We've turned 4! - Onset Group

By The Onset

We’ve turned 4!

What a year it’s been down at Onset HQ in Surry Hills, Sydney. Thank you to all of our clients and candidates, local supports, and brilliant team who have contributed to the business this year and cheers to many more!

The Onset – the technology recruiter of choice for Sydney’s startups and high growth businesses
Onset 4th Birthday Press Release

2019 marked Onset’s 4th year in operation and its most successful year to date.
FY19 has been highlighted by an outstanding new office space, significant senior consultant hires and affirming the agency’s position as the leading specialised technology recruitment agency in the country. With annual revenue of over $10M AUD, even in the saturated recruitment market, Onset’s directors have proven there was space for a business that values a commitment to customer service and excellence.

Since inception Onset has placed over 800 technology candidates into the Australian market with over 100 clients. Onset’s customer-led model has ensured rapid and robust growth for the company with strong loyalty and referrals. Clients trust Onset’s outcome focussed approach and their ability to secure them talent when they critically need it.

Over the last 12 months, Onset has grown from 18 to 25 full-time employees. Through unique branding and a culture of accountability and ownership, Onset has been successful in attracting experienced and specialisation driven consultants to its philosophy. Aaron Williams, Managing Director commented “Our team is now one of the most experienced and deeply capable collectives of specialist technology recruiters in the region. We are a team committed to excellence in everything we put our hands to. Our culture of autonomy, trust and empowerment, coupled with a significant investment in ongoing training, and individual coaching, has enabled us to attract and secure high-impact recruiters from across the globe.”

Onset has established itself as the agency of choice for organisations who have technology at the epicentre of their growth. Sean McCartan, Commercial Director adds “our deep level of vertical specialisation and importantly our understanding of how these specialisations work together allows us to build teams and businesses. With such a strong team under one roof, we are relied upon to deliver permanent, contract and project resources across a range of high demand technical verticals such as Software, Embedded and Platform Engineering, Product & Design, Information Security, Infrastructure & DevOps, Data & Analytics, Sales & Project Services.

It’s made building trust with our customers a strength, as we are proven and increasingly are working with brands exclusively, and often being retained across some of the toughest recruitment sectors in today’s market”

Growth in people has led Onset to expand to a new flexible office space fitted out by the renowned Architect and Design team Shed Design and Space Control, in the heart of the startup community in Surry Hills. The new space extends on the brand promise, offering a creative and collaborative environment. Clients and candidates are frequently welcomed to work onsite with the space being designed with meetups and community events in mind.

In 4 short years, Onset has become the go-to for specialist technology requirements from startup through to enterprise with significant tenders won in the FMCG, Enterprise and Consulting spaces. This was largely due to the success of the specialisation model.

Onset has seen significant growth within it’s Executive practice, specifically within engineering and product in Sydney’s startup ecosystem. Contract recruitment has remained a key growth area for the business with the engagement of 3 senior Contract specialists alongside dual desk recruiters. Ronny Haughton, Co-Founder, observed “Our investment into contracting services has led to significant growth in our contract numbers and our specialist team have augmented Onset’s ability to deliver on larger scale project agreements. I expect our contract business to double over FY 19/20 based on our current run rate.”

This year, after an extensive global product review, Onset has invested in a new recruitment technology platform, Vincere. Russell Gallagher, Co-Founder commented that “selection of the Vincere platform was made due its demonstrable strength in enabling the business to scale current performance, its sophisticated analytics, and aggressive product development roadmap.”

2019 also sees the establishment of Onset’s advisory board including industry veterans, Jane Beaumont, and Phaedon Stough, with a view to providing further leadership depth and commercial rigour.

As Onset has grown our focus on supporting the startup community has increased. Amy Skinner, Brand and Community Manager commented that “…we’re proud to now support Incubate of the University of Sydney, where a range of team members and leaders provide training and advice as part of the programs regular curriculum. This grassroots contribution to the next generation of tech startups is a great way to give back!”

Future growth of Onset is being considered via expansion into other local geographies, most likely being a Melbourne office in 2020 and continued consideration of a US footprint, with company Directors Williams and McCartan again heading to the USA in early 2020 to continue partnership exploration with a number of Joint Venture contacts.

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What our
clients say

“Ronny & the Onset Group helped us scale our team in the early stages of our growth, finding a number of talented engineering candidates to join our Development team. The Onset Group are highly professional and a pleasure to work with.”

Georgia Punch HR & Operations

“IPG Mediabrands have built a solid, trusting working relationship with the Onset Group over the past few years. We are very selective on who we partner with regarding our recruitment needs. The Onset Group have proven time and time again, they absolutely deserve a spot on our PSA. They understand our business, they deliver, they follow up, they’re smart and they are professional.”

Lisa Gray Head of Human Resources

“I’ve worked in the product community in Sydney for just 3 years and the Onset are my go-to folk for product talent (and opportunities). Once in my role I worked with the team at Onset to build out my product team of 6 over the next year. So I’ve experienced the quality and expertise from both sides of the engagement.”

Jennifer Flynn Group Manager, Product Management

“Working with The Onset was fantastic. They spent the time with me up front on understanding not only the requirements of the role but also the qualities and skill sets needed to fill the role well. The candidates provided were really strong and led to hires who have not only helped us fill roles but also enhance our overall company culture by introducing us to top quality candidates. Thanks Onset!”

Yaniv Klein Product Director

“We partnered with The Onset, a leading IT recruitment agency, explained the journey we were on, and asked them to sell our vision to the Sydney market in our search for high quality developers. It was important that the people we chose not only had high technical skills but were a good cultural fit and understood where oOh! was going”

Andy McQuarrie Chief Technology Officer

“…by taking time to understand our unique hiring requirements, both from the start and as our needs have evolved. At Digital Asset, we’re looking for engineers and product managers with a specialized mix of skills and industry experience, for example, a strong background in financial services, or knowledge of functional programming languages. Onset has helped us find experienced candidates who are not only highly qualified but also inspired to work with a firm like ours”

Drew Harding Senior Delivery Manager

“We partnered exclusively with The Onset to build our capability across engineering, product and design. It is rare to partner with a services provider and feel comfortable with them representing you and your brand but that is exactly what happened with The Onset. They understood what we looked for in talent, helped us nurture it and ultimately create a team that allowed us to modernise our offering and launch a second brand from the ground up.”

Jeremy Gupta Chief Technology Officer

“In addition to running the search and recruitment process they helped us to shape the role and were able to guide us through what was happening in the market and the experiences of other high growth companies.”

Rachel Debeck Chief Operating Officer

“We have been working with the Onset Group for the past few years, helping us secure both contract and permanent staff across multiple technical areas. They always ensure they have our business’ needs in mind and it’s great working with a partner that truly understands the technical space that we are in. Of all of the recruiters I have met or worked with over the years, I couldn’t recommend this group any more.”

Paul Madani Head of Data and Technology

“Onset has been partnering with Haventec for over three years. The team at Onset have the great ability to connect with our team and understand our business and culture to be able to place employees that fit our team like a glove. It takes great talent to recognise the unique needs of each business and to be able to deliver on them so well”

Edora David Business Operations Manager

“It was a pleasure working with Danielle to source a full stack developer for our company. She put real effort into understanding what we were looking for and helped us find the right candidate. Plus helped us find the first female developer!”

Antony Francis Team Lead