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HIRE EXTRAORDINARY & DIVERSE TALENT ACROSS THE US & UK

We are experts when it comes to creating world-class tech & trading teams, connecting your company with the highest calibre professionals at every level.

NOT JUST ANOTHER
RECRUITMENT AGENCY

Stanford Black connects leading hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, investment banks, scientific research houses, big data analytics firms and ambitious tech start-ups with the highest calibre professionals at every level.

We are a global leader in technology and trading recruitment; with all of the experience, resources and contacts you need to take full advantage of today’s fast moving business environments.

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OUR MARKETS

SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

Software Engineering

One of our true passions: Linux / Unix and Windows. The top coders, programmers, software engineers and architects are in high demand due to the huge shift in the importance of software development and systems. Technology now gives businesses of all shapes and sizes a competitive edge if they harness the technology in the right way. In the 21st century clients are demanding high performance platforms to help solve their business problems, which can be directly linked to profitability and growth. We specialise in C++, Java and .NetIt can be very difficult to trust someone other than yourself to have your best interests in mind, not only in terms of money but also the opportunity itself. However, after working with Stanford Black I feel like the team have my interest in mind and when I work with them again in future I know they will consider my wishes and my experience to get me the work I would be very happy with.”

AGILE/DEVOPS

Agile / DevOps

We love building Agile tech teams and have been doing it for 15 years, we like to think it’s one of our real specialities. The Agile and DevOps movement is stronger than ever; backed by craftsmanship philosophies and a great tech community in London it’s safe to say this passionate way of building software is believed by many. We appreciate Agile isn’t for everyone but there’s more and more companies adopting these practices and philosophies and more and more developers believing in it!

We help our clients source the best TDD,BDD,DDD,ATDD and XP programmers in the city. As well as building super technical DevOps teams for or clients continuous integration and automation needs. If you love Agile, best practices and testing and have that deep Agile philosophy of how software should be built, scaled, maintained and tested we can connect you with likeminded engineers to help build something great!

BIG DATA

Big DATA

One of the most exciting and rapidly developing technologies. We are working directly with the leading names in Big Data to expand our network and fully understand the future of this important space. Our clients are looking to make sense of their vast amounts of data in an economically-viable way, which was never really possible with more traditional business intelligence and data warehousing solutions. We supply Big Data product specialists who truly understand how to best leverage this emerging technology in the real world.

CLOUD COMPUTING

Cloud Computing

The world is transforming the way it runs and builds platforms. Scalability and availability are integral in today’s technological arena and Cloud Engineering is now becoming an imperative part of this. The delivery of servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics and more – all over the Internet. We are involved in multiple projects working at the bleeding edge of this ground-breaking technology – quite simply the sky is the limit!

FUNCTIONAL PROGRAMMING

Functional Programming

With the recent shift in the technology community, Functional Programming is a red hot topic and will continue to be so into the foreseeable future.

We already have a large client base that invests heavily in this area. Our clients are specifically interested in Scala, Haskell, F#, OCaml, Clojure and Erlang.

TRADING

Trading

We work with some of the most prestigious Hedge Funds, Asset Managers, Proprietary Trading firms and Investment Banks around the world. We are always in search of Traders with a proven track record of making money and experience in all the asset classes. We look for individuals with expertise in systematic trading strategies, Long-Short Derivatives trading, ETF’s and Market Makers.

QUANT RESEARCH/ DATA SCIENCE

Quant Research / Data Science

As QR becomes more commonplace within organisations globally, the need for statisticians and data scientists is increasing. Businesses need people who can handle the increasingly large amounts of information available to make more strategic decisions. At Stanford Black we are always on the look out for analytics experts and have worked hard to build a strong candidate pool in this area.

OPENSOURCE

Opensource

We work closely with real contributors to the Opensource community. This is key to our success in sourcing the most elite technologists in the world. On a daily basis we are working with candidates for whom technology is their life and so are pushing the boundaries of technological advancements. Our candidates are always looking to work with the latest technological breakthroughs.

PROJECT & PROGRAM MANAGEMENT

Project & Program Management

We have helped hire hundreds of IT & Technology professionals within the Project Management, Programme Management and Business Analysis arena including Change Management, across a variety of industry sectors and at various levels and budgetary responsibility. Some of the sectors we have helped hire Project Managers, Programme Managers and Business Analysts for include Retail & eCommerce, Financial Services, Insurance, Oil and Gas, IT & Software, Consultancy, Public sector, Travel & Utilities.

PAYMENT TECH

Payment Tech

Anyone who understands the financial technology markets will appreciate how payments technology has revolutionised the finance industry as we know it. We capitalised very early, on the sudden eruption of this new technology and have a proven track record of building highly skilled agile engineering teams for several of the highest funded industry-leaders in the payments and open banking space. We also work with a select few of the most promising, highly funded, up-and-coming challengers in the industry; leveraging our network in this space to aid some of the best ideas across the Globe. We source engineering technology talent with the latest cloud and open source experience and credit our experience to having an unrivalled network of engineers who are experts in this dynamic and ever-evolving market.

SUSTAINABILITY
& CLEAN TECH

Sustainability & Clean Tech

Our ever-changing world has seen many new opportunities for technology to grow and arguably none is more important than efforts being made to help the environment sustain, develop and prosper. There are countless amazing companies in this space trying to leverage new IoT and Cloud technologies to provide assistance for sustainable farming, or implementing cutting-edge AI to address global energy concerns.

We are dedicating ourselves and our expertise in the technology field to source high calibre, motivated and passionate people to further enhance the drive in this space. We will of course, bring our own typical drive and enthusiasm to aid our clients and candidates to thrive in this imperative field of technology.

CYBER SECURITY

Cyber Security

As new technologies continue to evolve and provide new avenues for cyberattacks, the need to protect systems and is becoming more important by the day. We work with a number of clients, both in-house and consulting firms, who are looking for top technologists to help effectively protect their businesses. We help source cyber security talent at all levels, from engineers, architects, consultants all the way through to CISO.

GOING BEYOND ORDINARY

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We founded Stanford Black when we saw that traditional recruitment methods were dead. Companies are adopting the same tactics and styles used over 20 years ago. We pride ourselves on being different and changing the face of recruitment at all touch points in the process.

After many years of working for large recruitment firms in the City, we became disillusioned with the industry and knew it was time to make a change. We were disheartened by the all-too-common attitudes of making quick-wins at any cost and the old-school mentality of the hard-core sell, when it simply isn’t right for the candidate or client.

PEOPLE

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People are the glue to our business, we put people at the forefront of all the work we do. We genuinely care about the people we work with and our business is built upon trust and long-term relationships. This includes Clients, Candidates, Employees and anyone that interacts with our business.

OUR STORY
OUR CULTURE

BEING THE BEST

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We created Stanford Black to be the best and therefore we only work with the best. The best candidates, the best opportunities, the best technology teams and the best recruiters; this drives our industry-leading conversion rate and consistently wins us top-performer status amongst our valued clients.

We connect leading hedge funds, proprietary trading firms, investment banks, scientific research houses, big data analytics firms and ambitious tech start-ups with the highest calibre professionals at every level. We source only the best candidates from an array of backgrounds and institutions and as a result, we boast a hugely diverse and unique candidate pool which harbours the most sought after and niche skill sets. This enables us to offer our clients a true competitive advantage and is Stanford Black’s real point of difference.

At Stanford Black, we don’t just pride ourselves as Head-hunters, we hire and train businesspeople who have the determination to make their dreams a reality. We are a visionary firm with the drive, ambition and mentality to win individually, together and for each other. Recruitment is typically an individual profession with old school techniques; what sets us apart is our unique and open environment which allows our diverse backgrounds and natural strengths to flourish as a team. At our core we share the same moral compass; we remain humble, resilient, and ambitious with our focus on being one of the best Technology Headhunting firms in the world.

EQUALITY & DIVERSITY

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We believe in absolute inclusivity and are excited to see that our clients feel the same. We see that variety is at the core of a high performing team and we are proud to be the top Equality, Diversity and Inclusion supplier for many of our clients.

EXCEED EXPECTATIONS

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We strive to exceed expectation and our aim is always to be the number one choice for all our clients. We are passionate about technology and understanding technology is key to our success.

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MEET SOME OF OUR TEAM

SAM HAYDON

Consultant

Stanford Black's first ever hire. Sam set the mould for what a consultant could become. Perhaps the most important hire for Pete & Mario, Sam has seen Stanford Black grow from a start-up with no employees, to a firm taking on the entire recruitment world & redefining the whole industry.

Initially working in insurance, Sam became captivated by the competitive nature of the recruitment industry and was immediately grabbed by the entrepreneurial passions of Pete & Mario.
Now, as an experienced consultant, Sam takes great pride in bringing new clients on board for the company and loves seeing the ever-expanding growth of Stanford Black.

To anyone considering joining the company, Sam has this to say,
"Stanford Black is completely different to any other firm in the industry. Being part of the team means having a collective goal to absolutely take over the recruitment world, we're all in it together and the places that we're going are incredible."

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THE FOUNDERS

PETER HAYWARD & MARIO MILTIADES

We founded Stanford Black to create a Headhunting firm that really goes beyond the ordinary; to evolve the game. We had spent years working for large recruitment firms in the City, achieving great success but at the same time, becoming disillusioned with the industry's stereotype and outdated methods. The all-too-common attitudes of making quick-wins at any cost and the old-school mentality of the hard-core sell.

Our mission was to build a business designed to win, but to win in the right way. Stanford Black was created as a vehicle to generate wealth and opportunity for all of our employees, candidates, clients and partners. A place where people are excited to come into work, are truly valued and where all employees really care about their own careers and the impact they have on people's lives - whether that be finding candidates' the best possible position, given their goals and ambitions, or in demonstrating care and consideration for their colleagues and team-mates around them. We are proud to have built a company that is genuinely supportive, driven by individuals who value winning together as a team above all else. It has taken over six years to get to this point, but we really believe we have this culture; it's incredibly strong, the thing we’re most proud of and it is proving to be a huge part of our on-going success.

We are both committed to creating the next generation of business leaders and world class hybrid technology and finance recruiters. We invest a lot of time, money and energy in building training programs which focus on personal development, business acumen and fine-tuning the skills needed to win in today's face paced tech and finance recruitment industries. We sit on the sales floor (not in an ivory tower or large corner office), accessible to everyone and are heavily involved with training and development.

We have and are continuing to create real long-term career opportunities, with world class mentoring and coaching, having an open forum for innovation and creative thinking from the ground up and are operating industry-leading commission structures, bonuses and benefits.

We take immense pride in our internal hiring process, ensuring that we only bring on those who fit in with our core values -we believe it's better to have 50 industry-defining recruiters than 500 average ones.

With targets smashed at every quarter (even throughout Covid times) and the move to larger and larger offices at every turn, we are excited to see where the company climbs to in the next few years. We already have clients in London, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Baltimore, Texas, Singapore, Tokyo, Australia and all over Europe. We’ve got our sights set on offices in New York, San Francisco, Sydney, Singapore and Barcelona in the very near future.

Our dream of an industry-defining recruitment firm is fast becoming a reality and we are looking for people to come on that journey with us.

GRADUATE CAREERS

We are proud of our employee retention record. We do 100s of interviews a quarter to make sure we find like-minded people with aspirations and ethics in line with our own. So, if you get an offer from us it means we think you’ve got what it takes and are confident you’ll fit into our team and culture.

of our consultants have been promoted at least once within the first 9 months.

of our employees have joined with no prior recruitment experience.

gender split across our team.

employee retention rate! We are extremely proud of this number.

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WOMEN IN TECH

WHY WE CARE

We have a vision, that the technology sector will no longer be known for being a male-dominated industry. It is no secret that there is still a significant gender imbalance in the technology world and even more so in finance. There is a lot of conversation surrounding this topic, and gender inequality is finally starting to get some traction, but there is still so much more that needs to be done to make this essential change happen sooner.

AGAINST ALL ODDS

For almost all roles across our sector, we see that for every application made by a woman there is 30+ men applying for the same position. Therefore, in almost all cases women candidates will not be successful simply due to the law of probability. We are committed to being the very best at what we do, which is to build out the best technology and quant teams for our partners. Research has proven that diversity within a team greatly enhances that team’s success – transforming a good team into a high performing one. We strongly believe that different perspectives provide dynamic conversation and diverse thinking and from that, develops the best results. Therefore, our mission to strengthen our clients’ technology teams is also one to diversify them.

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OUR INTERVIEW SERIES

WOMEN IN TECH

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COMING SOON

TESTIMONIALS

VICE PRESIDENT

Gaukhar – Vice President – JP Morgan

“When I first connected with Stanford Black, I was not looking for new opportunities. They gracefully accepted my situation at the time and told me if I ever wanted to see what opportunities were out there or generally ask any career advice, they would be happy to have a conversation with me with no further expectations. Their recruiter’s empathetic, low-pressure and personal approach made me feel really comfortable, so when I decided to explore, he was the recruiter I reached out to. Within no time he dedicated an hour out of his schedule for a personal meeting to discuss the market, my experience and what I was ideally looking for. We ended up getting me an interview that fit all my requirements. Despite me being very selective, he still managed to find me a position I was very excited about. Once the offer came, I received very helpful that helped me secure the package I was happy with. At the offer stage, the team were keeping me informed, giving me pointers and honest feedback on where we were during the negotiations . There was even support ironing out things even after I joined. At no point did I feel pressure to accept what I didn’t feel comfortable with instead I felt like they had my back and we were all working together to get me the best possible offer.

It can be very difficult to trust someone other than yourself to have your best interests in mind, not only in terms of money but also the opportunity itself. However, after working with Stanford Black I feel like the team have my interest in mind and when I work with them again in future I know they will consider my wishes and my experience to get me the work I would be very happy with.”

VP SOFTWARE ENGINEER

VP Software Engineer – Front Office Tier 1 US Investment Bank

“Stanford Black helped me get a new job after I had been made redundant and had lost some confidence. Interviewing did not go as well as I would have liked to begin with and most recruitment agents would have given up on me. Mario was supportive and continued to put me forward for quality jobs. In the end it all worked out when I was offered and accepted my top pick of the lot. I have been in the job for 3 years now and counting. Without Mario’s help it would have been a much harder process and no doubt I would not have ended up with such a great job.”

ASSOCIATE JAVA DEVELOPER

Julianna – Associate Java Developer – Nomura International

I have had a great experience with SB. I ended up obtaining a position I wouldn’t have considered applying for if I hadn’t been encouraged to do so by SB. I was very well informed throughout the process which made interviewing a lot less stressful. I would definitely recommend them to anyone and would be happy to work with them again in the future.

SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Software Engineer – Morgan Stanley

“I have worked with Stanford Black as part of a recruitment process last year. The company have been very helpful in matching exactly my expectation in terms of job criteria but also compensation. Working with Stanford Black to build up this understanding has been very constructive and led to a precise match. I was given help with preparing for the various interviews and gave valuable inputs in terms of how to deal with the hiring company and how to answer their questions.

Stanford Black’s experience in recruitment and their understanding of the current market was key in directing me to the right position and team, and truly understanding my situation to best accommodate my needs. I would highly recommend.”

TALENT SOURCING LEAD

Talent Sourcing Lead (HR) – Tier 1 German Investment Bank

“Stanford Black are Tier 1 suppliers for technology/engineering divisions. We have worked extensively with the team on all technology recruitment and they are our preferred suppliers when we need additional support on any external recruitment. They have good talent pools and the whole team are always professional with the stakeholders and supply a good mix when it comes to diversity. They have supported us on a number of technology recruitment drives/projects, and performs exceptionally well under tight deadlines. I would highly recommend them as one of the top performing suppliers with in DB.”

SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Amelia – Software Engineer – Leading Data Analytics Company for Top Asset Managers

“Working with Stanford Black was by far one of the best and most professional experiences I have had with a recruitment agency. They offered me some interesting job applications and always discussed the interview process with me before the interviews, so I knew what to expect. In comparison with other companies, they took the time to explain all of this, plus how to get prepared for the interviews. They asked me what I was looking for and they tried their best to deliver that. Stanford Black is a company that I will happily contact in the future when a new change to my career is needed.”

HEAD OF DATA SCIENCE

Head of Data Science – Well known FinTech Start-up (Google Sponsored)

“SB is my agency of choice whether I am looking for a position for myself or for my hiring needs. Finding a work place that embraces diversity is very important and SB paved the way, you can count on that. Moreover, as a start-up and business owner who supports women in tech and encourages girls in STEM, SB offers the same values. Together, we are trying to understand the problems of women in tech and data industry, and how best to support and facilitate them. SB has made it part of their mission to introduce diversity in every organisation they work for.”

HEAD OF BUSINESS ANALYSIS & DEVOPS

Head of Business Analysis and DevOps – NatWest Markets

“Stanford Black know the industry very well and especially know how to move it forward in a way that develops all talent. They have helped me find and create roles to grow my career – at multiple different stages in my life, even when my requirements weren’t particularly well articulated or ‘standard’ for the industry. They are a supportive partner in actively moving my career forward and do this through understanding where my career is and where I aspire it to go.”