In recent years, Spanish startups have achieved an outstanding growth in their volume of activity and financing, as shown in the third edition of the study “Analysis of a new generation of start-ups in Spain and Portugal” carried out by CaixaBank, in collaboration with the IESE Business School’s Entrepreneurship Centre. This sustained growth over time marks a very positive trend for the technological entrepreneurial community in Spain.
In terms of growth sectors, these companies are particularly focused on healthcare, food and beverage, social impact and energy. However, the most profitable sectors are aerospace, fitness and wellness training, and leisure.
Despite the healthcare crisis, between 2020 and 2021 total funding decreased slightly from the previous year, but the average funding raised by companies increased, coming mainly from equity, followed by contributions from family and friends.
5 job profiles most sought after by startups
These technology companies create new opportunities and redesign conventional professions. A study conducted by PayScale and Millennial Branding, involving more than half a million Americans aged 19-29, has revealed that young people do not want to work for large companies. Some 47% opt for small businesses and startups, mainly attracted by the freedom, flexibility, light bureaucracy and active voice that characterise these emerging companies.
In addition, according to the data collected by South Summit’s “Entrepreneurship Map 2022”, this sector is one of the most important generators of employment in the post COVID-19 era, and the outlook for the future is very positive.
Taking into account the preference of young talent for a more flexible business culture, and the employment needs of start-ups operating in Spain, it is possible to obtain an x-ray of the most in-demand jobs.
IT Talent Manager
Talent recruitment is a very important process in startups, as these are emerging companies and employees help define the company’s culture. Therefore, they need a person with the skills and knowledge to understand and define the hiring requirements, learn how to find the employees with the highest potential, and finally, select the best talent in the market, looking not only for curricular skills, but also for the so-called soft skills.
In this context, the profile of the IT talent manager appears, the person in charge of attracting, filtering and selecting personnel. While a conventional recruiter can handle any area, this profile focuses on attracting technology talent.
Data Protection Officer
The basis for innovation and growth of startups is technology. For this reason, they are continually exposed to cyber-attacks, the most common of which include attacks on connectivity networks, phishing or fraudulent messages and ransomware or blocking access to data.
Thus, the incorporation of a data protection and cybersecurity officer is essential. This figure analyses the state of the company’s cybersecurity in order to achieve a correct level of information security, or to prevent a cyber-attack from paralysing the company’s activity with the economic and reputational cost that this entails.
Support Engineer
Another of the profiles most sought after by startups is the support engineer. Their responsibility includes diagnosing and resolving issues affecting the company’s software and hardware. Candidates for this position should be familiar with remote applications and technical software, as well as have degrees related to the IT field, e.g. Software Engineering, Telecommunications Engineering, among others.
Support engineers investigate and determine solutions to problems affecting the company’s IT system, consult and update the company’s databases, prepare accurate reports on problems and, if necessary, refer unresolved problems to an external team.
Data Analyst
With the help of a data analyst, startups can optimise and improve their performance. By implementing data analytics correctly, these companies can minimise costs by identifying new ways of doing things. By capturing relevant data about the services or products they offer, the transactions and their customers, they can make efficient decisions and focus their teams on truly significant goals.
The data analyst must have sufficient knowledge and skills in data structures, algorithm development and informative dashboards for data management. These professionals work with large data volumes, are experts in mathematics and statistics, and solve technical questions on computer language.
Product manager
This other profile stands out among those most sought after by these innovative companies. The product manager is an essential position to convey confidence and provide a good customer experience, and is in charge of product strategy and product launch. To do so, you must have technical knowledge in software and hardware, a broad overview of the industry, and see things from the customer’s viewpoint.
A good product manager should draw up a roadmap to achieve customer satisfaction, identifying the financial impact for the company. Consequently, they generate the idea or opportunity, analyse the market, define the product characteristics, draw up a marketing plan, train the team, launch the product and measure the results.
