Exosens is a fast-growing high-tech company specializing in advanced imaging and detection technologies.
In an industry where technological innovation depends heavily on access to highly specialized engineering expertise, finding the right professionals can quickly become a major growth challenge.
Exosens was looking for an FPGA Developer based in Grenoble, France, a highly specialized role requiring expertise in FPGA development as well as programming skills in VHDL, SystemVerilog, C, C++ and Python.
The challenge? Professionals with this particular combination of technical skills are difficult to find, especially when the position requires regular on-site presence in a specific location.
Why this hire was important
FPGA development plays an important role in the creation of advanced imaging and camera technologies.
FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays) are semiconductor devices that can be programmed to perform specific hardware functions. They are particularly valuable in applications that require fast and efficient processing of complex data, such as advanced camera systems.
For Exosens, this meant they were not simply looking for an experienced software developer.
They needed someone with specialized FPGA expertise, combined with broader programming capabilities, who could contribute to the development of sophisticated camera technologies.
Securing this expertise was particularly important for a growing company with ambitious development plans and an increasing engineering workload.
This was an exceptionally narrow candidate market.
The ideal candidate needed to:
- Bring strong experience in FPGA development
- Have knowledge of hardware description languages such as VHDL and SystemVerilog
- Possess additional programming skills in C, C++ and Python
- Understand the technical requirements of advanced camera development
- Be based in or around Grenoble
- Be willing to work on-site as part of the local engineering team
Only a relatively small number of engineers have this particular combination of technical expertise.
At the same time, the requirement to work on-site in Grenoble made the available candidate pool even smaller.
Standard job advertisements had already failed to attract suitable candidates, making it clear that a more proactive recruiting approach was necessary.
Finding the right person required reaching specialists who were unlikely to be identified through traditional job advertising alone.
Our Approach
For a highly technical and location-specific search like this, understanding the exact requirements of the position was essential.
Rather than continuing to rely on standard job advertisements, we focused our recruiting efforts on directly identifying and approaching FPGA specialists in the Grenoble area.
The combination of FPGA expertise, broader programming skills and local availability meant that a general search for software or electronics engineers would not have been effective.
Our focus was therefore on reaching professionals whose technical experience closely matched Exosens’ requirements and who could realistically work on-site.
Instead of generating large numbers of potentially unsuitable applications, we concentrated on identifying relevant specialists within a very limited local talent market.
✅ Local Active Sourcing
We identified and directly approached FPGA specialists in and around Grenoble who had the technical background required for the position.
By focusing on engineers with relevant FPGA experience and additional programming skills, we were able to target a much more specific candidate group.
This direct approach was particularly important because standard job advertising had not produced suitable candidates.
✅ Highly targeted candidate search
With such a specialized position, technical qualifications alone were not enough.
Our search also needed to account for the candidate’s location and ability to work on-site in Grenoble.
We therefore concentrated on professionals who combined the required FPGA and programming experience with the practical availability needed for the role.
This helped us focus our recruiting efforts on candidates who could genuinely meet Exosens’ technical and location requirements.
A successful hire in a highly limited local talent market
Given the exceptionally narrow candidate pool, this was a longer-term recruitment project that required sustained and proactive outreach.
Finding someone with the right FPGA expertise, additional programming capabilities and local availability was not a straightforward task.
However, by maintaining a targeted search and focusing on genuinely relevant specialists, we were ultimately able to identify and recruit a suitable candidate.
The successful placement demonstrated the importance of a persistent and focused recruiting strategy when standard approaches fail to deliver results.
The result: A highly specialized FPGA Developer hired in Grenoble
Exosens successfully filled this strategically important position with a specialized FPGA Developer who met the technical and location requirements of the role.
For the client, this meant securing critical engineering expertise to support the continued development of its advanced camera technologies.
The successful hire strengthened the local engineering team’s capacity to manage an increasing development workload and contribute to Exosens’ ambitious growth plans.
Rather than continuing to rely on an ineffective advertising-based approach, Exosens was able to access specialized local talent through targeted Active Sourcing.
For us, receiving positive feedback from the successfully placed candidate was especially rewarding.
The successfully placed candidate shared:
“Things are going really well here at Exosens, and I’m genuinely enjoying the experience. The work is very enriching, and I’m learning a lot every day. Overall, I’m very grateful for this opportunity and for the support I’ve received from CareerBee along the way.”
FPGA Developer placed at Exosens, Grenoble
Conclusion: Recruiting highly specialized engineering talent in France
Recruiting highly specialized engineering professionals requires a different approach from filling more broadly available technical positions.
When the candidate pool is extremely small and the role requires specific programming expertise combined with local on-site availability, traditional recruitment methods may not be sufficient.
For Exosens in Grenoble, moving beyond standard job advertisements and focusing on proactive local Active Sourcing was particularly important.
By identifying and directly approaching specialized FPGA engineers, we were able to find a suitable candidate despite the limited availability of professionals meeting the requirements.
The successful hire now supports Exosens’ advanced camera development activities and helps strengthen the engineering capabilities needed for its continued growth.
Looking to hire specialized engineering or technology talent in Europe?
Whether you are searching for FPGA developers, embedded systems engineers or other highly specialized technical professionals, we can help you identify and approach the talent your company needs to grow.
Get in touch with CareerBee to discuss your hiring project.
