Yorkshire roots. An international upbringing.
I was born in Yorkshire and spent eight years growing up in Singapore, from the age of eight to sixteen. I’ve also lived in Kenya for two years.
About the founder
Josh Smith.
Founder and Managing Director of Corellia Talent.
I built my recruitment career placing technical people into startups across London, New York and San Francisco.
Talk with us
Why I started Corellia Talent
Know the person behind the profile.
I want to know the people I introduce: what they have built, what they enjoy and why they are considering a move.
Founders should be able to ask me why I think someone fits and get a specific answer.
I left agency recruitment at the end of August 2026 to start Corellia Talent. At Corellia Talent, every search is led by a senior specialist, from brief to start date.
Away from recruitment
Competitive sport
While living in Singapore, I represented Singapore in international youth rugby and played academy-level football for Home United, now known as Lion City Sailors.
Travel and adventure
I love travelling. So far, I’ve visited 40 countries and 15 US states. In 2016, I climbed Kilimanjaro, completing the trek in one day less than planned.
How I work
A direct relationship, grounded in the work.
Ask detailed questions
Understand the decisions someone made, what they learned and what they want next.
Look beyond familiar names
Discuss what someone has built and how they work, rather than relying on a university or employer name.
Stay involved
Keep questions visible through introductions, interviews, feedback and the offer.
Experience before Corellia Talent
The background behind each search.
150+ placements
Technical hires made before Corellia Talent across London, New York and San Francisco.
7+ years
Specialising in technical recruitment.
Founding engineers to CTOs
The range of roles Corellia Talent recruits for.
Startup backing
Josh placed into startups backed by Y Combinator, Sequoia, a16z, Accel, Khosla Ventures and more.
Investor names describe the backing of startups Josh placed into before Corellia Talent, not clients or endorsements.
From people our founder, Josh Smith, has worked with before Corellia Talent.
“With minimal back and forth, he consistently provided candidate profiles that were not only a match on paper but also proved a strong match throughout the interviews. This proficiency reduced the overall time we spent in the selection process.”
“I would happily recommend (and I regularly do) Josh to any company looking for a great recruiter, and any engineer looking to place their next role.”
“I wouldn’t be able to hire so quickly without the support from Josh. Highly recommended to any employers whom are looking for talents from the software engineering field.”
“He was never pushy and allowed me to come to my own decision about where to take my career next, while also giving me sound, unbiased advice.”
“I’ve worked with Josh for years now, both as a engineer getting placed at a company years ago and now as a founding engineer building my own team.”
“He reached out before and after every interview, provided helpful, concrete feedback, and maintained immediate response times.”
Your next step
Tell us what you need to build.
A role, a location and a sense of timing are enough to start.