Braze Localizes in Brazil & Sees 3x Engineering Team Growth
Alec A.
Sr Manager Braze
"I was incredibly impressed with how fully they integrated within our company. They leaned in and worked diligently to understand our idiosyncrasies and needs."
Challenges
Braze conducted a sales-led expansion in São Paulo in Q1 2024 and subsequently opened software engineering positions for its global, distributed engineering team. Since opening these positions, the team has faced the following challenges:
Limited local market intelligence – US-based recruitment team operating aimlessly in the Brazilian market without cultural fluency or regional networks
60% offer decline rate – Hybrid work mandate (3 days onsite) eliminated the majority of qualified candidates from consideration
Failed technical screening pipeline – Persistent candidate quality issues resulting in high technical interview failure rates and wasted time for engineering
Critical hiring velocity problem – Only three successful hires across 15 months, severely constraining team capacity
Complete market invisibility – No presence or relationships within São Paulo's engineering communities and talent networks
Strategic inflection point – Leadership questioning the viability of Brazil's engineering expansion versus reallocating all recruitment resources to established US/Canada hiring markets
Strategic Findings Report delivered – Comprehensive market analysis and recruitment strategy presented to leadership.
Connect33 Embedded Recruiter – Deployed targeted sourcing strategies that generated qualified candidate volume, demonstrating market viability to skeptical stakeholders.
Built hiring momentum – First engineering placement completed within 60 days of engagement.
Local Expert – Recruited and onboarded a dedicated in-market recruiter, eliminating reliance on the US team and building an authentic São Paulo presence. Recruiter converted to FTE within 60 days of hiring.
Successful talent transition – Embedded Connect33 recruiter and subject matter expert converted to a full-time Braze employee, ensuring knowledge retention and continuity.
Sustainable growth trajectory unlocked – The Engineering team has grown 3x since the partnership's completion, validating Brazil as a strategic engineering hub for the company.
Results
3x
Candidate Volume (vs. pre-engagement baseline)
2
Strategic Hires in Brazil
3x
Brazil Engineering Team Growth Within 6 months of Connect33-Placed Recruiter
2
Local Engineering Events Sponsored
50%
Reduction in Time-to-hire
3
Connect33 Reports delivered to the Management Team
Timeline
No items found.
November
2024
Brazil Strategy Kickoff
- Phase 1 Kickoff Session
- Client Questionnaire completed
- Session #2 | Brazil Hiring Strategy
- Team discussion on Brazil hiring strategy
- Team discussion on Brazil hiring strategy
December
2024
Action Plan Delivery
- Plan of Action Report
- A comprehensive analysis of strategic recruitment and organizational scaling for the engineering team in São Paulo, Brazil. Through detailed strategy sessions and stakeholder consultations, Connect33 examined critical aspects of talent acquisition and team development to support sustainable growth and delivered a findings report to Management.
- Session #3
- Report presentation and discussion
February
2025
Embedded Recruiting Launch
- Phase 2A Kickoff
- Connect33 Recruiter integrated into the Braze team to lead Brazil sourcing efforts.
- Brazil SWE Focus Group
- Session with local software engineering team to understand what drew Braze engineers to the company, and an overall assessment of the interview and onboarding process
March
2025
Sourcing Acceleration
- Sourcing Ramp-Up
- Brazil Committee & Decision Panel participation to drive weekly action and implementation of recommended experiments
- Brazil Interview Scorecard Analysis Report
- Analysis of Brazil engineering candidate scorecards to determine feedback trends and identify areas for improvement. Upon review of all scorecards, Connect33 presented finding in a report along with recommended tweaks to the company's interview process and scoring system in Brazil.
April
2025
In-Market Presence Established
- Event Sponsorship: Tropical on Rails
- 60-day Progress Report delivered to management
- Hire #1 | Connect33 In-Market Recruiter
May
2025
Senior Engineering Hire
- Hire #2
June
2025
Engineering Community Activation
- Inaugural Braze engineering event in the São Paulo office
- Final Recommendations Report delivered to the Management team
- Phase 2A engagement completion