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Top athletes have agents.
Elite engineers shouldn't negotiate alone.

We represent senior and staff engineers in high-stakes career moves. We audit real compensation bands, pitch your profile directly to engineering leaders, and handle multi-offer negotiations. Zero candidate fees, zero ATS applications.

Leon Consulting - Talent Agency
Where Represented Engineers Land & Negotiate
OpenAI Stripe Databricks Meta Anthropic Snowflake Apple Citadel
400+ Senior Placements
+$42.8k Avg. Total Comp Lift
100% Confidential Search
$0 Cost to Engineers

The Representation Protocol.

How our advisory team manages your career move from initial calibration to final contract signature.

01 CALIBRATION

Comp Band Calibration

We audit your experience against live Radford and peer comp data to establish your true P75/P90 market ceiling before talking to any company.

02 DIRECT INTROS

Direct Executive Pitching

We pitch your background confidentially to CTOs and VPs of Engineering, often unlocking unlisted headcount before recruiters ever open a public requisition.

03 AUCTION DYNAMICS

Multi-Offer Negotiation

When multiple offers land, we sync closing windows to create upward leverage across base salary, equity refreshes, and discretionary sign-on pools.

04 LEGAL & EQUITY

Contract & IP Defense

We audit the offer letter and employment agreement: 4-year vesting schedules, clawback buffers, side-project IP protection, and non-compete enforceability.

The Representation Advantage.

A side-by-side breakdown between navigating high-stakes technical hiring solo versus having dedicated talent representation.

Dimension / Stage
Conventional Search (Solo)
Leon Representation
STAGE 01 Compensation Intelligence
✕ Isolated Guessing

Browsing Blind threads and self-reported spreadsheets at 2am. Guessing where the true upper band ceiling sits.

✓ Verified Comp Data

Direct audit against verified Radford and peer comp bands to establish real P75/P90 targets before interviewing.

STAGE 02 Pipeline & Access
✕ ATS Black Holes

Submitting resumes into automated applicant tracking systems behind 600+ candidates with no feedback.

✓ Direct-to-CTO Access

Confidential direct pitch to CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and technical hiring partners before roles go public.

STAGE 03 Negotiation & Leverage
✕ Fixed Budget Trap

Accepting HR's "budget is capped" pushback because negotiating aggressively risks damaging the hiring relationship.

✓ Dedicated Negotiation Buffer

We manage the negotiation as your agent. We coordinate multi-offer timelines to create upward bidding tension.

STAGE 04 Contract & IP Defense
✕ Standard Boilerplate

Signing standard offer letters without realizing restrictive IP assignment terms, non-competes, or harsh vesting cliffs.

✓ Executive Contract Audit

Full legal audit of 4-year vesting schedules, acceleration triggers, clawbacks, and side-project IP carve-outs.

Recent Placement Deal Memos.

Unfiltered offer breakdowns and negotiation outcomes from recent senior and staff moves.

Staff Distributed Systems Eng +$130k Lift
Initial Offer $390k
Closed Package $520k

"I almost accepted the initial $390k because the recruiter insisted the band was hard-capped for L6. My agent took over the email thread, pushed back with verified competitor data, and closed the gap with another $130k in RSUs. Best part? I never had to have that awkward money conversation myself."

Principal Machine Learning Eng Competing Offers
Sign-On Bonus $60k
Total Package $640k

"I was about to get trapped by an exploding 72-hour deadline from one company while still in late-stage loops with another. They stepped in, managed the recruiter communications, aligned both offers to land in the exact same 48-hour window, and secured a $60k sign-on bonus to bridge the difference."

Director of Engineering 100% Confidential
Time to Intro 6 Days
Public Visibility Zero

"When you're managing a 40-person org at a major tech firm, you can't have your resume floating around Greenhouse or recruiter LinkedIn feeds. They brokered three private, off-market conversations directly with CTOs over Signal and Zoom. Zero public trail, signed in three weeks."

Frequently Asked Questions.

Straightforward answers about our fee model, candidate confidentiality, and negotiation process.

Need private advice on a live offer? Talk to an advisor confidentially →

Zero cost to engineers. We charge hiring companies an executive search fee upon successful placement. There are no retainers, hidden costs, or cuts deducted from your salary or equity.

Your current employer will never know you are looking. Your resume is never uploaded to public databases or job boards. We pitch your track record anonymously and only share identifying details after you approve the mutual fit.

We represent Senior (L5), Staff (L6), Principal (L7), and Engineering Leadership (Managers, Directors, VP Eng). Most candidates have 5+ years of production experience in high-leverage domains like Distributed Systems, ML Infrastructure, and Backend Architecture.

We break down the complete package: base salary, equity vesting schedules (1-year cliffs vs. quarterly refreshes), target bonuses, and sign-on incentives. We negotiate directly with the VP of Engineering or HR on your behalf, then audit employment agreements for restrictive non-compete and IP clauses.

GET STARTED

Ready to see what you're worth on the open market?

Whether you have an active offer in hand or are quietly exploring your next chapter, we can audit your compensation ceiling in 15 minutes.