Hiring a VP of Engineering for a Cloud Infrastructure scale-up

The Challenge

After 14 months as Evroc's primary recruitment partner, successfully building their London engineering team with 10 software engineers, the company faced a critical inflection point. As a rapidly growing cloud infrastructure provider, Evroc needed senior engineering leadership to scale their operations across London and Stockholm.

Evroc needed to hire a VP of Engineering who could lead and grow engineering functions across two locations while maintaining the technical excellence required in the competitive cloud computing market.

This was a mission-critical leadership role with exacting requirements:

• Experience scaling teams of 30+ engineers across multiple locations
• Strong track record building cloud-based products and leading high-growth teams
• Hands-on experience at a major cloud provider
• Expertise in cloud architecture and strategic roadmap ownership
• Ability to scale engineering functions across London and Europe

The market presented a few significant obstacles:

Time criticality: The business needed the right person fast, with no room for extended search timelines.

Niche skill requirements: The combination of hands-on cloud provider experience and proven scaling track record significantly narrowed the candidate pool.

Compensation expectations: High-calibre candidates from major cloud providers commanded premium salary expectations, requiring strategic positioning of Evroc's employee value proposition beyond just compensation.

Previous search challenges: An established executive search firm had already worked the role unsuccessfully, meaning a large proportion of the market had already been approached, creating additional constraints on available candidates.

The Solution

Burns Sheehan approached this as a highly targeted, Europe-wide search, leveraging our deep understanding of Evroc's culture and technical requirements built over 14 months of successful partnership.

Having placed 10 software engineers into this team over the year, we knew the business and culture inside-out & Evroc trusted us to lead the search exclusively.

Broadening the search: After advising the client on alternative employer profiles and relevant backgrounds to consider, we expanded the brief and launched a Europe-wide search to access new talent pools previously unexplored.

Engaging passive talent: Thanks to our deep understanding of the client from our existing relationship, we brought the opportunity to life for candidates, helping them see the long-term impact they could make beyond just the immediate role.

Real-time adaptation: Weekly calls with the Head of Talent and regular check-ins with the VP of People allowed us to fine-tune the search in real time, ensuring we remained aligned with evolving priorities.

Rather than casting a wide net, we concentrated our efforts where they would be most effective:

• AWS talent focus: With many Google candidates already contacted by the previous firm, we shifted our primary focus to AWS employees who aligned more closely with Evroc's specific needs—professionals experienced in scaling teams and thriving in smaller, high-growth environments.
• Strategic positioning: Critical to success was effectively communicating Evroc's unique value proposition to candidates accustomed to the compensation packages and prestige of major cloud providers.

Of the candidates submitted, 75% were market-mapped and headhunted through cold outreach, whilst 25% came from our existing network of engineering leaders.

The Results

• 26 days time-to-hire, from submitting the successful candidate to offer acceptance.
• 2:1 CV to 1st interview ratio, with only 6 CVs sent and 3 interviews to conduct due to strong candidate-role alignment - reducing internal time spent and driving efficiency.

The hired VP of Engineering brought exactly what Evroc needed:

• 8 years at AWS providing deep cloud technology expertise
• Former Head of Engineering at Stripe demonstrating leadership in high-growth fintech environment.