Bullseye search · Staff Engineer for Small Teams
On a small team, your staff engineer is the architect, the code reviewer, and the person who trains the next three hires. I run a bullseye search for the senior builder who still ships every week and wants to grow the people around them, not just their title.
The short answer
Chasen Talent is a founder-led recruiting firm that finds staff engineers for small teams for early-stage to growth startups. Founder Chasen Nick runs every search personally as a bullseye search: one specific profile, recruited directly from teams where that work is happening now, and verified before a client ever sees them.
Why I know this role
The engineers who fit a small team best have usually already had the big company package. What they want now is ownership, a sane pace, and a team they get to shape. Big-tech staff comp isn't what wins them. A real problem, real authority, and a culture they'd stay at for years is. I search for the people who want exactly that, and I tell you early if your offer won't land.
The target
Writes production code every week, not only design docs and reviews.
Has mentored engineers into senior roles and can show who they trained.
Has led a migration, rebuild, or platform cleanup on a small team without stopping the business.
Multi-year tenure. I show every job and its length, because a small team can't absorb a short stint.
Where I find them: Long-tenured senior engineers at calm, profitable product companies, tech leads at small startups who want a steadier pace, and staff engineers at large companies who miss building with their own hands.
How a bullseye search works
We pin down the exact profile together: what they've shipped, the stack, the stage, and the dealbreakers. No keyword lists.
I map who's doing this work right now and recruit them directly with your specific role. Most of them are not applying anywhere.
I check real track record and current role before anyone reaches you, so you meet finalists, not a stack of resumes.
Every step is run by me, Chasen Nick. No handoffs to junior recruiters. How that compares to a big agency →
Questions founders ask
On a big team a staff engineer mostly sets direction. On a small team they also write a lot of the code, review everything, and train the engineers who join after them. You are hiring a player-coach, so look for someone who still ships and has grown other engineers.
Yes, if you sell what big companies can't offer: real ownership, a team the engineer gets to shape, and a sustainable pace. Many strong senior engineers have already had the large package and now weigh scope and lifestyle more heavily. The search has to target those people from the start.
Staff engineers make long-lived decisions and train the people who come after them. Someone who has stayed three or more years has lived with the results of their own architecture. On a small team, losing that person after a year resets the whole team.
California, New York, and remote across the United States. Most searches on my desk right now are in-person roles in San Francisco.
Other bullseye searches
Tell me about the role. If I'm not the right fit for it, I'll tell you that too.
Book a 30-minute call