Owns the outcome
They talk about what they shipped and what it changed, not just which tickets they closed.
Engineers who ship fast and leave the codebase better.
Your early engineers decide what your codebase looks like for years. We find the ones who move fast without leaving a mess for the next ten hires.
When startups make this hire.
Usually right after a raise, when the founders can’t write all the code any more. Rush it and you get someone who builds for scale you won’t need for three years, or someone who ships fast and leaves nothing anyone else can work on.
What great looks like.
Right-sized engineering
They can tell a quick fix from a foundation, and they know which one this week needs.
Talks to users
Happy on a customer call. Startups don’t have a product manager standing in between.
Makes others faster
Clear pull requests, sensible reviews, and docs a new hire can follow.
How we vet this role.
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A live session on a real problem
No puzzles. They work in a small, realistic codebase: find the bug, add the feature, explain the trade-offs. Our anti-cheat checks the interview, and anything it flags becomes a follow-up question.
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Code they wrote, explained
In the same interview we pick something from their history and go deep: why this design, what broke, what they’d change now.
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History and references
Employment history checked. References confirmed through work email, so the glowing review didn’t come from a mate’s personal inbox.
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ID and right to work
Done before you meet them.
What it costs in the UK.
Base salary at venture-backed startups. Draft figures, pending Jono’s sign-off.
| Level | London | Rest of UK |
|---|---|---|
| Junior (0-2 yrs) | £40k-£55k | £32k-£45k |
| Mid-level (2-4 yrs) | £60k-£80k | £48k-£65k |
| Senior (5+ yrs) | £80k-£110k | £65k-£90k |
| Staff / lead | £105k-£140k | £85k-£110k |
Questions, answered.
How much does it cost to hire a software engineer through Candit?
Our fee is fee and payment terms. With Pay as they stay you can spread it across your hire’s first months, so your runway stays yours.
Do you hire contractors or permanent engineers?
Mostly permanent hires, because that’s where the six-month guarantee makes sense. If you need contract help, ask. We’ll tell you honestly whether we can do it well.
Can you hire engineers in both the UK and the US?
Yes. We hire across the UK and US, in the office, hybrid or remote, and we benchmark pay for each location before we start.
What if the hire doesn’t work out?
Every hire is guaranteed for six months. guarantee terms