Your Chicago IT and tech recruitment specialists
Chicago has an unusually broad technology market because it sits on top of several older industries at once, with trading and derivatives, logistics, insurance and manufacturing each employing serious engineering teams rather than a single dominant sector setting the pace. Our Chicago recruiters place contract, contract-to-hire and permanent technology staff across all of them.
If you’re a company with IT staffing needs in Chicago, the Nexus recruiting team has the connections and knowledge to help you land the talent you’re looking for. Our expertise in tech staffing helps companies of all sizes recruit candidates with the right skill sets who are an ideal fit for their culture.
Chicago’s tech landscape includes everything from unicorn startups to establish companies. The city posted nine tech startups that reached the $1 billion milestone in 2021, and this trend shows no signs of slowing. Chicago is also home to established companies like Allstate, Boeing, and Discover, many of which are growing their digital presence and actively recruiting tech and IT staff. For companies and candidates trying to succeed in this competitive market, a company like Nexus can help you break through the noise and confusion to find the right opportunities for you.
We would love to chat if you are a hiring manager and have an IT role that’s giving you a headache, or if you are an IT professional considering making a career move. Even if you just want some insights into how our tech recruiters helped teams find the best IT talent in Chicago, we can share those with you. As is the case in most cities right now, IT openings and the talent pool to fill them in Chicago are dynamic and always evolving. Getting insights from professionals who have navigated this shifting landscape successfully is the best way to move your company or career forward.
Join the many companies that staff their roles with our IT and tech talent
Nexus IT Group will quickly staff your open IT and tech roles in Chicago with high-quality committed candidates
81%
of our successful candidates are submitted within one week
92%
of our candidates will accept your offer
96%
of our candidates are employed with your firm after 12 months
What technology roles pay in Chicago
| Occupation | Low | Median | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Developers | $104,500 | $134,400 | $167,700 |
| Computer and Information Systems Managers | $138,200 | $173,800 | $214,900 |
| Computer User Support Specialists | $48,000 | $60,700 | $78,000 |
| Computer Systems Analysts | $81,000 | $103,500 | $130,000 |
| Data Scientists | $84,600 | $107,600 | $138,200 |
| Network and Computer Systems Administrators | $82,800 | $103,200 | $130,100 |
| Computer Network Architects | $120,100 | $143,800 | $169,500 |
| Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers | $83,300 | $105,600 | $130,900 |
| Computer Network Support Specialists | $60,900 | $73,300 | $88,600 |
| Information Security Analysts | $99,800 | $125,300 | $158,200 |
| Web Developers | $79,100 | $96,900 | $117,100 |
| Database Administrators | $77,400 | $109,700 | $136,000 |
| Web and Digital Interface Designers | $73,200 | $87,900 | $132,300 |
| Database Architects | $125,200 | $147,500 | $168,100 |
| Computer Programmers | $66,700 | $99,800 | $131,600 |
| Computer and Information Research Scientists | $104,300 | $135,600 | $170,100 |
Annual wages, May 2025, from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program. Figures cover everyone working in that occupation across the Chicago metropolitan area in every industry, so they are the local market rather than Nexus placement data.
Nexus IT Group can fill roles across a variety of practice areas
See what our IT and tech clients have said about working with Nexus IT Group
"The great thing about nexus IT group is that it has a smaller family feel, but they are able to deliver IT candidates better than the largest IT staffing suppliers that we work with. They have delivered high quality tech candidates for several years to our firm."
Dana Bahrans, VP of Talent Acquisition, Deloitte"Over the past 12 months we worked with nexus IT group on 8 different senior level data searches. Everytime, they were successful in finding the right person. Slava was very knowledgeable about the data landscape and data trends in the NYC market. Slava managed the search in an effective and efficient way. I will not hesitate to work with nexus IT group in the future."
Taj Dasari, Data Scientist, Director, PwC"I've been in Talent Acquisition for 15 years and have used many IT staffing firms over the years. I highly recommend Nick and nexus IT group over any other IT staffing services. nexus' commitment to quality and delivery is top tier. They take the time to understand your needs, provide thorough screening, and make sure that candidates have a positive on-boarding experience."
Felicia Nguyen, VP of Talent Acquisition, Amazon"Our technology department needed to build a team quickly with high quality DevOps candidates. We knew that posting the roles on our career site wouldn't get the right talent in the tight deadline that we had. nexus IT group's recruiting strategy and best practices really helped us identify and secure the right IT talent. "
Leslie Godwinn, Recruiting Manager, Goldman Sachs"nexus IT group is always there for us when we need extra help finding strong Data Scientist. The quality of their contractors is far superior to other firms that we work with. There follow up and customer service is second to none, you can't go wrong with nexus IT group when looking for AI/ML talent."
Brent Lingard, Data Scientist Manager, Nike"Working with nexus IT group has made my job much easier. Having a recruiting firm who specializes in IT and within my industry, and who understands our specific culture and hiring needs has been instrumental in our talent acquisition talent strategy."
Sai Gundu, VP of IT, Mu Sigma"Capital One has used Nexus IT group's recruitment services for a number of IT positions at varying levels, over the past 4 years. We've had a high success rate working with nexus IT group which is a testament to the caliber of their work and their internal sourcing and vetting practices. "
Ben Nolan, Recruiting Manager, Capital One"Nexus IT group has been very responsive and resourceful in helping us identify some great DevOps Engineers. DevOps Engineers are very difficult these days, and nexus IT group has produced high quality candidates for us in a very short period."
Paula Kim, HR Manager, HSBC"I've dealt with a lot of hiring firms in my 18 years in the investment banking profession, and the majority of them have been awful to mediocre at best. Dealing with Nexus IT Group, on the other hand, was a breath of fresh air. After only one one opening, I was blown away by the quality and quantity of resumes I received. Nexus IT Group pays close attention to my demands and requirements. As a result, the individuals who were referred to me were excellent fits for our open positions. I appreciate the personal and professional expertise you offer to the process."
Zak Windres, Talent Acquisition Manager, Citi"SAIC provides government services to several federal agencies across the US. We needed to recruit several new cybersecurity talent for our growing practice area. Travis quickly understood our business and the requirements of each cybersecurity need. nexus IT group showed patience, flexibility, and expertise in the search process. If you're looking for good cybersecurity recruiters then you can't go wrong with nexus IT group."
Stacey Paterson, Manager of Cybersecurity, SAIC"It is hard to put into words what nexus IT group has done for our organization. nexus IT group knows exactly what we look for and they get the right candidates 99% of the time. Anyone looking to hire tech talent would be lucky to have nexus IT group on their side. They have great work ethic, responsive, and a wide array of market knowledge. "
Christian Zheng, Sr Technical Recruiter, BlackRock"We have been using nexus IT group for a few years now and they have done an outstanding job for us. nexus IT group has become an integral part of our success in filling several Cloud Engineer roles, and our partnership continues to grow. I would highly recommend nexus IT group to any hiring manager looking to staff their business with quality AWS candidates."
Nan Yang, Director of Technology, Harvard University"We've enlisted the help of a number of IT recruiting firms in the past. Nexus IT Group has contributed to the success of many great hires by working professionally, diligently, and efficiently. We contacted Nexus IT Group after being introduced to them, and we were instantly impressed by their promptness and ability to focus on our needs. We received 3 resumes the same day and 3 more the next day, and we were able to hire four people in less than a week. We added an additional individual through Nexus IT Group a few weeks later as a result of vast network, service and professionalism. I highly recommend working with Nexus IT Group."
Sophie Kammuff, Talent Acquisition Manager, Federal Reserve BankOur productive IT and tech staffing skills keep our clients coming back
Google Cloud Architect
Our client creates balance between existing investments and cloud-driven innovation with a practical approach that prioritizes results. This particular client tasked our cloud recruiters with a challenging project. Being named Google Cloud Partner of the Year, this recognition required them to increase their Google Cloud Architect and Engineering resources. Google Cloud talent is quite a bit more scarce than AWS and demand more salary, so our cloud recruiters had to get creative with our sourcing strategy. Reach out to learn how we filled 13 Google Cloud professionals for this client.
VP, Head of Data Engineering
A 3 year old startup who is transforming insurance buying by providing a digital insurance engine and world-class underwriting capabilities tasked Nexus IT group to identify, vet, and hire a Head of Data Engineering for the data engineering group. Our data scientist recruiters quickly got on this executive level search. Diversity sourcing and hiring was very important for this client so the team focused on diversity sourcing. We ended up sourcing 176 candidates, submitted six candidates and the client ended up hiring one candidate.
Google Cloud Architect
Our client creates balance between existing investments and cloud-driven innovation with a practical approach that prioritizes results. This particular client tasked our cloud recruiters with a challenging project. Being named Google Cloud Partner of the Year, this recognition required them to increase their Google Cloud Architect and Engineering resources. Google Cloud talent is quite a bit more scarce than AWS and demand more salary, so our cloud recruiters had to get creative with our sourcing strategy. Reach out to learn how we filled 13 Google Cloud professionals for this client.
Paid Social Specialist
Our client is an SEO, online media, and SEM agency focusing on brand building and customer acquisition to deliver measurable success. This particular client tapped our digital marketing recruiters to identify and hire a Paid Social Specialist that has direct experience managing paid social campaigns on Facebook and LinkedIn as primary focus. As top digital marketing recruiters we were quickly able to source 403 candidate, submit 6 candidates, leading to a quick hire for our client.
Data Scientist
A direct-to-consumer beauty, health and wellness incubator that recently launched its sixth brand reached out to nexus IT group to help them hire a Data Scientist for their growing analytics team. The ideal candidate would use their data and analytical skills to help analyze results and develop marketing strategies upon our current subscription and retention offerings. Essentially, this person would build predictive models to support key initiatives such as predictive churn, price elasticity, predictive LTV. Our Data Scientist recruiters screened 252 data professionals. We ended up submitting 5 candidates and received 2 offers.
SEO Analyst
Our client is an SEO, online media, and SEM agency focusing on brand building and customer acquisition to deliver measurable success. Due to continued growth they asked nexus IT group for help in find a Sr SEO Analyst. The SEO Manager was looking for a swiss army knife. The ideal candidate brought a technical SEO background with Python and enterprise site experience.
MarTech Consultant
A leading data analytics partner powered by mind+machine, that helps clients get the most out of their core processes. Due to client demand our client was seeking a Digital Martech specialist with experience in adobe sutie analytics( Adobe analytics, Launch, Audience Manager, AEP, Adobe target), web analytics, and marketing analytics. Because of our previous expertise in the Digita Marketing space we were able to quickly cold call and put an outreach campaign together that allowed us to get in front of 451 candidates. We picked our top 4 candidates and were able to get an offer to 1 candidate within a one and a half weeks.
Associate SEO Director
Our client is an SEO, online media, and SEM agency focusing on brand building and customer acquisition to deliver measurable success. With 33% employee growth the past 2 years, this digital marketing agency has tasked nexus IT group to work as an extension of their HR department to help allow them to focus on client strategy. For this particular Associate SEO Director opening, this hiring candidate had to have international agency experience. Our digital marketing recruiters sourced 151 candidates and narrowed it down to our top 12. After further vetting we submtted 5 candidates and 1 candidate was hired.
Four ways to hire technology talent in Chicago
Executive Search (Retained)
We run retained searches for the technology leadership roles a Chicago business hires once every few years, including CIO, CTO, VP of Engineering and the directors who own a function outright. These searches usually run confidentially, because a sitting leader has rarely been told the search is happening, and they tend to involve a board or an investor who wants to meet the shortlist. Our retained placements hold a 96% candidate retention rate.
Direct Hire
Hiring in Chicago means working against trading firms, insurance carriers and logistics operators competing for the same infrastructure and data people. The technology professionals worth hiring are already employed and are approached constantly, so our recruiters work outbound into the Chicago market rather than waiting on applications. We deliver a vetted shortlist within 4 days of taking the requirement, screened on the specific stack and the working arrangement the role actually requires, which matters locally because onsite, hybrid and remote expectations differ street by street in this metro.
Contract Staffing
Projects with an end date, whether that is a migration, an integration or cover for a departure, rarely justify a permanent headcount in Chicago or anywhere else. We act as both the recruiter and the W2 employer for the length of the contract, which keeps co-employment risk off your side and lets you end the engagement or convert the person to full time without a further fee. Our contract placements hold a 94.3% quality of hire ratio, measured on contractors who complete the full term.
Recruitment as a Service
Companies scaling a team in Chicago are usually filling several roles at once, which is exactly where a fee per placement stops making sense. Our Recruitment as a Service subscription takes on candidate marketing, sourcing, screening and delivery for the whole hiring plan, leaving your managers the final interviews. We generate an engaged pipeline for a named role in under 7 days.