Case Study: Enabling Sustainable Recruiting for Long-Term Growth in the Ultra-High-Tech Space

Introduction

Scaling a fast-growing Series A company with stage-relevant talent is no small task, especially when your company is still small enough to not yet have an internal recruiting function established. This is where EUV Tech was when we were introduced to it. It’s an Intel Capital-backed Series A leader in extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray instrumentation. In layman's terms, it creates highly specialized equipment that assists in the manufacturing of advanced microchips.

EUV Tech had worked with freelance recruiters previously but it had no thought partner on recruiting strategy and no scalable recruiting processes or technology. With continued growth ahead, the company needed a partner who could advise and execute a recruiting strategy and help establish effective recruiting processes and technology to foster growth. This partner would not only have to fill highly specialized roles, but also build a recruiting engine for sustainable talent acquisition success.

Client Background

EUV Tech creates highly specialized equipment used in making advanced microchips, incorporating extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray technology. With the continued advancement of microprocessors and the need for precision tools in the manufacturing process, EUV Tech’s technology is in high demand. While EUV is not technically a startup, it possesses many of the qualities of startups: it just received Series A funding from Intel Capital, it tripled its workforce in the past two years from 20 to 65 people, and it’s experiencing strong year-over-year growth. At the same time, EUV has the stability of a company with a proven market fit, works with just about every chipmaker out there, and has little competition that can compete on its playing field. 

The Challenge

With a new infusion of capital and strong growth projections, it was a critical time for EUV to ensure it was getting its share of high-performing talent in order to fully realize its growth potential. When we first connected with EUV, it had a head of HR who was about to implement a new recruiting system. This HR leader had worked with recruiting freelancers in the past, but had no thought partner on EUV’s long-term talent strategy, nor a scalable recruiting process or advanced recruiting technology to assist in hiring scalability.

Because of its highly specialized products, EUV also needed some roles filled quickly that would require deep expertise. Achieving this called for a dedicated team adept at executing searches on hard-to-find talent. EUV needed to build a longer term sustainable talent strategy and recruiting operations while executing on its immediate hiring needs. To ensure it found the right talent for the now and the next, EUV engaged Scalrr as its primary talent acquisition partner.

The Scalrr Solution

Since EUV needed to both hire quickly and receive longer-term strategic support, it decided to go with our recruiting subscription model, called Team Builds. This was the best option as it offered a monthly retainer and reduced hiring success fee, giving EUV two dedicated executive recruiters and much-needed talent advising included as part of the subscription.

With this model, EUV had access to Scalrr’s support for an unlimited number of roles, and Scalrr helped EUV build and set up its long-term talent strategy and recruiting capability as part of this solution. Based on the volume of EUV’s hiring, Scalrr assigned two partners to the account. This provided the capacity to execute on EUV’s immediate hiring needs and act as strategic advisors while building its recruiting operations. 

Delivering Tangible Results

Scalrr’s partnership with EUV continues to deliver impactful outcomes. With two executive recruiters on board, our focus has been efficiently divided, with approximately 80% dedicated to execution (role fulfillment) and 20% to strategic initiatives. In the first six months of the engagement, we successfully filled pivotal positions across various departments, including R&D, Engineering Customer Success, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing, and IT.

Our comprehensive approach, involving direct sourcing, communication campaigns, and a thorough assessment process, enabled us to hire in critical skill areas. One example is our work on LabVIEW Engineers for EUV's engineering team. By assuming ownership of the end-to-end hiring process, we alleviated hiring managers' concerns, assuring them of a dedicated partner committed to securing top talent and implementing confidence-inspiring hiring practices.

As we embark on new searches in R&D, Product, and Customer Success Leadership, our strategic focus remains central. Notably, we expedited the implementation of a recruiting system, originally slated for phase two post-HRIS implementation. This early launch brought efficiency to EUV's recruiting process. 

We also introduced advanced technologies such as AI and video interviewing tools. The collaboration has proven successful, with our month-to-month contract reflecting our commitment to delivering value. EUV retains the flexibility to end the agreement if hiring volumes decline, ensuring shared responsibility and a results-driven approach.

The Path to Success

In successful partnerships, the path to success is shared. At Scalrr, we emphasize a mutual commitment where clients invest in recruiting as much as we invest in them. This shared accountability involves co-building recruiting practices, active engagement from hiring managers, and a commitment to continuous improvement on both sides. The partnership with EUV exemplifies this collaborative spirit, with one of our partners spending a day each week at EUV offices, fostering strong relationships and trust with the leadership team, Head of HR, COO, and Head of R&D. This collaborative approach ensures a strong foundation for sustained success in EUV's recruitment capability.

Recruitment Scalability

The EUV team leadership has been very pleased with the recruiting advisory experience the Scalrr team brings. We offered to take the reins on an ATS implementation, originally slated for phase two of EUV’s HRIS rollout, and we were able to bump it to phase one and deploy the system within a few weeks, including redesigning the applicant flow and landing page on the EUV website. The AI and video interviewing tools we implemented streamlined the recruitment and assessment process.

The optimizations we made to EUV’s recruiting process extend across the organization, so at any stage when EUV is ready to take recruiting in-house, it will be set up for a seamless transition and can easily continue to scale its recruiting capabilities based on the foundation we put in place. All of this has been included in our standard agreement with no additional consulting fees.

Conclusion

Scalrr's partnership with EUV Tech has yielded remarkable results in addressing the high-tech company’s unique challenges and fostering growth. With EUV at a pivotal stage, our recruiting subscription model proved instrumental in not only fulfilling immediate hiring needs, but also in strategically building a foundation for long-term recruiting. The collaborative spirit between Scalrr and EUV, exemplified by our shared commitment and proactive engagement, has laid the groundwork for a sustainable recruitment capability. By seamlessly integrating an ATS implementation, redesigning applicant flow, and incorporating cutting-edge technologies — all as part of our standard agreement — we optimized EUV’s recruiting process while setting the stage for a seamless transition when the company decides to internalize recruiting. 

The journey with EUV Tech reflects our dedication to driving tangible outcomes and ensuring our clients are well-positioned for scalable and lasting recruitment success.