Build Better
A full-cycle hiring engine for design leaders who need to attract, assess, and close the right talent without the false starts.
00
Role clarity from the start
00
Smart screening, better signal
00
Competitive offers, confident close
00
Closing speed that wins
Book a call
Contact Us
→
↓
Hiring determines everything downstream—the work your team ships, the credibility you build, the culture that forms. Getting it right requires clarity on what you actually need, structured ways to assess fit, and the speed to close before top candidates accept other offers. We help you build a hiring process that attracts exceptional talent and gets them to yes.

Learn more about this

From search to start date
Whether you're making your first design hire or filling a senior leadership role, the fundamentals don't change—clear role definition, structured assessment, and competitive positioning that gets candidates to yes. We meet you where you are and help you close the talent you need.

Programs

P1

Position

Get things started

Role Definition / Market Positioning / Pipeline Support
You're kicking off a hire and need to get it right from the start. We help you define what you actually need, position the role to attract the right candidates, and set up a pipeline that brings in signal, not noise.
Let's talk!
P2

Select

Hire with confidence

Portfolio Screening / Interview Design / Candidate Assessment
You're in active hiring but need clarity on who's actually strong. We screen for what matters, design structured interviews that reveal fit, and assess candidates so the right choice becomes obvious instead of debatable.
Let's talk!
P3

Secure

Close without compromise

Leveling / Compensation Guidance / Offer Strategy
You've found your top choice and need to close them without overpaying or losing to a competitor. We provide market-aware leveling, compensation guidance, and offer strategy so you make an offer they'll accept and you can defend.
Let's talk!
How we work together
Every hiring engagement is shaped by where you are in the process and what you need most. The structure remains consistent—position, assess, close, transfer—but how we move through it depends on your timeline, the role's complexity, and your internal capabilities.
Approach
1

Position

Defining what you actually need and how to articulate it. Clear role scope, realistic requirements, and positioning that attracts the right candidates instead of just volume.
2

Assess

Building structured evaluation that reveals fit. Portfolio screening criteria, interview design that tests for what matters, and assessment frameworks your team can apply consistently.
3

Close

Structuring offers that land. Market-informed compensation, leveling that fits your org, and negotiation support so you close candidates confidently without overpaying.
4

Transfer

By the end, you own the process. The role definition, assessment criteria, and offer strategy become repeatable for your next hire.
Our Experience. Your Advantage
Why Empirika
Hiring design talent requires understanding what actually predicts success beyond an impressive portfolio—the fit between candidate capability and your specific context, stage, and needs. That judgment comes from building teams repeatedly and learning what holds when the person starts doing the actual work.

Hiring Is Pattern Recognition

I've built design teams from two people to fifty, across every discipline and seniority level. The best hires share something beyond portfolio quality—they fit the actual role, not the idealized version. They thrive in your specific context, not just in theory. Learning to see that fit before you make the offer is what separates hiring well from hiring lucky.
Book a call with Joel

Pattern Recognition at Scale

Built teams from two to fifty across startups and enterprise. Learning from closing exceptional talent and from the hires that didn't work out.

Context-Specific Assessment

From Adobe to bootstrapped startups. We know what "senior" means at different scales and how to assess for your specific context, not a generic bar.

Built Teams Repeatedly

Hired across every level and discipline for teams of different sizes and stages. The assessment approaches we use come from seeing what actually predicts performance, not theory about what should matter.

Global Hiring Perspective

Hired teams across Asia, the Americas, and Europe. We understand how to assess for remote-first cultures, distributed teams, and local markets—not just what works in one geography.
Ready to
Connect?
Let's get started