⟶ Insights / Engagement
Hiring dedicated developers, honestly.
A senior-led guide for CTOs and heads of engineering evaluating dedicated developer engagements — engagement models, onboarding SLAs, IP terms, seniority signals, and the red flags that end the conversation.
9 min read · Updated Jul 2026
Engagement models.
| Model | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Dedicated pod | 3-6 seniors, full-time, embedded — best for evolving roadmaps |
| Solo dedicated engineer | One senior, full-time — best for ongoing customisation & maintenance |
| Fractional architect | 0.2-0.5 FTE senior architect — best for oversight of internal teams |
| Fixed-scope project | Milestone-based delivery — best for defined migrations & launches |
Frequently asked.
What does 'dedicated developer' actually mean?+
A senior engineer assigned to your engagement full-time, embedded in your workflow, your standups and your codebase. Not shared across accounts, not shuffled between projects, not swapped without notice. Anything less is staff augmentation dressed up in a nicer word.
Dedicated developer vs project-based engagement — which fits when?+
Project-based when the scope is defined, the deadline is fixed and the deliverable is clear (a migration, a rebuild, a launch). Dedicated when the roadmap is evolving, the domain is deep, and continuity beats a scoped contract — long-running product engineering, ongoing Odoo customisation, an AI platform that keeps growing. Most enterprise buyers we work with run both in parallel.
How fast should onboarding realistically be?+
For a well-defined role, expect a curated shortlist within 48 hours and a signed engineer inside 2-4 business days. Faster than that usually means a bench-warmer with a stale CV. Slower than a week for a common stack (Odoo, Python, TypeScript, React) means the vendor is recruiting against your brief, not staffing from a real roster.
What seniority signals actually matter?+
Years of experience is a weak proxy. Better signals: (1) can they walk you through a production incident they owned end-to-end; (2) do they know the failure modes of their stack, not just the happy path; (3) can they say 'I would not build it that way' to a client and defend it; (4) references from engineering managers, not sales contacts. Titles are noise; scars are signal.
Who owns the IP and the code?+
You do — from the first commit. Standard contract terms should include full assignment of IP, work-for-hire on all deliverables, source access from day one, and a documented off-boarding plan (repo transfer, credentials rotation, runbook handover) that runs automatically at contract end. If a vendor pushes back on any of that, walk.
What are the red flags when hiring dedicated developers?+
Fixed CV before the brief is written. No technical screen with the actual engineer. Time-zone overlap under three hours with no async proof of work. Refusal to share GitHub or code samples under NDA. Rate quoted before scope is understood. Any of those on their own is a warning; two of them is a decision.
Need seniors on the ground this week?
Curated shortlist within 48 hours. Onboard in 2-4 business days. IP yours from the first commit.