Mavila Consulting
Recruiting in Brazil, for founders and leadership teams

We know who is good in Brazil.

Mavila Consulting runs the search when the hire matters: the engineers who build the product, the business people around a founder, and the executives who run the company. Led by Mariana Mavila, former VP of Talent Marketplace at SoftBank-backed Andela and a McKinsey alumna, with our own recruiting technology behind every tech search.

Start a search How we work

You hire directly, on your payroll or as a contractor, for a single flat fee per hire. We hold no contract with the people we place, and there is no fee after the hire.

600+
placements since 2023, most of them for US companies with hard technical bars
90%
fill rate: 9 in 10 searches we take on end in a hire
1 to 5 days
from the brief to a short list, in tech roles
#1
recruiting partner in Latin America for one of the largest US talent platforms
How we work

Three kinds of search, three ways of working.

01 · Tech roles

Engineers who have already proved it, in days.

Software engineering, data, AI, DevOps, QA, product and design. For US companies, remote talent based in Brazil, and across the rest of Latin America when the role allows. For companies operating in Brazil, remote or hybrid. From a single senior hire to a 200-seat project.

This is where our technology earns its place. The role goes to our pool of 35,000+ professionals and to Mariana's audience of 70,000+, the first interview is AI-led, in English and recorded on video, and our recruiters review every recording and verify must-haves before anyone reaches you.

A rare stack gets the opposite treatment: we headhunt, and our recruiters run the interviews. Either way you see the evidence, not our opinion.

Run by
Our recruiters and sourcers, with Mariana on the brief
Interviews
AI-led first round in English, on video, reviewed by recruiters. Recruiter-led for niche stacks
Timeline
Short list in 1 to 5 days. A 50-seat search runs in waves of days, not months
Model
You hire directly. One flat fee per hire

How the search runs

  1. One brief, and a straight read of the market

    A single call on the role, the must-haves, where the hire can be based and the budget. Then we tell you how many people match, and what to adjust if the number is small.

  2. Pool first, then sourcing

    We rank our pool against your role and invite the strongest matches. Our sourcers go after whoever is still missing.

  3. Interviews on the candidate's schedule

    The first interview is AI-led, in English, recorded on video. It happens when the candidate is ready: early morning, lunch break, Sunday. No time zones to reconcile.

  4. People make the call

    Our recruiters review every recording, verify must-haves by hand and choose the short list. Nobody reaches you on a score alone.

What you receive

  • A scorecard per finalistA recommendation, coverage of your must-haves, communication metrics and the evidence behind each claim, quoted from the interview.
  • The interview itselfRecorded on video with the candidate's consent, for hiring review only. Watch it before your first call.
  • Strengths, risks and gaps, written outWhat we found and what we could not validate, plus the questions worth asking in your own interview.
  • The practical detailsSalary expectation, availability, start date and English level, checked with the candidate.
  • Your own Client Portal loginWe share the finalists with you in the Client Portal, with scorecard and recording, ready for your review. Request an interview from there and we schedule it.
Start a tech search

Send the job description, or just describe the hire. Mariana reviews every brief herself and reaches out to set up a call.

02 · Business roles

The people around a founder, found where they actually are.

Marketing, sales, finance, operations, people and chief of staff, and the other roles that make a company run. For US companies, remote talent based in Brazil. For companies operating in Brazil, remote or hybrid.

Good business people rarely apply to anything. So we headhunt: we map who is doing the job well, approach them directly and interview them ourselves. Mariana runs the brief and the short list; our recruiters run the outreach and the first conversations.

The same platform that runs our tech searches keeps every candidate, answer and note in one place, and your Client Portal is where the short list arrives.

Run by
Mariana and our recruiters
Interviews
With our recruiters, then with Mariana for the finalists
Timeline
Agreed at the brief, based on how hard the person is to find
Model
You hire directly. One flat fee per hire

How the search runs

  1. A brief about the job, not the title

    What this person will own, what success looks like in a year and who they will work with every day. Titles vary; the job is what we search for.

  2. Market map and direct approach

    We map who is doing this job well at the companies that matter for your role, and approach them directly. Applicants are welcome; they are not the plan.

  3. Structured interviews

    Conversations with our recruiters, in English when the role needs it, then with Mariana for the finalists.

  4. A short list you can read

    Written profiles, not resumes: what they have done, why they would move, what they expect, and what we could not verify.

What you receive

  • A written profile per finalistExperience against your brief, motivation to move, strengths and open questions, written by the recruiter who interviewed them.
  • Interview notesWhat was asked and what was answered, so your own conversation starts where ours ended.
  • The practical detailsSalary expectation, availability, notice period and English level, checked with the candidate.
  • Your own Client Portal loginWe share the finalists with you in the Client Portal, with profile and interview notes, ready for your review. Request an interview from there and we schedule it.
1,000+
people in the Customer Experience organization Mariana led at Mercado Livre, on the hiring side of business roles for years
15,000+
professionals in Brazil in our pool, 2,300+ of them outside tech, before any sourcing starts
70,000+
people follow Mariana on LinkedIn, so a business role posted from her profile is seen by the market in a day
Start a business search

Describe what the person will own and what success looks like. Mariana reviews every brief herself and reaches out to set up a call.

03 · Executive search

Leadership hires, run personally and discreetly.

Directors, VPs and C-level for Brazilian and US companies, including international companies opening or scaling an operation in Brazil.

Senior people rarely apply to anything. They move for the right timing, the right introduction and an offer worth the change. That is relationship work, so Mariana runs these searches herself, from the first conversation to the signed offer.

No AI interviews, no handoffs to a junior team, and full confidentiality when the search requires it, on both sides.

Run by
Mariana Mavila, hands on
Interviews
With Mariana. No AI interviews
Approach
Direct and confidential, to people who are not looking
Model
You hire directly. One flat fee per hire, agreed at the brief

How the search runs

  1. A confidential brief with the founder or the board

    The mandate, the first-year agenda, the team the person inherits and the offer you are prepared to make.

  2. Market map

    Who is running this function at the companies that matter, in Brazil and among Brazilians abroad, and who could step up into it.

  3. Conversations, one by one

    Mariana approaches each person directly and holds every conversation herself. You get her read, not a summary of someone else's.

  4. Short list and offer

    A written assessment per finalist, then support through negotiation and signing.

What you receive

  • A market mapThe people worth talking to for this role, and why, before any approach is made.
  • A short list with a written assessment per finalistTrack record against the mandate, motivation to move, compensation expectations and Mariana's own read.
  • Support through the offerStructuring, negotiation and the conversations that keep a candidate warm until they sign.
  • DiscretionConfidential searches stay confidential, for your company and for the people we approach.
C-level
executive searches for Brazilian and US companies, up to CEO direct reports and C-suite roles
VP
Mariana's own last operating role: VP of Talent Marketplace at SoftBank-backed Andela, running 1,500+ placements a year
McKinsey
where she started, in strategy and organization projects for large Brazilian companies, followed by an MBA at IESE
Talk to Mariana

A confidential conversation, first. No brief is shared with anyone before you say so.

Why Mavila

Why founders pick us over a platform or an agency.

Judgment from someone who has sat in your chair

Mariana was the hiring manager with the final call at Mercado Livre and Andela. She reads your brief as someone who has had to live with the hire.

Evidence, not opinion

In tech searches every recommendation comes with the recording, the transcript and the quotes behind it. In business and executive searches, with a written assessment by the person who interviewed the finalist.

Technology built for this, in house

Our ATS, the Client Portal and the AI-led interviews were designed by Mariana and built by our own team. Your search never lives in a spreadsheet.

An audience that brings the talent

Roles posted from Mariana's profile reach 70,000+ people who already trust her. The strongest candidates are in the pool before we go looking.

Direct hire, single flat fee

The candidate signs with you, on your payroll or as a contractor. We charge a single flat fee per hire and hold no contract with the people we place: no bench, no markup, no monthly spread.

One point of contact

Mariana runs the brief and the offer herself. There is no account manager between you and the person who made the call.

Who runs it

Mariana Mavila

Founder, Mavila Consulting

Mariana is an operator who chose recruiting. She started at McKinsey, spending nearly eight years as a consultant on strategy, operations and organization projects for large companies, with an MBA from IESE sponsored by the firm.

She went on to lead a Customer Experience organization of 1,000+ people at Mercado Livre, then became VP of Talent Marketplace at Andela, the SoftBank-backed talent marketplace, where her teams made 1,500+ placements a year and she scaled the Latin American network from 100 to 5,000 vetted professionals. Mavila Consulting is that operation rebuilt for one country, with her own team and her own technology.

  1. UFSC

    Business degree from one of Brazil's leading federal universities.

  2. McKinsey & Company

    Nearly eight years as a consultant, from Business Analyst to managing strategy and organization projects.

  3. IESE Business School

    MBA, fully sponsored by McKinsey.

  4. Mercado Livre

    Led a Customer Experience organization of 1,000+ people.

  5. Andela

    VP of Talent Marketplace. 1,500+ placements a year; scaled the Latin American network from 100 to 5,000 vetted professionals.

  6. Mavila Consulting

    Founder. 600+ placements since 2023, with her own team and her own technology, focused on hiring in Brazil.

Our platform

Built in house, so nothing about your search lives in a spreadsheet.

Tech and business searches run on it end to end. Executive searches stay in direct conversation with Mariana, and use it only where discretion allows.

  • Proprietary ATSEvery applicant, interview, verdict and report for the search in one place. Resumes are parsed, scored against your role with one rubric and checked for inflated or inconsistent claims.
  • AI-led first interviews, for volumeCalibrated by our team for each role, conducted in English, recorded on video with the candidate's consent. One rubric for everyone, and a person reviews every recording. Used where a role draws volume; executive searches never use it.
  • Client PortalYou get your own login. The finalists are shared there for your review: each one's scorecard or profile, the recording where there is one, and a button to request an interview. We schedule it.

Illustrative view. Candidate data shown here is fictional.

Where the people come from

The talent comes to us.

Good professionals in Brazil follow Mariana long before they need a job. Three sources feed every search, and none of them is a job board.

70,000+

follow Mariana on LinkedIn

One job post from her profile adds about 1,000 new professionals to the pool in a week. Favikon ranks her the #1 voice on remote work in Brazil.

35,000+

professionals in our pool, 15,000+ in Brazil

Built over three years of searches. Every profile carries stack, years of experience, English level, availability and salary expectation. Among the Brazilians on file, 54% are senior or above and 91% of those assessed speak advanced English.

16+

countries, reached by our sourcers

For the people who are not applying, our team goes after them directly: Brazil first, then the rest of Latin America, the US, Europe, Africa and Asia when the role is open to it.

Where our candidates work

Engineers we selected are working at a social platform with over one billion monthly users, a Fortune 50 healthcare group, a no-code SaaS unicorn and dozens of US startups.

Who we work for

Founders and hiring managers at US startups hiring remotely in Brazil, international companies opening an operation here, and Brazilian companies building a team fast or hiring a leader confidentially.

Tell us who you need in Brazil.

Send the job description, or just describe the hire you are struggling to make. Your message goes straight to Mariana, and confidential searches stay confidential.

Start a search

Looking for a role?

Apply to a search we are running now, or join the pool to be matched later.

Join our talent poolBe matched when a search fits your profile See open rolesApply to the searches we are running now Get ready with UnlockCareerResume, LinkedIn and interview prep

Start a search

Tell us about the role. Mariana reviews every brief herself and reaches out to set up a call.

Type of search
Volume

Or write to mariana@mavilaconsulting.com