Executive & Technical Search · Ottawa · North America
Smithsonian Recruitment connects North America's most ambitious technology companies with Canada's top engineering and leadership talent. Boutique. Senior-focused. 25 years of trusted relationships.
About
Max Smithsonian has spent 25 years at the intersection of technology and talent. A software engineer by training, Max understood early on that the hardest problem in tech isn't building great software. It's finding the people who can.
He founded Smithsonian Recruitment in Ottawa in 1999 with a simple but ambitious mandate: connect North America's most ambitious technology companies with Canada's best engineering and leadership talent. A quarter century later, that mandate hasn't changed. The network has just gotten a lot deeper.
What sets Max apart is his technical fluency. He's not translating job descriptions — he's evaluating candidates the same way a hiring manager would, asking the questions that matter, and knowing the difference between someone who can talk the talk and someone who can actually build.
Based in Ottawa. Trusted across North America.
Services
Smithsonian Recruitment is a boutique executive and technical search firm. We don't work with everyone — we work with companies serious about hiring the best technology talent Canada has to offer.
Retained engagements only
For when the hire defines the company's next chapter. We specialize in placing C-suite and VP-level technology leaders — CTOs, VPs of Engineering, VPs of Product, and Directors of Engineering. Confidential, high-stakes searches handled with discretion.
Best for: Series B+ startups, scale-ups, and public companies building or replacing senior technology leadership in Canada.
Staff engineers to principal
We source and vet senior individual contributors across the full stack — backend, frontend, platform, infrastructure, ML/AI, and data engineering. Every candidate is technically screened before they reach you.
Best for: Engineering teams that need high-signal candidates fast, without wading through a hundred unqualified applications.
Expanding into Canada?
Canada is one of the world's best-kept secrets in tech talent. We help US-headquartered companies make their first 10, 25, or 50 Canadian hires — handling everything from market mapping to offer strategy.
Best for: Silicon Valley companies opening their first Canadian engineering office or remote-first team.
Strategic guidance
Sometimes you don't need a search — you need a thought partner. We advise technology leaders and CHROs on hiring strategy, compensation benchmarking, team structure, and how to compete for top Canadian talent.
Best for: Founders and executives who want a trusted advisor before they open a search.
Industries
Smithsonian Recruitment works exclusively within the technology sector. After 25 years, we've developed fluency in the nuances of each vertical — the hiring timelines, the compensation expectations, the technical bar.
From early-stage product companies to publicly traded platforms. Engineering and product leaders scaling from $1M to $100M ARR and beyond.
One of the most competitive hiring markets in the world. Deep relationships with ML researchers, AI engineers, and production AI leaders.
Engineers and executives who understand both the technical and compliance landscape. Leaders at Canada's fastest-growing fintech companies.
Security talent is scarce everywhere. A dedicated network of security engineers, architects, and CISOs built over more than two decades.
Platform, DevOps, SRE — the teams that keep everything running. We understand what "good" looks like at every stage of cloud maturity.
Ottawa's defence, government, and research ecosystem is unlike anywhere else in Canada. Unmatched access to hardware, embedded, and advanced R&D talent.
Why Smithsonian Recruitment
There's no shortage of recruitment firms. Here's what makes this one different.
Max holds a Software Engineering degree from Carleton University. He evaluates candidates the way a hiring manager does — on technical depth, problem-solving approach, and engineering judgment. You won't waste time screening people who can't do the job.
The best candidates aren't browsing job boards. They're heads-down building something, and they trust a handful of people to call them when the right opportunity comes along. Max is one of those people.
Max works a small number of searches simultaneously — and handles every one personally. No junior researchers. No hand-offs. The person you speak to on day one is the person driving your search on day sixty.
Most Silicon Valley companies underestimate Canadian talent. Max helps US companies land candidates that would cost 30–40% more to hire in the Bay Area. He knows every major tech hub, every top university pipeline, every compensation nuance.
If a candidate isn't right, Max will tell you before you find out the hard way. If your compensation isn't competitive, he'll tell you that too. The goal is a hire that works — not a fee collected.
From pre-seed startups making their first technical hire to $10B public companies replacing a CTO, Max has navigated searches at every level of complexity and confidentiality.
Testimonials
"Max doesn't send you a stack of resumes and call it a day. He sent us three candidates. We hired two of them. That's never happened to us before with any recruiter."
"We were nervous about building a remote engineering team in Canada. Max walked us through the entire market, told us exactly what to expect on compensation, and had our first three hires in 90 days."
"I've worked with a lot of recruiters over my career. Max is one of maybe three I'd actually recommend without hesitation. He respects your time, he's honest when a candidate isn't the right fit."
"We hired our Head of Platform through Max after six months of failing to find anyone on our own. He found our person in five weeks. She's still one of our best hires three years later."
"What I appreciate most is that Max treats this like a long-term relationship, not a transaction. He told us to pass on a candidate we were excited about. He was right. That saved us from a very expensive mistake."
Contact
Whether you're a technology company looking to make a critical hire, or a senior tech professional ready for your next challenge — Max is worth 30 minutes of your time.
Retained search engagements and advisory conversations by referral or direct inquiry. Response within 24 hours.