Technology & Digital Recruitment in Spain
Akens\Nordburg supports international companies in the search for technology and digital profiles when the combination of experience, technology stack, business context, languages or working model makes the relevant market more limited.
We work from Spain with an international perspective and particular depth between Spain and Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH).
The job title does not always describe the profile a company needs
In technology, two positions with the same title can require very different experience.
A Business Analyst may work mainly with processes, data, product, technology or business stakeholders. A DevOps Engineer may operate across infrastructure, cloud, CI/CD, platforms or environments with very different levels of complexity.
Before starting the search, we therefore analyse which parts of the experience are genuinely necessary for the client's specific context. This helps avoid searches that are too broad or profiles that match the keywords but not the work they will actually need to perform.
When the combination of requirements reduces the market
A technology search can change significantly once business and contextual requirements are added.
Experience with a particular technology, sector knowledge, German or other languages, customer interaction, availability from a specific location or experience in international environments can quickly reduce the number of suitable profiles.
Before expanding sourcing activity, we use Market Calibration and Market Mapping to understand which part of the market can genuinely meet the important requirements of the mandate. This is particularly useful in hybrid positions, where technical knowledge needs to coexist with analytical, business or client-facing capability.
Selected assignments completed successfully
Business Analyst — Remote from Spain
Search for a German IT company for a Business Analyst able to work remotely from Spain.
The profile required Business Analysis experience, knowledge of the energy sector, the ability to work between business and technology and German as a mandatory language. The difficulty lay in finding professionals who combined those capabilities within the same profile, so the search relied on Direct Search and continuous market calibration.
Senior DevOps Engineer — Madrid
Search for a Senior DevOps Engineer for a German company operating in a digital transformation, e-commerce and omnichannel environment.
The position required strong technical experience and the ability to operate within an international organisation undergoing technological transformation.
QA Tester — Remote from Spain
Search for a QA Tester for a German IT company with the possibility of working remotely from Spain.
The combination of technical requirements, working model and integration into an international organisation defined the relevant candidate market.
Beyond a list of technologies
In some IT searches, the risk lies in defining the profile mainly through tools, languages or frameworks. Technology experience matters, but so does the context in which it has been applied.
Depending on the mandate, it may be necessary to understand:
- the type of product or platform;
- the level of technical complexity;
- the cloud or infrastructure environment;
- the relationship with users or customers;
- the degree of autonomy expected;
- knowledge of a specific sector;
- the ability to work between technology and business.
This is particularly relevant in hybrid or senior positions, where superficial correspondence with the technology stack does not necessarily mean that the experience is genuinely transferable.
A technology market changing quickly
Technology roles evolve quickly. AI, automation and cloud are changing how some capabilities are combined and where responsibilities sit within organisations. A specification that worked two or three years ago may therefore no longer describe the profile a company actually needs.
In some assignments, part of the work before the search is to test that internal requirement against the capabilities available in the market. The objective is not to chase every new technology, but to avoid searching for a profile built around outdated requirements rather than the problem the organisation needs to solve.
Building technology capability progressively
Not every organisation developing a new technology capability needs to start with a large team. In some projects, it makes more sense to identify a small number of critical hires that establish the required experience and provide the basis for future recruitment.
The sequence depends on the context. It may begin, for example, with Business Analysis, DevOps, QA, Software Engineering, Data or a technology leadership role and then evolve as the organisation gains a clearer understanding of which capabilities it needs to build internally.
In those situations, the first search should also consider how the person will fit into the capability the company wants to develop, without trying to define an entire structure before it has been validated in practice.
First Hire & Market Entry →Direct Search for specialist technology profiles
The most relevant professionals for a specific search are not always actively participating in recruitment processes.
When the target is narrow, we work directly on the market: identifying companies, teams and career paths where the required experience may exist and approaching those professionals selectively. Early conversations also help validate issues such as salary, working model, location, languages and availability.
In technology searches, that feedback can materially change the initial understanding of the market.
Recruitment in Spain →Are you looking for a difficult-to-find Technology & Digital profile?
If you need to hire a technology specialist with a specific combination of technical, sector, international or business experience, we can review the mandate and the relevant market.