Duendero Talent Partners · San Diego, Remote Nationwide

Duendero, the one who finds it.

Direct-placement search for engineering, technology, professional services, sales, and GRC leaders — run one search at a time, person to person: search, not sourcing.

Start a search
On the name
d.

What duende means

Duende is the Spanish word for the raw, unteachable spark in someone's best work — the thing underneath the craft, not the craft itself.

A duendero is the one who finds it.

That's the job — recognizing it in a person, not reading it off a resume.

Where I work

Five practices, worked the same way

01
Engineering
Individual contributors through engineering leadership — the names other engineers already bring up unprompted.
02
Technology
IT, infrastructure, and product roles, matched on fit for the team and the mandate — not a keyword scan of the tool stack.
03
Professional Services
Consulting, advisory, and client-facing roles, where the job is equal parts expertise and bedside manner.
04
Sales & BD
Quota-carrying and BD leadership roles, evaluated by someone who has carried a number themselves.
05
Governance, Risk & Compliance
GRC, audit, and risk leadership for regulated industries that can't afford to get a hire wrong.
How a search runs

Three steps, no black box

i.

Discovery

A real conversation about the role, the team, and what's actually going wrong without it filled — not a job-order intake form.

ii.

Search

Direct outreach into the specific pocket of people who fit, rather than a wide blast against a resume database.

iii.

Introduction

Two or three candidates who are actually right, with enough context to make a fast, confident call.

Get in touch

Have a role to fill, or ready for what's next?

Reach out directly — I read and answer everything myself, usually within a day.

hello@duendero.com
San Diego, CA — working remote, nationwide