How it works
You describe the role in writing (ten minutes, no call), we reply within one business day with the scope and timeline, and vetted profiles land in your client portal within five business days for common stacks. You interview the ones you like, pick one, and they start within a week. Everything with us happens in writing; the only calls are your interviews with the engineers. One monthly invoice, 30 days notice, free replacement in the first month.
01 Written brief — ten minutes, no call
You tell us what the engineer will own in ninety days, which stack, who they report to and your time zone — in the contact form or the client portal. We reply in writing within one business day: whether we can fill it, which tier fits, the timeline, and any questions. If the role is actually two roles, we say so in that reply. If your hours make the overlap unworkable — Pacific time with mandatory 4 PM meetings — we say that too, rather than letting you find out in month two. Nobody has to book a call to get an answer; most clients never have one with us.
02 Sourcing and screening — 3 to 5 days
We screen for three things in this order: can they do the work, can they hold a technical conversation in English, and have they operated something in production. A 40-minute online assessment with a written code review, read by a person, filters first; the technical check that decides is a 60-minute pairing session on real code, not a multi-hour take-home project — take-homes filter out senior engineers who already have jobs.
03 You interview — your process, your call
You get two to four profiles in your portal with a written summary of what we found, including the reservations — and each engineer records a short video (two to three minutes, in English) answering your brief, so you hear them before you spend an hour on a call. You run whatever interview process you normally run, directly with the engineer — these are the only calls in the process, and they are with the person you might hire, not with us. Times are arranged in writing. We do not push a candidate and we do not put a deadline on your decision.
04 Start — within about a week
Contract, IP assignment and NDA are signed before day one. We send an onboarding checklist so access is provisioned in advance — the fastest way to lose a first week is a developer waiting for a GitHub invitation.
05 They work as part of your team
Your standup, your board, your code review, your Slack. We are not a layer between you and the engineer, and there is no account manager forwarding your messages. We check in monthly to catch problems people are too polite to raise.
Who does what
Every step has an owner and a clock. This is the same list you see inside the client portal.
| Step | You | Us | Clock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brief | Describe the role in writing — stack, ownership, team, time zone. | Written reply: can we fill it, which tier, timeline, questions. | 1 business day |
| Scope | Answer our questions in the portal whenever it suits you. | Confirm the scope in writing; start sourcing the same day. | Same day |
| Candidates | Watch the videos; shortlist, interview or pass — one click each. | Two to four screened profiles with our honest take, each with a short video answering your brief. | 5 business days · 10–15 for scarce stacks |
| Interviews | Your process, directly with the engineers — the only calls in the process. | Arrange times in writing; pass feedback both ways. | Your pace |
| Start | Accept the statement of work in the portal (one page, nothing to print); provision access before day one. | Contract, IP assignment, NDA, onboarding checklist, first invoice. | About a week |
| Ongoing | Manage the engineer as part of your team; tell us early if anything is off. | Monthly written check-in; free replacement in the first 30 days. | Monthly |
What we ask of you
The engagements that work have these three things. The ones that fail are usually missing one.
- Someone who owns the relationship. A named person with time for it, not a committee.
- A real area of ownership. A senior engineer given only tickets will produce junior output at senior prices.
- Access on day one. Repository, CI, staging, chat, board. Provisioned before they start, not after.
What we guarantee
- Free replacement within the first 30 days, with no billing for the overlap.
- Named individuals. We never substitute your engineer without your approval.
- Full time and dedicated to one client. Nobody is split across accounts.
- Thirty days notice in both directions, from month one.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the whole process take?
Typically two to three weeks from your first message to a start date: three to five days to shortlist, a week or so of interviews, then a few days to sign and provision access. Scarcer stacks such as Go or Elixir add one to two weeks.
Do you manage the engineers?
No, you do. This is staff augmentation, not outsourcing — the engineer joins your team and takes direction from you. If you have nobody to direct them, tell us during scoping and we will say that this model is the wrong fit.
Can we interview more candidates?
Yes, as many rounds as you want, at no cost. We would rather run a third round than place someone you were unsure about.
What if we need to stop?
Thirty days notice, in writing, any month. No penalty and no exit fee.
Do we ever need to get on a call with you?
No. The brief, the scope, the candidate summaries, interview scheduling, contracts and invoices all happen in writing — in the client portal and by email, with a reply within one business day in U.S. hours. The only calls in the process are your interviews with the engineers. Written-first is deliberate: it leaves a record, it respects your calendar, and it is how distributed teams already work.
Tell us the role. We come back with candidates.
Send the role in writing, get a written scope back within one business day, then vetted profiles within five. No sales call, no fee to ask, no retainer, no exclusivity.