Talent Sourcing Playbook v2 - Based on current open positions with 30:1 funnel ratio

network-analysis-sourcing-playbook-v2.md

Talent Sourcing Playbook v2

Based on: Network Analysis Report (February 2026) + Current Open Positions
Audience: Lead Talent Sourcing & Recruiting Leadership
Key Assumption: 30 sourced candidates → 1 offer (3.3% conversion)

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Current Open Positions Snapshot

As of February 3, 2026:

Metric	Value
Active job openings	51
Total positions to fill	96*
Candidates needed (30:1)	2,880
Current open supply	5,702

*Excluding the 10k "Interview Process" placeholder

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The 30:1 Reality Check

With a 30:1 sourced-to-offer ratio (which already includes all funnel falloff), here's what you need:

Positions to Fill	Candidates Needed in Pipeline
1	30
5	150
10	300
33 (Fullstack)	990

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Section 1: Current Demand by Role × Seniority

Open Positions vs Available Supply (with 30:1 Requirement)

Role	Seniority	Open Jobs	Positions	30:1 Need	Supply	Coverage	Status
Fullstack Engineer	IC5	18	32	960	591	62%	🔴 Critical
Backend Engineer	IC5	17	27	810	705	87%	⚠️ Tight
Backend Engineer	IC4	15	25	750	1,269	169%	✅ Covered
Fullstack Engineer	IC4	15	25	750	1,190	159%	✅ Covered
Fullstack Engineer	IC6	10	18	540	33	6%	🚨 Emergency
Backend Engineer	IC6	9	13	390	57	15%	🚨 Emergency
Frontend Engineer	IC5	6	7	210	230	110%	✅ Tight but OK
Fullstack Engineer	Lead	4	7	210	0	0%	🚨 Emergency
Data Engineer	IC5	4	4	120	65	54%	🔴 Critical
Frontend Engineer	IC4	4	5	150	582	388%	✅ Covered
Frontend Engineer	IC6	3	3	90	8	9%	🚨 Emergency
Mobile Engineer	IC4	3	4	120	277	231%	✅ Covered
Mobile Engineer	IC5	3	4	120	121	101%	⚠️ Tight
Machine Learning	IC4	3	4	120	76	63%	🔴 Critical
Machine Learning	IC5	3	4	120	33	28%	🚨 Emergency
Data Engineer	Lead	3	3	90	0	0%	🚨 Emergency
Backend Engineer	Lead	2	2	60	1	2%	🚨 Emergency
Machine Learning	IC6	2	3	90	10	11%	🚨 Emergency
Product Designer	IC5	2	2	60	50	83%	⚠️ Tight
Product Manager	IC4	2	2	60	26	43%	🔴 Critical
Product Manager	IC5	2	2	60	19	32%	🔴 Critical
DevOps Engineer	IC5	1	1	30	99	330%	✅ Covered
DevOps Engineer	IC6	1	1	30	11	37%	🔴 Critical

Summary: Positions We Cannot Fill Today

Segment	Positions Open	30:1 Need	Supply	Gap	Action Required
Fullstack IC6	18	540	33	-507	Source 500+ immediately
Fullstack Lead	7	210	0	-210	Source 210+ immediately
Backend IC6	13	390	57	-333	Source 330+ immediately
ML IC5/IC6	7	210	43	-167	Source 170+ immediately
Data Lead	3	90	0	-90	Source 90+ immediately
Backend Lead	2	60	1	-59	Source 60+ immediately
Frontend IC6	3	90	8	-82	Source 82+ immediately

Total immediate sourcing need: ~1,450 candidates in critical segments

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Section 2: AI/ML Positions — Deep Dive

Current AI/LLM Job Requirements

Job Title	Positions	Required Stack	Seniority
AI / Automation Engineer (Python)	2	LangChain, LLMs, OpenAI, Python, RAG	IC4-IC6
Backend AI Engineer	1	GenAI, LangChain, LangGraph, LLMs, OpenAI, RAG	IC4-IC6
Senior Software Engineer (AI Platform)	2	AWS, Node.js, React, TypeScript	IC4-IC5

Total AI positions: 5 (but growing)

AI/LLM Supply vs 30:1 Need

Skill	Current Supply	30:1 Need (5 jobs)	Coverage	Status
LLMs	111	150	74%	🔴 Critical
LangChain	56	150	37%	🚨 Emergency
OpenAI	52	150	35%	🚨 Emergency
RAG	34	150	23%	🚨 Emergency
GenAI	23	150	15%	🚨 Emergency

Key Insight: Even with only 5 AI positions, you don't have enough GenAI specialists to run a proper 30:1 funnel.

Recommended Actions for AI/ML

Action	Timeline	Target	Owner
Dedicated GenAI sourcer (full-time)	Immediate	20 new GenAI candidates/week	Sourcing Lead
LangChain Discord community outreach	Week 1	5 engaged prospects/week	Senior Sourcer
Hugging Face contributor scraping	Week 1	50 profiles to contact	Sourcing Team
AI meetup sponsorship (LatAm)	Month 1	3 events sponsored	Partnerships
Upskilling existing Python devs	Month 2	30 candidates trained on LLMs	Candidate Exp

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Section 3: Role-by-Role Action Plan

🚨 EMERGENCY: Fullstack Engineer

Current State:

• 33 positions to fill (19 jobs)
• Heaviest demand at IC5 (32 positions) and IC6 (18 positions)
• Supply at IC6: Only 33 candidates for 540 needed (6% coverage)

Seniority	Positions	30:1 Need	Supply	Gap
IC4	25	750	1,190	✅ +440
IC5	32	960	591	🔴 -369
IC6	18	540	33	🚨 -507
Lead	7	210	0	🚨 -210

Actions:

Priority	Action	Candidates Needed	Timeline
1	Launch "Principal FS Hunt" campaign	200+ IC6	Immediate
2	Engage Staff+ engineering communities	100+ IC6/Lead	Week 1
3	Partner with 2 executive search firms	50+ IC6/Lead	Week 2
4	IC5 pipeline acceleration	400+ IC5	Ongoing
5	Consider IC4→IC5 internal promotion paths	100 flagged	Month 1

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🚨 EMERGENCY: Backend Engineer

Current State:

• 28 positions to fill (19 jobs)
• Strong at IC4, critical gaps at IC6/Lead

Seniority	Positions	30:1 Need	Supply	Gap
IC4	25	750	1,269	✅ +519
IC5	27	810	705	⚠️ -105
IC6	13	390	57	🚨 -333
Lead	2	60	1	🚨 -59
Manager	1	30	7	🔴 -23

Actions:

Priority	Action	Candidates Needed	Timeline
1	Backend IC6 targeted sourcing	350+	Immediate
2	Backend Lead executive search	60+	Week 1
3	IC5 pipeline maintenance	150+	Ongoing
4	Backend Manager sourcing	30+	Month 1

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🔴 CRITICAL: Machine Learning

Current State:

• 4 positions to fill (3 jobs)
• Concentrated at IC4-IC6 levels
• AI-specific requirements (LangChain, LLMs, OpenAI)

Seniority	Positions	30:1 Need	Supply	Gap
IC4	4	120	76	🔴 -44
IC5	4	120	33	🚨 -87
IC6	3	90	10	🚨 -80

Plus GenAI requirements compound the gap.

Actions:

Priority	Action	Candidates Needed	Timeline
1	ML + GenAI combined sourcing campaign	200+	Immediate
2	Target ex-FAANG ML engineers in LatAm	50+	Week 1
3	Kaggle competition winner outreach	30+	Week 2
4	PhD candidate partnerships (NLP labs)	20+	Month 1

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⚠️ TIGHT: Data Engineer

Current State:

• 5 positions to fill (5 jobs)
• Lead level demand with zero supply

Seniority	Positions	30:1 Need	Supply	Gap
IC4	3	90	171	✅ +81
IC5	4	120	65	🔴 -55
IC6	1	30	4	🚨 -26
Lead	3	90	0	🚨 -90

Actions:

Priority	Action	Candidates Needed	Timeline
1	Data Lead targeted campaign	100+	Immediate
2	Data IC6 executive search	30+	Week 1
3	dbt/Snowflake community engagement	50+	Month 1

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⚠️ WATCH: Frontend Engineer

Current State:

• 7 positions to fill (6 jobs)
• IC4 surplus, IC6 critical

Seniority	Positions	30:1 Need	Supply	Gap
IC4	5	150	582	✅ +432
IC5	7	210	230	⚠️ +20
IC6	3	90	8	🚨 -82

Actions:

Priority	Action	Candidates Needed	Timeline
1	Frontend IC6 specialist search	90+	Immediate
2	React/TypeScript senior community	50+	Month 1

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Section 4: Salary Alignment Check

Do Current Job Budgets Match Candidate Expectations?

Role + Seniority	Job Budget (Avg)	Candidate Median	Aligned?
Fullstack IC5	$64k-$95k	$84k	✅ Yes
Fullstack IC6	$67k-$100k	$120k	🔴 No — $20k gap
Backend IC5	$64k-$89k	$84k	✅ Yes
Backend IC6	$65k-$92k	$100k	⚠️ Tight
ML IC5	$64k-$97k	$90k	✅ Yes
ML IC6	$66k-$100k	$105k	🔴 No — $5k gap
Data Lead	$65k-$83k	N/A	⚠️ Unknown
Frontend IC6	$52k-$102k	$110k	🔴 No — $8k gap

Salary-Adjusted Supply

When filtering candidates by job budgets, effective supply drops further:

Segment	Raw Supply	Within Budget (~P75)	Effective for 30:1
Fullstack IC6	33	~22 (67%)	Only 22
Backend IC6	57	~46 (81%)	Only 46
Frontend IC6	8	~5 (63%)	Only 5
ML IC6	10	~9 (90%)	Only 9

Impact: The Fullstack IC6 gap worsens from 33 supply to 22 effective supply.

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Section 5: Weekly Sourcing Targets

Based on Current Open Positions + 30:1 Funnel

To fill 96 positions, you need 2,880 candidates in the funnel. Assuming 12-week average fill cycle:

Weekly new candidates needed: 240/week

Breakdown by priority segment:

Priority	Segment	Weekly Target	Source Channels
🚨	IC6 (all roles)	40/week	Executive search, Staff+ communities
🚨	Lead (all roles)	20/week	Executive search, referrals
🔴	ML/AI	25/week	AI communities, Kaggle, research labs
🔴	IC5 (FS/BE)	60/week	LinkedIn, GitHub, conferences
⚠️	IC5 (other)	30/week	LinkedIn, communities
✅	IC4 (all)	50/week	Standard sourcing
✅	Other	15/week	Standard sourcing

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Section 6: Priority Action Matrix

Week 1: Emergency Response

#	Action	Owner	Candidates Target
1	Launch IC6 sourcing war room (daily standups)	Sourcing Lead	—
2	Engage 2 executive search firms for IC6/Lead	Recruiting Lead	50+
3	Assign 1 sourcer exclusively to ML/GenAI	Sourcing Lead	25+
4	Create $3k Lead-level referral bonus	Recruiting Ops	5+
5	Scrape Hugging Face, LangChain GitHub contributors	Sourcing Team	100+

Week 2-4: Pipeline Building

#	Action	Owner	Candidates Target
6	Fullstack IC6 dedicated campaign (LinkedIn, communities)	Senior Sourcer	150+
7	Backend IC6 targeted outreach	Senior Sourcer	100+
8	Staff+ engineering virtual event (attract passive candidates)	Employer Brand	50+
9	Partner with 3 LatAm AI/ML communities	Partnerships	30+
10	IC5 pipeline acceleration across all roles	Sourcing Team	200+

Month 2-3: Sustainable Operations

#	Action	Owner	Candidates Target
11	IC4→IC5 internal promotion program	TS Team	100 flagged
12	GenAI upskilling for existing network	Candidate Exp	50 enrolled
13	Data Lead sourcing campaign	Senior Sourcer	100+
14	Salary expectation realignment (IC6)	TS Team	20% recalibrated
15	Quarterly demand forecasting model	Analytics	—

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Section 7: Dashboard & Tracking

Daily Metrics (War Room)

Metric	Target	Current
New IC6 candidates/day	8	—
New Lead candidates/day	4	—
New ML/GenAI candidates/day	5	—

Weekly Metrics

Metric	Target	Current
Total new candidates	240	—
IC6 candidates added	40	—
Lead candidates added	20	—
ML/AI candidates added	25	—
Conversion to screening	50%	—

Monthly Health Check

Segment	Target Supply	Current	Gap
Fullstack IC6	200+	33	🚨 -167
Fullstack IC5	1,000+	591	🔴 -409
Backend IC6	150+	57	🚨 -93
ML IC5/IC6	100+	43	🚨 -57
GenAI specialists	200+	23-111	🚨 -89+
Lead (all roles)	100+	8	🚨 -92

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Key Takeaways

1. You cannot fill current IC6/Lead roles with existing supply. Even at 100% conversion (impossible), you'd still be short.

2. The 30:1 funnel is brutal at senior levels. You need 540 Fullstack IC6 candidates to fill 18 positions, but you only have 33.

3. AI/ML is a crisis within a crisis. Only 23 GenAI candidates exist, and 5 AI jobs are already open.

4. Salary gaps at IC6 worsen the situation. Fullstack IC6 candidates expect $120k but budgets max at $100k.

5. IC4 surplus is not useful. You have 1,190 Fullstack IC4 but demand is at IC5/IC6.

Bottom line: Without aggressive IC6/Lead/ML sourcing starting this week, current open positions will remain unfilled for months.

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This playbook should be reviewed weekly during the sourcing war room. For underlying data, see network-analysis-report.md.