Glossary
Plain definitions of the terms used when hiring engineers abroad — staff augmentation, nearshore, dedicated teams, employer of record, outsourcing, IP assignment and time zone overlap. One sentence each, then the detail that actually changes a decision.
Staff augmentation
Staff augmentation is a hiring model where external engineers join your existing team and work under your management, on your roadmap, using your tools — rather than a vendor delivering a finished project. You direct the work; the supplier handles employment, payment and replacement.
Nearshore software development
Nearshore software development means hiring engineers in a nearby country whose working hours substantially overlap your own. For a U.S. company that means Latin America, typically zero to three hours of time difference — as opposed to offshore, where the gap is six to thirteen hours.
Dedicated development team
A dedicated development team is a group of external engineers who work exclusively for one client, full time, over an ongoing period — as opposed to a shared or pooled team whose members split their hours across several customers. Exclusivity is the defining feature, and it is the one most often quietly dropped.
Employer of record (EOR)
An employer of record is a company that legally employs a worker in their country on your behalf, handling payroll, taxes, benefits and compliance, while the person works day to day for you. It typically costs $500–700 per person per month on top of salary and does not find or screen candidates.
Software development outsourcing
Software development outsourcing is contracting an external company to build software for you, with the vendor responsible for managing the work and delivering an agreed outcome. It is distinguished from staff augmentation, where external engineers work under your management on your roadmap.
IP assignment clause
An IP assignment clause is contract language transferring ownership of intellectual property created under an agreement from the person who made it to the company paying for it. In international contractor agreements it is essential, because U.S. work-for-hire doctrine does not automatically apply across borders.
Time zone overlap
Time zone overlap is the number of hours per day that two people in different time zones are both at work. It is the single best predictor of how a distributed engineering engagement will feel, because it determines whether a blocked task is unblocked in fifteen minutes or the next morning.
What is time zone overlap and why does it matter for remote teams? →
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