Specialist search — speech & audio AI

We build speech and audio AI teams.

Brunel Search is a senior talent specialist for companies building speech, audio, and multimodal AI systems.

SPEECH SYNTHESIS SOURCE SEPARATION PITCH CORRECTION WAKE WORD DETECTION
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About

Brunel Search is a specialist search partner for senior engineering and research talent in speech, audio, and multimodal AI. We work exclusively with VC-backed and high-growth startups where model performance, latency, and system design decisions directly determine product quality.

Most generalist recruiters can screen for keywords. We can tell the difference between a candidate who has fine-tuned a diffusion-based TTS model and one who has only used an API for it — and so can the founders and CTOs we work with. That depth of domain fluency is what lets us run a fast, targeted search instead of a wide, noisy one.

Every search starts with a scoping call to pin down the technical bar, team context, and comp range, followed by direct outreach into our existing network of practitioners rather than a cold, generic sourcing pass.

Focus areas

  • Speech synthesis & TTS
  • ASR & transcription
  • Source separation & audio enhancement
  • Wake word & keyword spotting
  • Generative & multimodal audio
  • Real-time, low-latency inference systems

Track record

  • CTO-level hire, music AI startup
  • Founding AI research engineer, Series A speech AI company
  • ML engineers placed into generative audio platforms
  • Research engineers placed into speech AI teams
Jobs

Current openings we're actively searching for. Don't see the right fit? Get in touch anyway — we work several unlisted and confidential searches at any given time.

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Fees

Two engagement models, depending on how senior, specialised, or time-sensitive the role is.

Contingency Search

25% of first-year base compensation
Pay on success only  ·  8-week replacement guarantee

Best for: well-defined roles where speed and flexibility matter more than exclusivity.

  • No upfront cost — pay only when you hire
  • Fast, flexible engagement to move quickly
  • Useful for testing the market before a deeper search
  • Fully success-aligned incentives

Included with every search

  • Direct outreach into our audio/speech AI practitioner network
  • Technical screening against your team's actual bar
  • Weekly pipeline updates — no chasing us for status
  • Compensation and market benchmarking for the role
  • Reference checks on final-stage candidates
  • Replacement guarantee if a hire doesn't work out
Do you require exclusivity? +

Retained searches are exclusive — we run a dedicated, prioritised process for that role. Contingency searches are non-exclusive, so you're free to run other channels in parallel.

How quickly can you start? +

Typically within 48 hours of a scoping call. Initial candidate conversations usually begin in the first one to two weeks.

What seniority and roles do you cover? +

Mid-to-senior individual contributor and leadership roles in speech, audio, and multimodal AI — from founding engineers to CTO-level hires.

What happens if a hire doesn't work out? +

Every engagement includes a replacement guarantee (12 weeks for retained, 8 weeks for contingency) — if the hire leaves or doesn't work out in that window, we run the search again at no additional fee.

Book a scoping call