Tech Recruitment in the US: How to Attract Bi-Coastal Talent

If the people you need aren’t based nearby, how do you reach them? And once you do, how do you make the offer feel worth it?

Tech recruitment is no longer restricted by geography. Teams are being built across coasts, across time zones, and often across borders. This kind of reach gives employers more choice, but it also creates new challenges. What works in one region won’t always land in another. That applies whether you’re hiring for fintech, digital teams in professional services, or global platforms in pharma.

This guide looks at how to approach hiring when your tech team is no longer in one place. We explore where to find talent, how to make roles competitive in different regions, and five areas every employer needs to get right to build teams that can perform across locations.

Why Bi-Coastal Talent Should Be Part of Your Strategy

If you’re expanding into a new location, scaling delivery, or hiring for roles with hard-to-find skill sets, local talent won’t always be enough. The right candidate could be in London, Toronto, Berlin, or Austin. The more complex your requirements, the more likely it is that the person you need isn’t just down the road.

Global tech recruitment means accessing skills that aren’t always available locally. People in different markets bring distinct experiences, industry context, and working methods. That mix helps teams deliver at a higher level. They’ve tackled varied challenges, worked within different regulatory frameworks, and built products for different user groups. That kind of range makes your team more capable, not just more diverse.

Some hubs stand out for specific experience:

• London and Edinburgh for financial services and public sector tech
• Berlin for e-commerce platforms, SaaS scaleups, and software development
• Toronto and Montreal for cloud infrastructure and digital health
• Stockholm and Amsterdam for remote-first product delivery and platform engineering

These are the places where specialist talent often sits. If you're building a tech team in professional services, pharmaceuticals, media, or energy, expanding your reach gives you a better chance of hiring people who already understand your industry.

It also improves hiring outcomes. The US alone reported more than 400,000 open IT jobs at the end of 2024. Many of those roles will remain open without a broader recruitment strategy in place. A global search helps close those gaps faster—and with better long-term results.

You also widen access to candidates who are often overlooked in traditional models. That includes women in tech jobs, professionals seeking hybrid roles, and experienced contractors who prefer working across borders. With the right support from a tech recruitment agency, you can reach and engage that talent in a way that works for them.

What Kind of Roles Benefit Most From Bi-Coastal and Global Hiring?

Some roles remain consistently hard to fill. That includes jobs where demand outweighs supply, or where the skills needed are tied to specific industries, platforms, or delivery models. Local recruitment often isn’t enough. In high-demand areas of tech, a wider hiring strategy is the only way to move at pace and reduce delays.

When you hire across regions or internationally, you gain access to professionals with different experiences. Some will have worked within regulated frameworks. Others will bring knowledge from high-growth or transformation-heavy sectors. This variety supports delivery, improves team adaptability, and fills gaps without stretching time or budget.

AI and Data Roles

AI and analytics professionals are in short supply across most markets. Many of the strongest candidates have worked across different environments such as finance, healthcare, logistics, or e-commerce, and understand the challenges tied to real-world data.

These roles include:

• Machine Learning Engineers
• Data Scientists
• AI Engineers
• Quantitative Analysts

In cities like New York and San Francisco, competition for AI roles is intense and salaries are high. Expanding your search gives you access to candidates in Berlin, Amsterdam, Montreal, and Toronto. Many are used to working across time zones and are available for contract or hybrid delivery. That makes it easier to get started without long onboarding.

Cloud and Platform Engineering

Cloud engineering has become one of the most outsourced areas in tech. Teams need engineers who can build and maintain complex platforms, manage uptime, and automate processes using containerised systems.

In-demand roles include:

• Site Reliability Engineers (SREs)
• DevOps Engineers
• Platform Engineers
• Cloud Architects

Many professionals in this space work remotely and are based outside of major US cities. Hiring globally makes it easier to find engineers with relevant experience in cloud-native environments. It also supports faster implementation in time-sensitive projects.

Cyber Security

Security teams face growing pressure to manage risk across cloud, mobile, and hybrid environments. That includes technical security work, but also governance, compliance, and internal education.

These roles are often difficult to hire for locally:

• Security Operations Centre (SOC) Analysts
• Cloud Security Engineers
• Governance, Risk and Compliance Specialists
• Identity and Access Management Leads

Accessing candidates across different markets increases the chance of finding professionals who understand region-specific frameworks. This is especially important for organisations working across the US, UK, or EU, where compliance varies.

Fintech and Buy-Side

Hiring for buy-side firms or fintech platforms involves a different set of requirements. These teams work on systems tied to live trading, regulatory reporting, and sensitive financial data. Accuracy, speed, and compliance are central, which means candidates need strong technical awareness and a clear understanding of financial products and processes.

Roles that often require a wider search include:

• Application Support Analysts
• Product Owners with financial platform experience
• Technical Business Analysts
• Market Data Specialists
• Platform Integration Leads

Buy-side hiring is rarely limited to local markets. Many professionals with this skill set are based in London, Edinburgh, Zurich, or Toronto and already work in hybrid or cross-border teams. Expanding your recruitment reach helps you access people who understand the pressures of regulated environments and have delivered within financial services settings before.

Interim Tech Leaders and Contractors

Some of the most important hires are short-term. Interim specialists often take on responsibility for high-impact workstreams such as migration, integration, or platform scaling.

Common roles include:

• Interim CTOs and Heads of Engineering
• Delivery Managers
• Enterprise Architects
• Cloud Migration Leads

These professionals are often project-based and prefer remote-first or hybrid arrangements. A global or multi-region search gives access to a broader group of experienced contractors who can contribute quickly without requiring permanent placement.

Where to Find Bi-Coastal Tech Talent

Successful tech recruitment across regions starts with knowing where to look. In a fast-moving US tech job market, relying on LinkedIn alone won’t get you access to the full picture. Many experienced professionals, particularly in cloud, cyber security, and data, don’t apply to open roles. They’re working, contributing to specialist communities, or responding to targeted outreach on platforms they trust.

Here’s what to focus on when building your sourcing strategy for bi-coastal or remote-first hiring:

Use the platforms candidates actually use:

Job boards still matter, but only the right ones. Platforms like Dice, Built In, and FlexJobs continue to attract active tech professionals, especially those in cloud, data, and cyber roles. These are also some of the most visited platforms for contract tech jobs and remote-first teams.

They outperform generalist boards when hiring for specialist roles. GitHub, Stack Overflow, and private Slack channels remain strong for open-source contributors, DevOps engineers, and infrastructure contractors. Targeting these spaces directly improves reach and response.

Understand where talent is working from:

About six in ten hybrid workers (59%) now spend most of their week working from home. This has spread the tech workforce far beyond the traditional hubs. Bi-coastal hiring now includes candidates based in smaller cities, regional tech clusters, or fully remote setups.

If your search is still focused on Boston, San Francisco, or Austin, you’re missing the professionals already delivering in cities like Charlotte, Salt Lake City, and Pittsburgh. These people are open to new work but expect flexible options and clear delivery setups.

Tailor outreach to region and role: 

The way candidates respond to sourcing depends on what you’re offering and how it’s positioned. In New York, candidates may ask about long-term growth and role scope. In Seattle or Atlanta, remote structure and delivery models are often the first question.

45% of jobseekers now say remote flexibility is more important than salary. Generic job briefs are less effective when expectations vary by region. Bi-coastal search only works when sourcing is matched with regional insight and role-specific messaging.

Work with a tech recruiter who knows both coasts:

Specialist recruitment support bridges the gap between regions. At McGregor Boyall, we combine national reach with deep technical focus. Our teams have experience sourcing across time zones and can advise on:

• Where candidates are actually active
• Which platforms and formats work best for each role
• How to balance speed, flexibility, and quality during search

We also support clients through our Contractor Hub and Cloud & DevOps networks, offering access to pre-vetted professionals across the US, UK, and EMEA.

Five Hiring Essentials for Reaching Bi-Coastal Candidates

Whether you’re hiring in New York, Los Angeles, or one of the hybrid hubs in between, successful bi-coastal hiring comes down to how well you tailor your approach. From salary structures to candidate experience, the details matter. Here's where to focus if you're serious about competing nationally for tech talent.

1. Salary benchmarks must reflect the reality of each market

A candidate in Los Angeles will not expect the same package as someone in Charlotte. Pay variation is one of the biggest barriers to national hiring, especially for niche roles. If you're hiring cloud architects, security leads, or quant analysts, benchmarking by city or region is essential.

For permanent IT jobs, build in local salary data. For contract roles, vary day rates based on time zone and tax structure. This matters for:

• Cyber security and cloud contractors
• Fintech engineers working across regulated markets
• Product teams scaling platforms in high-cost hubs

When salary structures are unclear, timelines slip and candidates disengage early.

2. Hybrid or relocation terms should never be left vague

Too many hiring briefs rely on phrases like “flexible working” or “mostly remote.” These do not work anymore. Candidates want specifics. How often would they need to be in-office? Where is the team based? Will relocation support be offered or expected?

This is especially important when hiring women in tech jobs or returning contractors who are already working remotely. If your team is flexible, say so. If not, be honest. The best candidates will self-select based on clear information.

3. The interview process needs to fit the delivery model

A distributed tech team cannot afford a slow, unclear hiring process. Whether you're hiring a DevOps contractor or a permanent engineering lead, the way you interview says a lot about how your team operates.

Here’s what matters:

• Candidates should know upfront how many stages are involved
• Interviewers must be aligned on what they are assessing
• Feedback should be shared quickly and clearly

Delays and mixed messages create dropouts. A well-run process improves speed, quality, and retention. This is especially important when hiring across time zones.

4. Team visibility should replace office visibility

When your team is not all in one place, culture needs to be shown differently. A careers page does not replace human connection during interviews.

If you're hiring for data, platform, or security roles, offer one informal call where the candidate meets someone from the delivery team. It helps them see:

• How collaboration happens
• What tools or workflows are in place
• Whether there is a clear structure behind the flexibility

This often makes the difference in high-skill roles, particularly when the candidate is comparing multiple remote or hybrid offers.

5. Sourcing strategy has to adapt by region and role type

Where you post and how you engage matters more than ever. A fintech engineer in New York is unlikely to respond to the same outreach as a cloud specialist in Denver. That applies across channels, including job boards, Slack groups, alumni networks, and direct search.

If you are working with a specialist tech recruitment agency, this is where their insight should come through clearly. They should already understand how to position each role in each region. They should know how to reach the right people across contract and permanent roles. And they should help you avoid wasted time on sourcing strategies that do not match the market.

Closing Thoughts on Hiring Beyond Local Markets

Hiring across the US, or beyond it, is no longer unusual. For teams working in AI, cloud, cyber security or fintech, it is often the only route to finding people with the right experience. But reach alone doesn’t guarantee results. Recruitment strategies must reflect where candidates are based, what they value, and how they expect to be hired. Without that regional understanding, delays and dropouts become common.

The employers who get this right treat bi-coastal hiring as a structured process. They are clear on salary expectations, transparent on flexibility, and fast in the way they move. With a recruiter who understands these markets, hiring across regions becomes more than possible. It becomes competitive.

Need Support Building Your Team Across Regions?

At McGregor Boyall, we help tech employers hire nationally and globally with confidence. From salary benchmarking to our Contractor Hub and Cloud & DevOps networks, we connect you with proven professionals who can deliver. 

Get in touch today to learn how we can support your next hire.