What types of executive roles does Sentiro Partners specialize in?

We specialize in AI & Data Leadership (Chief Data Officer, Chief AI Officer, VP Data Science), Technology Leadership (CTO, VP Engineering, CISO), CEO & C-Suite roles, Semiconductor Leadership, Private Equity portfolio leadership, and Digital & E-commerce executives. Our focus is on transformational leaders for the Augmentation Era.

What is the Augmentation Era?

The Augmentation Era describes the current business environment where AI and human intelligence work in tandem. Organizations require leaders who can harness AI to augment human capabilities, drive data-driven decision making, and navigate rapid technological transformation. Our executive search focuses on finding leaders who thrive in this environment.

Where does Sentiro Partners place executives?

We place executives globally with strong coverage in Ireland, United Kingdom, United States, and continental Europe. Our practice spans technology companies, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, semiconductor firms, and private equity portfolio companies across multiple industries.

How long does a typical executive search take?

Most executive searches complete in 8-14 weeks from engagement to offer acceptance. Our founder-led, AI-augmented methodology enables faster identification of qualified candidates while maintaining rigorous assessment standards. Complex C-suite roles or highly specialized positions may extend to 12-16 weeks.

What makes Onchain Markets talent different from traditional fintech recruitment?

Onchain Markets talent requires unique skills at the intersection of cryptography, distributed systems, financial engineering, and security. These professionals build permissionless infrastructure, design token economics, and navigate regulatory uncertainty in ways traditional fintech roles don't require. We assess for technical depth in protocol design, security-first thinking, and operator-grade execution speed.

Do you only work with crypto-native companies?

No. We serve crypto-native labs and protocols, traditional financial institutions building onchain products, venture funds investing in crypto infrastructure, and technology companies entering the space. Our clients range from DeFi protocols to Fortune 500 companies launching stablecoin initiatives.

How do you assess smart contract security talent?

We evaluate security professionals on their deep understanding of Solidity/Vyper, knowledge of common vulnerabilities (reentrancy, integer overflow, access control), experience with auditing tools and frameworks, and track record of identifying high-severity bugs. We also assess their ability to think adversarially and design secure-by-default architectures.

What's your approach to compliance and regulatory talent in crypto?

Onchain compliance is rapidly evolving. We identify professionals who understand traditional AML/KYC frameworks AND the unique challenges of decentralized systems—onchain forensics, sanctions screening for DeFi, regulatory engagement strategies, and risk-based compliance approaches. These individuals balance regulatory rigor with the realities of permissionless protocols.

Can you help us build an entire protocol engineering team?

Yes. Beyond individual placements, we support end-to-end team builds—from protocol architects and core engineers to security auditors and DevOps specialists. We also provide Talent Advisory to help design optimal team structures for your protocol's stage and technical architecture.

How quickly can you deliver candidates for urgent crypto roles?

Given the velocity of crypto markets, we prioritize speed without compromising quality. Most searches deliver shortlists within 2-3 weeks and complete within 6-8 weeks. For critical security or protocol roles, we can accelerate timelines through our pre-mapped talent networks.

Cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a stable value relative to a reference asset, typically USD, through various mechanisms like fiat collateral, crypto over-collateralization, or algorithmic supply adjustments.

The process of representing real-world assets (securities, real estate, commodities) as digital tokens on a blockchain, enabling fractional ownership, programmable rights, and 24/7 settlement.

AMM (Automated Market Maker)

Decentralized exchange protocols that use liquidity pools and mathematical formulas to price assets and execute trades without traditional order books or intermediaries.

MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)

Profit that can be extracted by block producers through strategic ordering, inclusion, or exclusion of transactions within blocks, representing both opportunities and risks in onchain markets.

Layer 2 scaling solutions that execute transactions off the main blockchain while posting compressed transaction data on-chain, dramatically increasing throughput while inheriting Ethereum's security.

Entities in Layer 2 systems responsible for ordering and batching transactions before submission to the main chain, playing a critical role in rollup performance and decentralization.

Zero Knowledge Proofs

Cryptographic methods that allow one party to prove knowledge of information without revealing the information itself, enabling privacy-preserving verification and scalable computation.

Multi-Party Computation custody solutions that distribute cryptographic key material across multiple parties, eliminating single points of failure while maintaining operational efficiency.

Blockchain infrastructure improvements that enable programmable wallets with features like social recovery, gasless transactions, and batch operations, dramatically improving user experience.

Data analysis of blockchain transactions, smart contract interactions, and protocol metrics to understand user behavior, market dynamics, and system health in real-time.

FATF regulatory requirement that obligates crypto service providers to collect and share customer information for transactions above certain thresholds, similar to traditional wire transfer regulations.

Automated systems in DeFi lending protocols that monitor collateral health and execute forced position closures when collateral value falls below required thresholds to protect protocol solvency.

Sentiro Partners | Retained Executive Search for AI, Product, Data, Quant and Frontier Technology

Sentiro Partners is a retained executive search firm headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, operating globally across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. The firm was founded in 2025 by Adrian Clarke and specialises in technically demanding leadership markets: artificial intelligence, machine learning, quantitative finance, capital markets, iGaming and gambling, semiconductors, and frontier technology.

What we do

Sentiro Partners works on a retained-only basis. Every mandate follows a four-stage methodology: IMMERSE (deep briefing and market definition), SCOUT (systematic market mapping and sourcing), ASSESS (structured evaluation against calibrated benchmarks), and DELIVER (offer management and onboarding support).

Roles we place

Chief AI Officer, Chief Data Officer, Chief Product Officer, Chief Financial Officer, General Counsel and capital markets lawyers, VP of Machine Learning, Head of AI Research, foundation model and post-training researchers, alignment and safety researchers, quantitative researchers and quantitative developers, low-latency engineers, data science executives, and senior leadership for iGaming and gambling operators.

Who we serve

Frontier AI laboratories, quantitative trading firms and hedge funds, specialty finance firms, technology companies, iGaming and gambling operators, semiconductor companies, and high-growth venture-backed startups.

About the founder

Adrian Clarke is Founder and Principal of Sentiro Partners. His career spans executive search at Korn Ferry across EMEA in technology, digital and data, and an in-house role as global Head of Executive Search at Analog Devices, a Fortune 500 semiconductor company, where he built the search function from scratch.

Contact

Sentiro Partners, 71 Baggot Street Lower, Dublin 2, Ireland.
Telephone: +353 857 580 132
Email: explore@sentiropartners.com

Research & Insights

Sentiro Partners publishes thought leadership on AI talent markets, executive search trends, and frontier technology leadership. Topics include machine learning hiring, frontier AI lab talent strategy, quantitative research hiring, and the future of AI executive roles.

View all research and insights

ONCHAIN MARKETS

ONCHAIN
MARKETS
AND DEFI
TALENT

BUILT FOR REAL OPERATORS

Search and advisory for founders, funds, and platform builders across DeFi, stablecoins, onchain trading, protocol infrastructure, and tokenized assets.

Share a role

Global outreach

Confidential mapping

High signal assessment

Explore

COVERAGE
MAP

End to end leadership across build, operate, and scale.

BUILD

Protocol engineering and core systems

Smart contracts and tooling

Infrastructure and developer platforms

OPERATE

Security and audits

Risk and controls

Compliance and financial crime

SCALE

Product and go to market

Partnerships and ecosystem

Markets, liquidity, and data

WHO WE
WORK WITH

Protocols and foundations

DeFi applications and aggregators

Market makers and onchain trading firms

Tokenization and RWA platforms

Exchanges, custody, payments, stablecoins

Financial institutions building digital assets

CAPABILITY
MATRIX

Domain	What it includes	Example skill areas
Engineering and Infra	Core protocol, L2s, indexing, nodes, wallets, performance	Rust, Go, Solidity, Cairo, Move, EVM, ZK systems
Security	Adversarial design, audits, continuous assurance, key safety	Threat modeling, formal verification, MPC, incident response
Markets and Data	Liquidity, incentives, pricing, perps, liquidation engines, MEV	Market microstructure, risk engines, onchain analytics
Risk, Legal, Compliance	Licensing, AML, sanctions, controls, governance, ops risk	Travel rule, KYC, financial crime programs, controls design
Product and Growth	Onchain UX, distribution, ecosystem, partnerships, institutional GTM	Growth loops, onboarding, partner strategy, token incentive design support

TYPICAL HIRES
BY STAGE

EARLY STAGE

Pre-seed to Series A

Founding engineer, protocol engineer

Smart contract lead

First security hire

Product lead

SCALING

Series B to growth

VP Engineering, Head of Infrastructure

Head of Security

Head of Risk and Compliance

Data and analytics lead

REGULATED AND ENTERPRISE

Head of Digital Assets

Head of AML and financial crime

Custody and operations leadership

Security governance lead

ROLES WE
PLACE

TALENT

CTO

VP Engineering

Head of Security

CISO

Head of Product

Chief Compliance Officer

Head of Risk

VP Growth

TECHNICAL AND SPECIALIST

Protocol engineer

Smart contract auditor

MEV and market microstructure researchers

Quant researchers

Security engineers

Data engineers

WHY SENTIRO
FOR THIS
MARKET

Operator grade talent mapping across labs, exchanges, funds, and infra teams

Deep assessment for systems, security, and execution speed

Global coverage without regional constraints

Discreet candidate approach and narrative control

HOW WE
WORK

Calibration

Mapping

Outreach

Assessment

Close

EVIDENCE
OF WORK

Recent mandates include:

Senior protocol engineering hires

Security leadership and audit bench builds

Trading and market structure talent for liquidity teams

GRC leadership for regulated digital asset businesses

Client names remain confidential.

WHAT WE ARE NOT

Not token marketing or retail community staffing

Not high volume hiring

Focused on senior builders and operators where trust and execution matter

FOCUS AREAS
WE ARE SEEING
IN 2026

Stablecoins and payments rails

Tokenized treasuries, credit, commodities, settlement

Onchain derivatives and risk engines

ZK systems, privacy, scalable verification

Wallet UX, account abstraction, consumer rails

Security modernisation: audits to continuous assurance

HOW WE
ASSESS
ONCHAIN TALENT

ENGINEERING DEPTH

Ability to ship safely in adversarial environments.

SECURITY MINDSET

Thinks in threat models, failure modes, and incident response.

MARKET INTUITION

Understands incentives, liquidity, and second order effects.

EXECUTION SPEED

Moves fast without breaking trust or controls.

Onchain Markets FAQ

ONCHAIN
GLOSSARY

RELATED
PRACTICES

Data & AI Leadership

Digital & Technology Leadership

Private Equity & Growth

Board & Governance

VIEW ALL PRACTICES

BUILD YOUR
ONCHAIN MARKETS
LEADERSHIP BENCH

Need immediate assistance? Contact us directly

Sentiro Partners | Retained Executive Search for AI, Product, Data, Quant and Frontier Technology

What we do

Roles we place

Who we serve

Practices

About the founder

Contact

Research & Insights

ONCHAINMARKETSAND DEFITALENT

COVERAGEMAP

BUILD

OPERATE

SCALE

WHO WEWORK WITH

CAPABILITYMATRIX

TYPICAL HIRESBY STAGE