The Challenge

A company where 90% of candidates don’t make the cut

Velir + Brooklyn Data, a data-driven digital marketing and analytics agency, needed to hire senior data engineers across Latin America following its expansion into data and analytics. However, finding candidates who could meet both technical and consulting expectations proved difficult.

The roles required deep expertise in modern data tools such as dbt, Airflow, Snowflake, Omni, Sigma, and GA4, along with the ability to translate complex insights for non-technical stakeholders. Most candidates lacked this combination of technical depth and communication skills, making traditional recruiting approaches ineffective.

To solve this, Velir + Brooklyn Data needed a technical recruiting partner with experience in hiring senior data talent in Latin America and the ability to accurately evaluate real-world engineering skills.

“We pretty much only hire at the senior level and above. It’s really frustrating because you spend so much time sourcing, interviewing, coordinating, and then the candidate doesn’t pass the technical assessment.”
— Andrea Boccia, Talent Acquisition Lead, Velir + Brooklyn Data

Velir + Brooklyn Data had been working with another external recruiting partner based in El Salvador. The results were solid for a time, but the limitations became clear: the talent pool in a single country is finite, and the recruiter lacked the technical depth to evaluate data-specific candidates beyond keyword matching.

Why Hiring Senior Data Engineers in Latin America Is Challenging

The demand for senior data professionals across Latin America is high — but so is the difficulty of finding and hiring them. Companies face a set of compounding challenges that most traditional recruiters are not equipped to handle:

• Talent scarcity: Access to truly senior talent is limited. Many candidates can name the tools but lack the depth to use them at scale in a consulting environment.
• Technical stack complexity: Roles like data engineer, analytics engineer, and data architect require proficiency in dbt, Airflow, Snowflake, SQL, and GA4 — often simultaneously. Standard keyword matching falls short.
• Communication expectations: Senior hires in consulting settings must translate complex technical findings to non-technical stakeholders. Communication quality is as important as technical skill.
• Regional hiring gaps: Hiring across multiple countries in Latin America requires knowledge of regional labor markets, talent availability, time zone compatibility, and compliance nuances.

Why Velir + Brooklyn Data Chose Lupa as Their Technical Recruiting Partner in Latin America

Velir + Brooklyn Data’s team discovered Lupa through its LinkedIn network while searching for a recruiting partner specializing in data roles across Latin America. When they met with Lupa’s founder, Joseph Burns, the conversation was different from the start.

Joseph built Lupa after seeing firsthand both the exceptional quality of Latin American talent and the gap between how traditional recruiters evaluate technical candidates and what companies actually need. His background as a senior data engineer at Capital One, Facebook, and Rappi shapes how every recruiter on his team is trained: to conduct in-depth technical interviews, evaluate hands-on coding ability, and distinguish candidates who can genuinely work with a technology at a senior level.

“The advantage of working with someone like Joseph is that he is the profile. He was a senior-level technician. Your team knows him, so they know what quality is, and they’re able to more easily suss out that quality.”
— Andrea Boccia, Talent Acquisition Lead, Velir + Brooklyn Data

Andrea also highlighted a critical distinction: real technical vetting goes far beyond asking “Have you ever worked with GA4?” It requires knowing how the technology has evolved, how engineers actually work with it, and what senior-level fluency sounds like in practice.

Why Lupa’s Technical Recruiting Approach Works

Lupa was built in Latin America. Rather than sourcing from a single country, the team brings senior-level experience and deep cultural insight across the entire region — opening talent pools that single-market recruiters simply can’t reach. Every candidate is assessed for technical skills, values, motivations, and communication ability, aligning the whole person with the right role and team.

Technical Recruiting Process for Hiring Senior Data Engineers in Latin America

Structured intake, technical screening, and continuous calibration

The partnership began with a structured intake process designed to align on hiring goals before sourcing started. Andrea described the process as detailed, but necessary for hiring senior data engineers with a high technical bar.

Lupa’s team focused on understanding Velir + Brooklyn Data’s business model, team structure, and success metrics — including how client contracts impact hiring priorities, how quickly roles can change, and why maintaining technical quality is non-negotiable.

Based on this intake, Lupa built a technical recruiting workflow that emphasized precision over volume. Instead of sending large batches of resumes, the team focused on:

• Targeted sourcing across Latin America
• In-depth technical screening of candidates
• Alignment with required tools like dbt, Airflow, Snowflake, and GA4
• Continuous feedback loops with Velir + Brooklyn Data’s hiring team

This approach allowed Lupa to recalibrate quickly when feedback was provided, without restarting the search process.

As a result, Lupa successfully placed multiple senior data professionals, with additional roles still in progress. In a hiring environment where 90% of candidates fail technical assessments, each successful placement reflected a high level of screening accuracy and process discipline.

Andrea highlighted the consistency in candidate quality. Resumes were relevant, interview notes were detailed, and candidates aligned closely with the technical requirements. When gaps appeared, feedback was quickly incorporated into the next round of sourcing.

How Lupa Helped Velir + Brooklyn Data Hire Senior Data Engineers in Latin America

1. Multi-country sourcing strategy: Lupa sourced senior-level candidates from multiple Latin American countries — not just one — dramatically expanding access to qualified talent.
2. Technical screening process: Every candidate went through Lupa’s structured technical screen, evaluating real hands-on proficiency in the specific tools Velir + Brooklyn Data uses.
3. Candidate calibration loops: After each interview round, Lupa incorporated structured feedback from Velir + Brooklyn Data’s hiring team to recalibrate sourcing criteria without restarting the search.
4. Cultural and communication fit: Beyond technical skills, Lupa evaluated communication style, consulting mindset, and time zone compatibility to ensure long-term team fit.

Why a Technical Recruiting Partner Matters for Hiring Data Engineers in Latin America

Aligning hiring strategy with business reality, not just job descriptions

Velir + Brooklyn Data operates as an agency, where hiring needs are directly tied to client contracts. This creates a dynamic environment where roles can open and close quickly, depending on project demand. Some clients require US-based talent, while others are open to hiring data engineers in Latin America.

This level of variability makes traditional recruiting models ineffective. Most recruiters focus on speed and volume, delivering large pools of candidates in the hope that one fits. That approach breaks down when roles are highly technical and hiring priorities shift week to week.

Lupa approached this differently by aligning its technical recruiting strategy with Velir + Brooklyn Data’s business model. Instead of recruiting only against job descriptions, the team considered the commercial context behind each role — including contract timelines, project requirements, and long-term team fit.

This alignment allowed Lupa to prioritize quality over volume while still moving efficiently. Candidates were selected based on technical depth, adaptability, and their ability to operate in a consulting environment.

Andrea highlighted several operational strengths that reinforced the partnership:

• Clear and consistent communication throughout the hiring process
• Targeted sourcing across Latin America rather than broad outreach
• Intake calls that establish technical and business alignment early
• Faster calibration over time without compromising screening quality

As the partnership matured, the process became more efficient, but the rigor remained intact. This balance between speed and precision is what made the relationship sustainable.

“Talking about Lupa, I would say: these are the people you want to work with. They understand what consultancies are like. They understand that they could work for a month on a req, only to have it pulled because a client contract didn’t go through. You understand our business model, and that is invaluable.”
— Andrea Boccia, Talent Acquisition Lead, Velir + Brooklyn Data

Traditional Recruiters vs Technical Recruiting Partners

The Results

Results: Faster Hiring and Higher Retention

Since 2025, Lupa has placed several senior data professionals at Velir + Brooklyn Data, with additional data analyst and analytics engineer roles actively in the pipeline.

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Velir + Brooklyn Data has expanded its hiring in Latin America across multiple countries, with Lupa serving as the primary recruiting partner for new data roles in the region. The relationship has shifted from vendor to strategic partner.

“This is a long-term relationship. I will be hiring with Lupa for the foreseeable future. Everyone’s a pleasure to work with. It just behooves you to be super pleasant and super easy to work with, because that makes me want to keep coming back for more.”
— Andrea Boccia, Talent Acquisition Lead, Velir + Brooklyn Data

Key Technical Recruiting Strategies for Hiring Data Engineers in Latin America

Technical recruiters must understand the role at a deep level:

Hiring senior data engineers requires more than keyword matching. Lupa’s technical recruiting approach is shaped by leadership with real engineering experience, which improves the accuracy of technical screening and candidate evaluation.

Hiring across Latin America requires a multi-country strategy:

Limiting hiring to a single country reduces access to qualified talent. Expanding sourcing across Latin America increases the chances of finding senior data engineers while also navigating regional compliance and hiring complexities.

High-quality hiring requires patience and process discipline:

In environments where most candidates fail technical assessments, rushing the process leads to poor hires. A strong recruiting partner focuses on long-term fit rather than pushing unqualified candidates to close roles quickly.

Recruiting must align with the business model:

Hiring strategies differ between agencies and product companies. In consulting environments where roles depend on client contracts, recruiters need to adapt quickly while maintaining a consistent technical bar.

Curated candidate shortlists improve hiring efficiency:

Instead of sending large volumes of resumes, presenting a small number of highly qualified candidates reduces screening time. Lupa averaged 3.5 candidates per hire, compared to an industry average of 15, allowing hiring teams to focus on decision-making rather than filtering.

FAQs

1. How do you hire senior data engineers in Latin America?

Lupa’s process combines multi-country sourcing across Latin America with rigorous technical screening. Rather than sending large candidate pools, Lupa conducts in-depth technical interviews to evaluate real-world proficiency in tools like dbt, Airflow, and Snowflake before presenting a curated shortlist.

2. What makes Latin American talent suitable for US companies?

Latin American engineers offer strong time zone alignment with US teams, competitive compensation relative to US equivalents (40–60% cost savings), and high English proficiency in technical roles. The region has a growing pipeline of senior-level data and engineering professionals.

3. What is the average time to hire data engineers?

With Lupa’s structured intake and technical screening process, Velir + Brooklyn Data averaged approximately 35 days from intake to signed offer — significantly faster than industry benchmarks for senior technical hiring.

Looking to Hire Senior Data Engineers in Latin America?

Lupa helps US companies hire senior data engineers and technical talent across Latin America through a structured, technical recruiting process.

Whether you need to fill a critical role or build a distributed team, Lupa combines regional expertise with deep technical screening to deliver candidates who meet a high performance bar.

Instead of volume-based recruiting, you get a curated shortlist of qualified candidates aligned with your technical and business requirements.

Explore how to hire faster and more accurately at lupahire.com

About Lupa

Lupa is a technical recruiting and RPO company that helps US businesses hire remote data, engineering, and technical talent in Latin America. Founded by a former senior data engineer, Lupa combines technical screening expertise with regional hiring knowledge to deliver high-quality candidates across data, engineering, and business roles. Its approach focuses on curated shortlists, accurate technical evaluation, and long-term retention.