How a Top-Tier New York Performance Agency Made Over 10 LatAm Hires
Marketing agency case study. Data as of November 2026.
A top-tier performance agency based in New York started with one project manager from Latin America in September 2025. Fourteen months later, Talent Scout has placed over 10 specialists with the agency since 2025: project managers, account managers, paid media specialists, an analytics engineer and an eCommerce strategist, almost all working US Eastern hours. On the project and account management seats alone, the estimated saving against US hires is over $450,000 a year.
| Specialists placed since 2025 | Estimated annual saving, PM and AM seats only |
|---|---|
| Over 10 | Over $450,000 (estimate, public figures) |
The agency
A top-tier performance agency based in New York. Client work runs in small pods. The agency hires for client-facing delivery roles that have to work New York hours and hold their own on client calls.
Some clients we work with stay unnamed for confidentiality. This is one of them.
The problem: delivery seats that had to work like New York hires
The agency's first request was a single seat: a project manager who could own client delivery on New York hours. That role sets the pattern for everything after it. A delivery seat at a performance agency is client-facing, deadline-driven and live all day. An async handoff model does not work for it, and a US hire at fully loaded cost changes the margin on every account the seat touches.
What we did
One role at a time, then in groups. Talent Scout ran every search as its own search for one specific seat. The sequence, by month each person started:
- September 2025: the agency's first project manager.
- November to December 2025: a paid media manager and several more project managers.
- Early 2026: account managers, more project managers, a paid search analyst and an eCommerce strategist.
- July to October 2026: a creative project manager, an account manager, and an analytics and reporting engineer.
- November 2026: a new paid media specialist starts, and further senior paid media analyst seats are in search.
How each seat was filled. We sourced and screened candidates for experience in the discipline, English and client-facing readiness, then sent the agency a board of candidates each week. The agency's own recruiter ran a screening call, the hiring manager ran a technical round, and we ran the offer. Every hire works full-time inside the agency's pods, tools and meetings.
Time zones. Almost every seat works US Eastern hours, so the team is live when New York is. The people placed live across eight Latin American countries, most of them in Brazil, Colombia, Argentina and Mexico.
Speed. Every 2025 search reached a selected candidate within two weeks of kickoff. Our standard is that we present the first round of candidates in 10 days, and for the more specialized 2026 seats, such as paid search and analytics, each search ran until the agency had the right person for the seat.
Results
- Over 10 specialists placed since 2025, across project management, account management, paid media and performance, analytics and eCommerce.
- The first hire is still there. The project manager placed in September 2025 is still running client delivery more than a year later.
- The agency keeps coming back. It opened new searches in every quarter since it started, including senior paid media analyst seats in October 2026.
What it costs compared with US hires (estimate)
This is an estimate built from public figures only, not the agency's actual costs.
| Seat | US fully loaded, per month | Talent Scout, all-in, per month | Estimated saving per seat, per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project or account manager | $12,290 to $14,484 | $3,500 to $4,500 | $93,480 to $131,808 |
Across more than five project and account management seats, the conservative end of that range is over $450,000 a year. The paid media, analytics and eCommerce seats are left out of the total because our salary report does not publish a US figure for most of them, so the full picture is larger than this estimate.
Sources: US fully loaded cost from the 2026 Latin American Marketing Salary Report, Table 2 (US base pay from ERI/SalaryExpert, Payscale, Glassdoor, Salary.com and Built In, loaded at the MIT 1.25 to 1.4x rule; updated August 2026). Talent Scout price: $3,500 to $4,500 a month, all-in, as of November 2026. Conservative end = lowest US cost minus highest Talent Scout price. Placement data: Talent Scout CRM and placement records, September 2025 to October 2026.
Building delivery capacity at your agency?
Bring us the seat you need filled first. We will tell you what it costs, how long the search should take, and whether it is the right seat to hire this way. Month-to-month, $3,500 to $4,500 a month all-in, candidates to you in 10 days, and free replacements at any time.
Related: Hire a project manager · Hire an account manager · Hire a Google Ads specialist · Talent for marketing agencies · 2026 Latin American Marketing Salary Report
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