are at ease working in English, especially in international teams and product companies. For managers, and for roles close to French clients or local teams, fluent French remains important.
What it means for youSet the language requirement early, as it changes the size of the pool you can reach.
We share salary benchmarks for your roles at intake, based on our recent searches in France, so your offer is built on real market data.
What every company should know before hiring in France, and especially international companies building their first team here.
Pay transparency: under the EU directive now being transposed in France, job ads will have to show a salary range, and asking candidates about their current pay will be banned. We already help our clients prepare.
This overview is general information, and the details depend on each company’s collective agreement. We point out the questions to check early with your legal and HR partners.
In our conversations with candidates across France, the same reasons come back again and again. They are also the questions your offer has to answer.
Senior engineers want to own their technical choices. Daily checks, approvals for small decisions and tight control are among the first reasons they give for leaving.
What it means for youShow how decisions are made in the team, and who owns what.
After a reorganisation or a change of priorities, many engineers lose sight of where the company is going. When the roadmap gets blurry, the best ones start to listen to offers.
What it means for youShare the roadmap, the funding and the role of the team from the first interview.
In many French groups, IT is still a support function that delivers what others decide. Engineers leave for companies where they shape the product with the business.
What it means for youExplain how product and engineering work together, with real examples.
In many French companies, the only way to progress is to become a manager. Strong engineers become unhappy managers, or leave for a company with Staff levels.
What it means for youShow the career path for experts, with clear levels and criteria.
Internal raises often stay small while the market moves. Engineers see that changing company pays more than staying, and new hires sometimes earn more than the team.
What it means for youCheck each offer against your team’s pay, so every new hire fits in fairly.
When most of the week goes to incidents, urgent fixes and technical debt, engineers stop learning and start looking. The best ones want time to build and to improve.
What it means for youBe open about the technical debt, and show the plan and the time to reduce it.
These are the reasons we hear most often from senior engineers in France. We use them to build your pitch, and to help you keep the people you hire.
France combines a deep pool of engineers with an ecosystem built to help tech companies grow, including international ones.
We are active across this ecosystem: its schools, its communities and its programmes. We use them to reach the right candidates, and to point international companies to the right partners when they set up in France.
French engineers come from demanding schools with a strong tradition in mathematics and computer science, and from leading research institutes. Many also come from coding schools and less linear paths.
A strong base in algorithms, maths and system design, well suited to complex products, data platforms and AI.
Paris has become one of the main AI hubs in Europe, with fast-growing French AI companies and the research labs of global tech groups. That pulls strong data and AI profiles into the market.
The best AI profiles have many options, so your project and your team weigh as much as the offer itself.
Public programmes help tech companies fund their R&D, attract international talent and set up in France. For foreign companies, they make the first steps much easier.
The research tax credit (CIR) can cover part of the salaries of the engineers who work on your R&D.
Engineers, data scientists and tech leaders meet every year at large conferences, regional events and specialist forums. They are where trends start and where reputations are built.
Speaking at these events or hosting a meetup builds your name with the engineers you want to hire.
The rules and habits that international companies ask us about most often.
Employees get five weeks of paid leave a year, plus extra days off (RTT) for most senior profiles on a forfait jours contract. Maternity leave is sixteen weeks for a first or second child, the second parent gets twenty-eight days, and since July 2026 each parent can also take a birth leave of one or two months.
During sick leave, social security pays part of the salary, and the collective agreement often asks the employer to top it up. Plan your team’s capacity with these rules in mind from the first hire.
Yes. Many engineers in France work every day with teams in the US or across Europe. They work under French law, with the 35-hour week or a forfait jours contract, and the right to disconnect outside working hours.
A few shared hours are usually enough: the afternoon in France covers the morning on the US East Coast. We help you set clear overlap hours in the offer, so expectations are aligned from day one.
Salaries are expressed as a gross annual amount and paid every month, sometimes with a thirteenth month. On top of the fixed salary, packages often include a bonus, profit sharing, and equity in some companies.
Some benefits are set by law: the employer pays at least half of the health insurance (mutuelle) and half of the public transport pass, and companies with fifty employees or more share part of their profits. Candidates compare the full package, so present it clearly in every offer.
During the probation period, either side can end the contract with a short notice set by law. After it, a permanent contract ends through resignation, a mutual agreement (rupture conventionnelle) or a dismissal, which needs a real and serious reason and a formal procedure.
After eight months of service, a severance payment is due in case of dismissal or mutual agreement. Check these steps with your HR or legal partner before any decision.
Yes. A French company can grant BSPCE, a tax-efficient scheme for young companies that meet a few conditions, such as being less than fifteen years old. A foreign parent can include employees in France in its own stock plan, with options or free shares.
Gains are taxed in France, and some foreign plans are adapted to French rules to get a better tax treatment. Equity matters to senior engineers, so explain it clearly in the offer.
Questions about working with us?
See our FAQTell us about the role, the team and your timeline. We come back to you with a first view of the market and a clear plan to hire.
A short email is enough: the role, the team and when you need someone.
We discuss the role, the market and the best way to work together.
You receive a written plan with the approach, the timeline and the fee.
Hiring in the US too? See how we work there Read our case studies