The typical US senior engineering search runs 3+ months. Nexton's average is 4 weeks, brief to signed offer — with a technical bar that is verified, not assumed. The gap is not effort; it is sequence. This playbook shows where the time actually goes and which steps any team can compress.
Where do the 3 months actually go?
Roughly in thirds: sourcing and screening (finding people worth interviewing), the interview loop itself, and decision latency — the days lost between rounds while calendars align and feedback stalls. Most teams attack the loop. The bigger wins are in the other two thirds.
Step by step
- Move screening before demand. The single biggest compression. A pre-vetted network turns weeks of screening into 72 hours of matching — the evaluation already happened.
- Start interviews from evidence. When each candidate arrives with a peer interview evaluation, your first round confirms instead of discovers. One round disappears.
- Declare the loop upfront. Rounds, owners, and a feedback SLA — 48 hours per round, committed in the brief. Decision latency is the silent third of every slow search.
- Split must-have from nice-to-have. Briefs where everything is mandatory match nobody and restart weekly.
- Anchor compensation on data. Offers negotiated against real numbers close faster: median senior LATAM salary is $72k per the 2026 Salary Report. Guessing invites counteroffers and delay.
What does the result look like?
The 4-week average across Nexton's 1,500+ placements is the compound effect of these five steps — none of which lowers the bar, because the bar was enforced before the clock started.