VEGA — Leadership Search & Advisory for Frontier Technology

The problem

You'd never launch a product without doing the research. Why would you hire that way?

Every function in your business depends on having the right leader in place: engineering, commercial, product, operations. Get it right and everything accelerates. Get it wrong and you lose months, momentum, and often the team around them. Yet most companies apply less rigour to these decisions than almost any other.

Talent is your biggest investment. Treat it like it is.

People are more expensive than product. A wrong senior hire costs 6–12 months of lost momentum, team disruption, and the opportunity cost of the right person not being in the seat. The maths always justifies doing the detective work upfront.

Most recruiters execute. Very few advise.

The standard model is: send a brief, receive CVs. But the brief itself is often wrong. You need someone who'll challenge your thinking before they run the search, not just fill the role you described.

Cutting corners compounds.

Skipping market calibration. Defaulting to your network. Rushing to fill a seat before understanding what you actually need. Every shortcut in hiring creates a problem downstream that's harder and more expensive to fix.

Pattern recognition matters.

350+ hires across Commercial, Engineering & Product, Finance & Operations, including C-suite, VP and Director-level, team leads, and critical individual contributors. That experience shapes every brief, every shortlist, and every recommendation we make.

How we work

The detective work most firms skip.

We don't start with a job spec. We start with the problem you're trying to solve, then do the research, calibration, and strategic thinking that turns a hire from a gamble into a decision.

Advisory

Before the search

When should you hire? What profile actually fits your stage? How should this role sit within your existing team? We help founders think through the decision before committing budget to a search.

Search

Targeted execution

Once the brief is calibrated, we run a focused search against a defined market map. No spray-and-pray. No overwhelming you with CVs. A short, curated slate of candidates who actually fit.

Intelligence

Market reality

Who exists in the market? Who's movable? What are they earning? What will it take to land them? We provide the data founders need to make informed decisions, whether or not it leads to a search.

Sectors

The weird and wonderful.

We work exclusively with companies building at the frontier, where the science is hard, the talent pool is thin, and getting the hire wrong is expensive. If your business requires deep STEM expertise, we probably already know your market.

AI & Machine Learning

LLM infrastructure, applied AI, agentic AI, computer vision, autonomy.

Aerospace & Defense

Space systems, satellites, dual-use technology, national security.

Deep Tech & Advanced Hardware

Robotics, AI chips, sensors, quantum, advanced materials.

Results

A few of the problems we've solved.

350+

Leadership hires placed

6 wks

Average time to offer

95%

Retention beyond 12 months

Space Systems · Charter Space

A space missions company needed to build out a highly specialised engineering team, but couldn't reach the right talent through traditional channels.

The requirements were extremely niche, sitting at the intersection of mission planning software and aerospace engineering. Vega mapped the landscape, shaped the roles in real time as the team's needs evolved, and delivered candidates that matched both the technical depth and culture of a fast-moving space startup.

→ Multiple engineering hires placed. Team scaled to hit key mission milestones.

Read more +

AI & Health Tech · Alaffia Health

An LLM healthcare infrastructure company needed several leadership hires across engineering, while simultaneously strengthening how they hire internally.

The challenge was both strategic and operational: deliver key leaders into a complex technical environment, and build the internal processes so the company could recruit at scale without ongoing dependency on external search. Vega worked as a strategic partner, refining role definitions, calibrating profiles, and improving the broader hiring capability.

→ All leadership roles filled. Internal hiring processes rebuilt for scale.

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Defense & National Security · Lodestar Space

A national-security-critical space company needed commercial leadership that could operate across defense and the emerging space economy.

The brief required an unusual profile: someone who understood USG partnerships and defense procurement, but could also drive commercial dual-use growth. Vega challenged the initial thinking, refined the brief, and identified talent from adjacent sectors that the company wouldn't have considered.

→ Commercial leader placed. Helped reframe the company's go-to-market across defense and commercial space.

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Enterprise AI & ML · Teralytics

A data intelligence company needed to map the commercial talent landscape as it expanded into new markets.

This wasn't a standard search. Teralytics needed Vega to understand the intelligence layer of their business, not just the job specs. That depth made a real difference in who was surfaced and how the company was positioned to candidates. Vega combined strategic market mapping with hands-on execution to secure hires that directly shaped how the business moved forward.

→ Several key hires placed. Commercial talent map established across new markets.

Read more +

What clients say

Trust is earned in the work.

Vega gave us a clear view of the leadership landscape at a point when we needed to make some important decisions quickly. What set them apart was their genuine fluency in the defense ecosystem, from USG partnerships through to commercial dual-use growth. They challenged our thinking, sharpened the brief, and helped us identify commercial talent capable of operating across both defense and the emerging space economy. For any company operating at the frontier of national security and commercial space, they're the right call.

CEO — Lodestar Space (Defense & National Security)

Vega gave us something most recruiters can't, a genuine map of the commercial talent landscape as we expanded into new markets. They understood the intelligence layer of our business, not just the job specs, and that made a real difference in who they surfaced and how they positioned us. Several of the hires they made directly shaped how we took the business forward. Sharp, fast, and worth every conversation.

Investor — Teralytics (Enterprise AI & ML)

We brought Vega in during a period of significant change, and what stood out was how quickly they got their heads around where we were heading, not just where we were. They helped shape the roles as the business evolved, pushed back when something wasn't right, and consistently delivered candidates we wouldn't have found any other way. For a company at our stage, that kind of thinking alongside execution is rare.

CEO — Charter Space (Space Systems)

Beyond the hires themselves, which were strong, well calibrated, and landed quickly, Vega helped us build a better hiring function. They improved how we define roles, how we run process, and how we think about building a team deliberately rather than reactively. That compounding effect is what sets them apart.

CEO — Alaffia Health (AI & Health Tech)

Team

The people behind the search.

Chris Hornby

Founder & CEO

Builds leadership teams for Enterprise AI and Deep Tech companies. After a career with major technology firms, Chris founded Vega to combine advisory and search, helping companies make the leadership hires that actually move the business forward.

LinkedIn ↗

Lisa Shephard

Associate

Over 20 years of global talent experience. Former VP of Talent for two global tech firms and founder of her own search business. Delivers executive searches, offering deep insight through research, candidate assessment, and strategic counsel.

LinkedIn ↗

Josephine Christian

Consultant

Leads market mapping, talent strategy, and leadership searches for fast-growing technology businesses. Before Vega, she worked across government and global executive search firms in Washington, D.C., including Heidrick & Struggles.

LinkedIn ↗

Ben Richardson

Senior Advisor

Brings deep knowledge in Consulting, Technology & Professional Services across the US, UK and European markets. Partners with the Vega team on complex, cross-border leadership mandates.

LinkedIn ↗

You don't need a recruiter. You need a hiring partner.

You'd never launch a product without doing the research. Why would you hire that way?

Talent is your biggest investment. Treat it like it is.

Most recruiters execute. Very few advise.

Cutting corners compounds.

Pattern recognition matters.

The detective work most firms skip.

Advisory

Search

Intelligence

The weird and wonderful.

AI & Machine Learning

Aerospace & Defense

Deep Tech & Advanced Hardware

A few of the problems we've solved.

350+

6 wks

95%

A space missions company needed to build out a highly specialised engineering team, but couldn't reach the right talent through traditional channels.

An LLM healthcare infrastructure company needed several leadership hires across engineering, while simultaneously strengthening how they hire internally.

A national-security-critical space company needed commercial leadership that could operate across defense and the emerging space economy.

A data intelligence company needed to map the commercial talent landscape as it expanded into new markets.

Trust is earned in the work.

The people behind the search.

Chris Hornby

Lisa Shephard

Josephine Christian

Ben Richardson

Every engagement starts with a conversation.