Helping startups hire the people that really matter

Hands-on recruitment for startups, scale-ups, venture studios and investors. From specialist hires to founders, co-founders and senior leadership.
Based in Barcelona, Spain. Working internationally.

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Wouter Jaarsma, startup recruiter based in Barcelona, Spain
Wouter Jaarsma Recruiter & talent partner Barcelona, Spain
14+ years recruitment • Europe, Middle East & Asia • 25+ deeptech ventures supported

Recruitment built for startup reality

Early-stage companies rarely need a big recruitment function. They need someone experienced who can quickly understand the business, find the right people and keep the process moving.

14+ Years in Recruitment

I started in agency recruitment and have since worked across Amsterdam, Singapore and Barcelona, recruiting internationally across Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Startup & Venture Experience

A growing part of my work is with venture studios and investors, helping when a venture needs the right founder, co-founder or senior leader to move forward. That includes supporting 25+ deeptech ventures with founder, co-founder and senior leadership sourcing.

Hands-on, Not Heavyweight

No need to build a full internal TA team for every hiring spike. I can plug in fractionally, run a difficult search, build the process or hand it back once the work is done.

SELECTED CLIENTS & VENTURE PROGRAMMES

The ColliderMobile World Capital
Fresh Ventures
EIC Tech2Market
Planetary
Rockstart

How We Work Together

Flexible support depending on whether you need ongoing hiring capacity, one critical person or a better recruitment setup.

Flexible Support

Fractional Recruitment

Senior recruitment support without adding a full-time recruiter to the payroll.

  • Sourcing and direct outreach
  • Screening and shortlist management
  • Interview process and scorecards
  • ATS, reporting and talent-pool setup
  • Close collaboration with founders and hiring managers
Typically from 8 hours per week
Let's Talk
Critical Hires

Founder & Leadership Search

Focused search for the people who can materially change the trajectory of the company.

  • Founder and co-founder searches
  • CEO, CTO, COO and commercial leadership
  • Market mapping and direct headhunting
  • Deeptech and hard-to-find specialist markets
  • Candidate assessment and process support
Project-based or fractional
Discuss a Search
Build It Better

Hiring Setup & Advisory

For teams that are hiring themselves but want a more effective process, better tools or a clearer plan.

  • Role definition and job descriptions
  • Hiring process and interview design
  • Compensation and market feedback
  • Sourcing strategy and tooling
  • Recruitment forecasting and talent pools
Practical, hands-on support
See Where I Can Help
VENTURE LEADERSHIP

When the issue is the leadership setup, not just a vacancy

For venture studios and investors, the question is sometimes bigger than who to hire next. I help when a new venture needs its founding team completed, when the current leadership setup is not working, or when a portfolio company needs different leadership for its next stage.

01

CREATE

Build the leadership around a new venture, from entrepreneurial CEO and commercial co-founder to the first critical senior hires.

02

REPAIR

Strengthen or change the leadership setup when a key capability is missing, the fit is wrong or the company has become stuck.

03

SCALE

Add or upgrade senior leadership as the company moves into a new phase of growth, commercialisation or international expansion.

Search is often the execution layer, but the starting point is the leadership gap: what is missing, what needs to change and who can unlock the next stage?

Talk About a Leadership Gap

Not Sure What Your Hiring Actually Needs?

Take the free 5-minute Hiring Health Check, or book a call if you already know where the bottleneck is.

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