About Saiyō
We built Saiyō because hiring was broken.
Internal teams stretched. Agencies expensive and reactive. RPO models still leaning on inbound. Meanwhile, the best candidates never apply. We changed the model.
Our story
Why Saiyō exists.
Saiyō was founded after years spent inside SaaS scale-ups watching the same pattern repeat. Internal teams burned out chasing inbound. Agencies sent CVs and invoices in equal measure. RPOs scaled headcount but not quality. And the best candidates, the ones every founder actually wants, were never in any of those pipelines.
We started Saiyō to build the model we wished existed: an embedded headhunting partner with the proactive reach of a top-tier search firm, the rhythm of an internal team, and the predictable economics of a subscription. No per-hire fees. No hand-offs. No reactive sourcing.
Today we partner with SaaS scale-ups across the UK, EU, US, APAC and MEA, embedding into their hiring stacks and going after the senior talent that other models can't reach.
What we believe.
- The best candidates don't apply. They have to be found.
- An embedded team beats a transactional agency, every time.
- Pricing should be predictable. Hires shouldn't punish growth.
- Speed and quality aren't a trade-off. They're a process problem.
- Transparency wins. Live portals, shared Slack, real numbers.
By the numbers
SaaS unicorns
Scale-ups served
Avg. cost saving per hire
Offer acceptance rate
Interview-to-placement
5-star satisfaction
How we work
A process, not a contact list.
Embed
We plug into your hiring stack, rituals and Slack like an internal team.
Hunt
Proactive outbound to the 90% of senior talent that never applies.
Shortlist
Calibrated, interview-ready candidates inside two to four weeks.
Iterate
Weekly reviews, live dashboards, and continuous market feedback.
Who we serve
Built for SaaS scale-ups, not everyone.
Stage
Scale-up SaaS companies hiring 5 to 50 roles a year, the band where in-house alone breaks and agency spend stops making sense.
Functions
GTM (Sales, Marketing, CS), Product, Engineering and Executive search. Senior individual contributors through C-suite.
Geography
Headquartered in the UK. Active hiring across UK, EU, US, APAC and MEA. Fluent in cross-border comp, equity and timezone realities.
Leadership
The people behind Saiyō.
Trusted by world-class SaaS scale-ups
Curious how we'd run your hiring?
Let's see if we're the right partner.
A 30-minute discovery call. No pitch deck. Just a real conversation about your roles, your goals and whether Saiyō fits.