20 hirings during 12 months | Sift

HQ: San Francisco, USA
Company size: 251-500
Funding raised: $156.5M
Team location: Ukraine, Poland
Cooperation time: since 2021
Product: real-time ML fraud prevention solution

Sift is a leading USA-based IT product company that develops online fraud detection and management solutions by using machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). The company’s Digital Trust & Safety Suite helps businesses safely access their revenue whenever they create accounts, make online purchases, or post reviews. 34,000 websites and applications already use Sift technologies to protect and boost their revenue. In 2021, Sift became a unicorn company after raising $50 million of funding from Insight Partners.

Issue

Sift decided to open its new software R&D branch in Eastern Europe and narrowed down the candidate search to one city. Their team already accounted for 180 people worldwide, 50 of which were developers, and they had an ambitious aim to hire 100 more talented specialists. The plan was to hire 30-35 developers in Eastern Europe in a year (5-10 in the first quarter). Sift had one in-house recruiter that could help with hiring local developers, but this specialist focused only on support positions.

Thus, Sift made a decision to seek assistance from the best Eastern European recruitment & back-office services providers. They analyzed the local tech market and collected reviews from local IT companies about such vendors. Shortly after that, they reached out to Alcor.

Solution

The first thing that we did for Sift was the engagement of 10 IT researchers, 3 IT recruiters, and an account manager to work on their vacancies. The primary position was Head of R&D which we managed to close from the second CV. Then, we started looking for a Full Stack Engineer with a rare tech stack that was difficult to find. We applied one of our recruitment techniques – an executive search and soon discovered that it was more reasonable to hire 2 candidates – a Front End Developer and Back End Engineer. The client agreed with us and we quickly closed these two vacancies. At the beginning of our cooperation with Sift, we were making job offers every week despite their long panel interviews.

Simultaneously with IT recruitment, we conducted a powerful employer branding campaign for Sift in the Eastern European tech market. Our team participated in shooting a video with a Hiring Manager of Sift which helped recruiters to encourage candidates to opt for Sift over other companies. What is more, we provide legal & compliance assistance, make procurements, and are currently looking for a perfect office for Sift.

Tech stack of developers hired by us for Sift:

Java Kafka Docker Kubernetes Python Flink Spark React JS

Results

R&D OFFICE IN EASTERN EUROPE

With Alcor’s assistance, Sift received a legally compliant remote branch in Eastern Europe that contributes to faster product development and income growth. And now we’re working on the final step – leasing an ideal physical office space for Sift.

30 DEVELOPERS IN 1 YEAR

The client managed to fulfill its initial goal of hiring nearly 30 programmers in 1 year with the help of our recruitment team. Alcor continues working on Sift positions and attracting skillful candidates for the client.

BOOSTED PIPELINE WITH THE HELP OF A VIDEO

The effectiveness of IT recruitment was multiplied after the creation of an employer branding video with Sift’s Hiring Manager who spoke about company values & the team. We took care of the video shooting and managed a social media campaign for its promotion. After watching it, candidates were more motivated to proceed with interviewing stages, which sped up hiring and improved the image of Sift on the market.

OUTSOURCED LEGAL OPERATIONS & COMPLIANCE

Our company became a one-stop-shop for business navigation in Eastern Europe for Sift. Our client outsourced to us compliance with European and American laws, tax management for their offshore developers, labor & contract law assistance, and IP rights protection.

MANAGED PROCUREMENT

Alcor has been purchasing equipment for Sift developers since the beginning of our cooperation. As a result, the client doesn’t have to worry about getting new laptops, monitors, headsets, or any other hardware.

STOCK OPTIONS FOR EASTERN EUROPEAN TEAM

Alcor IT recruiters and our lawyer helped to clarify the importance of stock options to Eastern European candidates who didn’t believe in them. As a result, these candidates changed their opinion about stock options and now perceive them as a tangible benefit of Sift.