For some context before jumping in: I’ve been working for foreign companies while based in Brazil for quite some time now — since March 2022. During this period, many friends have reached out asking for advice on how to find good roles with foreign companies.
Because of that, I decided to write this post to share some guidance on finding good companies to work for while working remotely from Brazil.
First of all, let’s clarify a few things — if you want to work for foreign companies while staying in Brazil, there are a few types of companies you might come across:
-
Outsourcing companies that hire Brazilians and allocate them to projects from external (usually U.S.) companies. The usual flow looks like this: a U.S. company hires Company X and says, “Hey, can you find some developers to work on this project? The budget is $XYZ.”
In this setup, you’ll likely be working for a specific project, not directly for a company. There are pros and cons to this model, but personally, I prefer other types of opportunities. -
Project-based companies that hire you directly to work on a specific project. In this case, the company hiring you is also the one requesting your work.
-
Companies that hire internationally and treat foreign contractors the same as their local employees — even though you might technically be hired as a contractor.
-
Fully international companies that operate globally and consider all contributors equally, regardless of their contract type.
My personal situation fits number 3.
I have close friends working in models 1 and 4, but none in 2.
I don’t have personal experience with all of them, but if I were to recommend, I’d say 3 and 4 are the best.
Why? Because they tend to offer more stability, inclusion, and long-term growth compared to project-based setups.
If you’re also looking for companies like these, below are some strategies I use to find them — plus a few examples that follow this pattern.
1. Look for them on YC’s Work at a Startup
This is a great place to find remote companies that hire internationally (usually model 3).
Here’s a tip: filter by “Contract” instead of “Full-time.”
Why? Most YC startups don’t have a legal entity in Brazil to hire you under CLT, so they’ll usually hire you as a contractor. The key is to make sure you’re treated as a regular employee, even if you’re under a contractor agreement.
That said, you can still look for full-time roles — some startups are flexible and may open an exception if you’re a strong candidate!
2. Check the company’s LinkedIn
If you’re curious whether a company typically hires people internationally, go to their LinkedIn page and look at the “People” section.
You can filter by country to see if there are already employees working from Brazil (or other countries).
3. Look for product-focused companies
This one is more of a personal preference, but I like to look for companies that are deeply focused on product work.
One way to do this is to see which companies are using Linear — a modern alternative to Jira.
Linear published a blog post listing companies that use their platform.
Another similar resource is from PostHog — they also list companies that use their product.
(By the way, PostHog itself hires internationally, but it’s quite competitive!)
This is still work in progress... will add more in here soon!