Best 18 IT Recruitment Experts in Eastern Europe

Below is a curated list of 18 leading individual IT recruiters from across Eastern Europe, recognized for their proven ability to connect companies with top tech talent.

These include freelance recruiters as well as agency and in-house recruitment leaders from Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and beyond. Each profile highlights their background, location, specializations, and public presence. (Recruiters are listed in no particular order.)

1. Josef Kadlec
2. Anna Stetsenko
3. George Butunoiu
4. Balázs Paróczay
5. Svetoslav Atanasov
6. Lesia Polataiko
7. Tanja (Tetiana) Loktionova
8. Mădălina Uceanu
9. Kasia (Katarzyna) Tang
10. Michal Juhas
11. Peter Kratochvíla
12. Evghenia (Eugenia) Danu
13. Nevena Sofranic
14. Ieva Pilskalliete
15. Zyta Machnicka
16. Andrius Francas
17. Kristina Holysheva
18. Henrika Bivainienė

Each profile includes a brief overview of their background, specialties, and contributions to the tech recruitment community, followed by links to their public profiles.

Josef Kadlec

Nationality: Czech

Josef is a “recruitment entrepreneur” and sourcing innovator from the Czech Republic. A former software engineer and ethical hacker, he pivoted into tech recruitment and in 2013 co-founded GoodCall, an international recruitment agency that now has 140+ employees across Central Europe.

He also founded the Recruitment Academy to train and certify recruiters in CEE. Josef gained global recognition as the author of the book “People as Merchandise: Crack the Code to LinkedIn Recruitment,” which earned praise from industry leaders and even a Shark Tank investor. He was one of the first LinkedIn Certified Professional Recruiters in Central & Eastern Europe. Today, as GoodCall’s Chief Recruitment Architect, Josef continues to blend tech and recruitment – advising on HR tech startups (like Datacruit ATS) and speaking worldwide about talent sourcing innovations.

• LinkedIn: Josef Kadlec
• Personal Website: josefkadlec.com

Anna Stetsenko

Nationality: Ukrainian

Anna is the founder of Indigo Tech Recruiters (launched in 2007) and one of Ukraine’s most prominent IT recruiting experts.

With over 16 years in tech recruitment, she has placed thousands of candidates from junior developers up to CTOs across 26 countries. Under her leadership, Indigo boasts a 99% probation success rate, reflecting a quality-driven process. Anna is also active in HR tech investments and startup mentoring, helping tech companies scale efficiently. She’s widely respected as a strategic leader and was named among the top voices in Ukraine’s IT hiring industry.

• LinkedIn: Anna Stetsenko
• Facebook: Anna Stetsenko

George Butunoiu

Nationality: Romanian

George is the Managing Partner of George Butunoiu Executive Search and a true pioneer of Romania’s recruitment industry. He established Romania’s first private recruitment firm in 1990, effectively launching the local headhunting sector after the fall of communism.

With over 30 years of experience, George remains a top executive recruiter across IT and other industries, having placed hundreds of C-level and senior professionals in roles ranging from CTOs to CEOs. His firm – the oldest in Romania – is respected for its rigorous search methodology and George’s candid commentary on HR trends. He is known for his thought leadership in the field, often publishing articles on hiring. George Butunoiu – widely regarded as the dean of Romanian IT recruiting – founded the country’s first recruitment firm in 1990.

• LinkedIn: George Butunoiu
• Personal Website: georgebutunoiu.com

Balázs Paróczay

Nationality: Hungarian

Balázs is the Founder & CEO of The Source CODΞ Agency, a boutique sourcing management consultancy that helps companies maximize their capability in candidate identification, attraction, and engagement.

With 20+ years in global sourcing and full-cycle talent acquisition, he’s a seasoned leader, trainer, and strategist who has built top-tier sourcing functions for organizations worldwide. He mentors TA leaders and their teams, and advises clients on designing, implementing, and improving talent resourcing strategies—both on project engagements and long-term partnerships. Balázs is also Global Operations Director (Sourcing & Coordination) on assignment with Page Outsourcing, leading large-scale delivery and innovation in RPO.

• LinkedIn: Balázs Paróczay
• X (Twitter): @TheBalazs

Svetoslav Atanasov

Nationality: Bulgarian

Svetoslav is a freelance IT recruiter based in Bulgaria with a background in organizational psychology. He has 4+ years of combined in-house, agency, and freelance recruiting experience, during which he has made numerous tech hires in Bulgaria and internationally across Europe, Africa, and Latin America.

Svetoslav has built a global network of over 10,000 IT professionals and has led teams of remote recruiters on international projects. He specializes in software engineering and IT infrastructure roles, and is praised for his ability to adapt recruitment strategies across diverse markets. In addition to sourcing and headhunting, Svetoslav is experienced in guiding and mentoring junior recruiters. Svetoslav Atanasov – freelance IT recruiter from Bulgaria – has scaled global hiring projects and built a network of thousands of IT professionals.

• LinkedIn: Svetoslav Atanasov
• Personal Website: svetalent.com

Lesia Polataiko

Nationality: Ukrainian

Lesia is a tech recruiter and founder of Brainy Talent Agency (Brainy HR) who operates between Estonia and Ukraine. She launched Brainy in 2019 and quickly scaled it to a 30+ person team, with a presence in Tallinn and many team members in Ukraine.

Lesia’s agency focuses on sourcing global tech talent for international clients, supporting remote hiring at scale and adapting quickly to global workforce trends. She is known for flexible pricing and transparent processes, and is praised for her international outlook and people-centric company culture. Lesia often works on urgent, multi-role hiring campaigns for startups and scale-ups, and her team is valued for execution speed. She’s also active in the Eastern European tech community, helping displaced Ukrainian tech professionals find opportunities abroad.

• LinkedIn: Lesia Polataiko
• Facebook: Lesia Polataiko

Tanja Loktionova

Nationality: Ukrainian

Tanja (Tetiana) is a recruitment specialist in the game development industry and the founder of Values Value, a leading game industry recruiting agency, as well as co-founder of the job platform InGame Job.

With over a decade in HR, she has placed game designers, developers, artists and other specialists at major game studios across Europe and beyond. Tanja is a noted thought leader in gaming HR – she publishes annual game industry salary surveys, speaks at gaming conferences, and advocates for ethical hiring practices in the sector. During the 2022 crisis, she actively supported displaced game developers and helped establish the Ukrainian Game Industry Association’s HR initiatives. Her deep community involvement and industry knowledge make her the go-to recruiter for game development talent in Eastern Europe.

• LinkedIn: Tanja Loktionova
• X (Twitter): @tanjatweetme
• Facebook: Tanja Loktionova

Mădălina Uceanu

Nationality: Romanian

Mădălina is the Managing Partner of Career Advisor and a long-time HR influencer in Romania. Active in recruitment since 1994, she has witnessed the full evolution of Romania’s tech talent market.

In 2001, Mădălina founded Career Advisor, a headhunting firm specializing in IT roles (“Techunting”), and later launched PortalHR.ro – a popular HR news and careers portal. Over nearly 30 years, she has guided countless tech careers and is a mentor to many in the recruiting community. Mădălina regularly speaks at conferences and shares insights on how Romania’s local hiring challenges compare to global trends. Her mix of practical experience and industry influence makes her one of the most respected voices in Romanian IT recruitment.

• LinkedIn: Mădălina Uceanu
• X (Twitter): @madalinauceanu

Kasia Tang (Katarzyna Tang)

Nationality: Polish

Kasia is a sourcing and social recruiting expert with over a decade of experience. She founded the Recruitment Open Community (ROC) Polska, which has grown into Poland’s largest recruiter community, and has amassed more than 27,000 LinkedIn followers.

Kasia is known for training recruiters in advanced sourcing techniques and often says that “sourcing is more than just finding profiles,” emphasizing continuous learning and creative approaches. A bilingual blogger, she shares knowledge on her website and even authored a book titled “Super Source Me.” Kasia frequently speaks at international recruitment conferences and is credited with bridging the Polish recruiting scene with global best practices.

• LinkedIn: Kasia Tang
• X (Twitter): @Kasia_Tang
• Personal Website: kasiatang.com

Michal Juhas

Nationality: Slovak

With 20+ years in IT (including a stint as a CTO), Michal transitioned from engineering to tech recruitment to bridge the gap between HR and technical know-how.

He founded Tech Recruitment Academy and a boutique staffing firm, through which he has trained over 30,000 recruiters worldwide and personally recruited 100+ highly specialized software engineers and CTO-level leaders for clients in the US, UK, and EU. Michal is recognized as one of YouTube’s leading tech recruitment influencers. His technical background and global perspective enable him to identify top talent in niches like DevOps, data science, and engineering leadership. He is known for his rigorous hiring methodologies and for sharing recruitment best practices via podcasts and webinars.

• LinkedIn: Michal Juhas
• X (Twitter): @juhasm
• Facebook: Michal Juhas
• Personal Website: michaljuhas.com

Peter Kratochvíla

Nationality: Slovak

Peter is the Founder and Managing Partner of Needle Recruitment, a Slovak tech recruitment agency he launched after more than a decade in HR consulting. He specializes in hard-to-fill IT roles and executive search, leveraging expertise in talent sourcing, outsourcing, and headhunting.

Under Peter’s leadership, Needle Recruitment quickly gained prominence, forging a partnership with James Caan’s Recruitment Entrepreneur fund to expand across Eastern Europe. He is highly esteemed in Slovakia’s recruitment market and is known for a consultative approach that aligns hiring strategy with business growth. Peter’s network and deep market knowledge make him a go-to recruiter for both startups and multinational tech firms entering Slovakia.

• LinkedIn: Peter Kratochvíla

Evghenia (Eugenia) Danu

Nationality: Moldovan

Eugenia heads the Moldovan branch of Dopomoga Group, one of Eastern Europe’s largest HR agencies. With over 15 years in recruitment, she has built Dopomoga Moldova into the country’s top executive search firm, commanding more than one-third of Moldova’s HR market.

Under her guidance, the agency specializes in placing middle and senior managers and has added IT specialists to its roster, even attracting Moldovan tech talent back from abroad. Despite challenging local conditions, Eugenia has filled C-level roles in telecom and IT and is known for meticulous client vetting to ensure strong employer reputations. She also serves as President of ABSL Moldova, championing the business services and IT sectors. Her international experience and dedication to ethical recruiting have solidified her status as a leading recruiter in Moldova.

Eugenia’s approach balances client needs with candidate well-being, often advising global firms on Moldovan market nuances. She emphasizes long-term fit and has maintained a high placement success rate even during economic turbulence.

• LinkedIn: Evghenia Danu
• Facebook: Evghenia Danu

Nevena Sofranic

Nationality: Serbian

Nevena is the Founder of Omnes Group, a tech recruitment agency she launched in 2015, and the creator of Recrooit, a referral hiring platform. Drawing on 8+ years of recruiting experience, Nevena has helped build engineering teams for startups in the US and Europe.

She is a true digital nomad – running her Estonian-registered business while splitting time between Serbia and the US. Nevena’s agency is known for its focus on developer communities and remote hiring; it was among the first in Serbia to adopt a fully remote, agile recruitment model pre-COVID. Through Recrooit, she tapped into crowdsourced referrals, enabling companies to access passive talent globally. Nevena was featured in Estonia’s e-Residency success stories for her innovative approach to tech hiring. She frequently mentors HR teams on modern sourcing techniques and is lauded for blending data-driven processes with a human touch in recruitment.

Having scaled tech teams for high-growth startups, Nevena is regarded as a connector in the international startup scene. She speaks at Baltic and Balkan tech events about hiring trends and is passionate about diversity and inclusion in tech.

• LinkedIn: Nevena Sofranic
• X (Twitter): @NevenaSofranic

Ieva Pilskalliete

Nationality: Latvian

Ieva is the IT & Cybersecurity Recruitment Lead at WorkingDay Latvia, the country’s oldest IT recruitment agency. With over 16 years in recruitment (11 in tech), she is a pivotal figure in Latvia’s tech hiring scene. Ieva has an extensive network of software engineers, architects, and IT managers in the Baltics.

She has successfully filled roles for major international companies setting up R&D centers in Riga. Her expertise spans from recruiting niche specialists (like BI/DW architects and embedded systems engineers) to assembling entire development teams. Ieva’s analytical background (she holds an Economics degree) and continuous upskilling in IT give her an edge in understanding complex technical requirements. Clients – including Latvia’s largest banks and telecoms – value her consultative approach and high placement success rate. She is also active in tech community events (like IT Waffle Meetups) where she mentors new recruiters and promotes careers in cybersecurity.

• LinkedIn: Ieva Pilskalliete

Zyta Machnicka

Nationality: Polish

Zyta is one of Poland’s pioneering employer branding consultants who has become a prominent recruitment influencer. With 14+ years of experience in HR marketing, she founded Lightness, an employer branding and talent communication agency, and co-founded the EBMASTERS community of employer branding professionals.

Zyta authored a book on candidate experience and created the popular blog CandidateExperience.pl. As CEO of Lightness, she has delivered over 200 employer branding projects, helping companies become more attractive employers. Zyta’s content on LinkedIn, YouTube, and her blog focuses on elevating recruitment marketing and candidate care. She often emphasizes that every company can improve its employer brand to attract IT talent. Her thought leadership bridges HR, marketing, and tech recruitment, making her a go-to expert on strengthening company reputation to hire better. Zyta Machnicka – a pioneer in employer branding in Poland – often advises on improving candidate experience to enhance tech hiring.

• LinkedIn: Zyta Machnicka
• X (Twitter): @ZytaMachnicka

Andrius Francas

Nationality: Lithuanian

Andrius is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Alliance for Recruitment, the largest recruitment consultancy in the Baltic states. Since co-founding the firm in 2011, he has scaled it to a team of 90+ recruiters across Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, placing over 1,100 candidates annually.

Andrius specializes in high-volume tech recruitment projects and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) talent solutions – helping multinational tech companies establish and staff their Lithuanian operations. Under his leadership, Alliance for Recruitment has become the go-to partner for global firms building IT hubs in the Baltics, thanks to its vast talent pool and quality-driven process. In 2022, Andrius won the Global Founder of the Year (Small Companies category) award in Stockholm, a recognition of the stellar growth and culture he fostered at his firm. He is praised for creating a “family atmosphere” at a company delivering impressive results. Andrius is also active in social impact: he’s implemented employee well-being programs and collaborates with universities to nurture local tech talent.

• LinkedIn: Andrius Francas
• X (Twitter): @AndriusFrancas

Kristina Holysheva

Nationality: Ukrainian

Kristina (Kris) is a design-focused tech recruiter who founded Hirey – a boutique agency specializing in UX/UI design, product design, and product management talent.

With a professional background in design herself, Kristina has a deep understanding of both the candidate perspective and hiring manager needs, earning her strong respect in the design community. Despite challenges during 2022, she sustained her agency by pivoting to U.S. markets and expanding globally. Kristina also created a resource library for hiring managers and frequently shares content to help designers advance their careers. Her hands-on, empathetic approach has made her a go-to recruiter for design and product roles.

• LinkedIn: Kristina Holysheva
• Facebook: Kristina Holysheva

Henrika Bivainienė

Nationality: Lithuanian

Henrika is the CEO and Managing Partner at Amston, a leading Lithuanian HR and recruitment solutions company. With 15+ years of experience, she has a strong track record in executive search and employer branding consulting. Henrika co-founded Amston in 2010 and helped shape it into a multifaceted talent management firm serving both fast-growing startups and Fortune 500 corporations in Lithuania.

Under her leadership, Amston’s team of 20+ recruiters has advised Pan-Baltic companies on scaling tech teams and has been at the forefront of innovative HR practices (Amston was one of the first in Lithuania to offer comprehensive employer branding services). Henrika is an active member of the European Recruitment Confederation, contributing Baltic insights to the wider HR community. As a mentor in programs like iDialogue for young professionals, she advocates for modern recruitment standards and diversity in hiring.

Clients commend Henrika’s high professionalism and strategic approach – she often partners with CEOs on workforce planning and has successfully placed C-suite and senior IT roles that require international search.

LinkedIn: Henrika Bivainienė

Wrap Up

While these individuals offer valuable industry expertise, deep networks, and a track record of working with startups and tech firms in Eastern Europe, their services often come at a premium price tag or with limited availability.

For fast-moving teams seeking a more responsive and cost-effective alternative, EchoGlobal Tech can be an option. Contact us today!

Note: We’ve dedicated significant time and effort to creating and verifying this curated list of top professionals. However, if you believe a correction or addition is needed, feel free to reach out. We’ll gladly review and update the page.