Engineering team build-out & hiring strategy
Hire the right engineers, in the right order, from your very first hire
A hiring plan, leveling, and interview process that lands the right engineers in the right order — so your first hires compound instead of costing you. I help you decide whether, who, and when to hire next, and how to hire well — including if you're not sure yet whether you need to hire at all.
The problem
Your engineering hires will set the ceiling on what the team can become. Get the sequence and the bar right and they compound; get them wrong and you spend the next year unwinding it. But you may not have hired engineers before — or not at this stage — and the cost of a mis-hire this early is brutal. And if you're not technical yourself, the question underneath all of this is often simpler and harder to answer alone: do you actually need to hire an engineer right now, or is there another way to get the product built a little longer?
What's included
If you're not sure hiring is the right move yet, we start there: an honest read on whether your current stage calls for an employee, a contractor, a fractional engineer, or no-code/low-code tools — before you commit to a hiring process at all. Once hiring is the right call, you get a plan matched to your roadmap: who to hire next and why, how to level and title the roles, what to pay, and a sequence that builds a team rather than a pile of individual contributors. I help you design an interview process that actually predicts on-the-job success — one a non-technical founder can run with confidence, not just defer to gut feel — write the scorecards, and — when it's useful — sit in on senior or leadership interviews as a calibrated second read.
Who it's for
Non-technical founders who aren't sure yet whether hiring an engineer is even the right next step, founders going from a handful of engineers to a real team, and companies making their first engineering-leadership or senior hires who want to get the process right before they scale it.
Who it's not for
Teams looking for a recruiting agency or contingent sourcing. I design the strategy and the process and help you make the calls; I'm not a headhunter and don't work on placement fees.
Frequently asked questions
Are you a recruiter or headhunter?
No — I design the hiring strategy, leveling, and interview process and help you make the calls, but I don't source candidates or work on placement fees. That keeps my advice independent of who gets hired.
Who should we hire first?
That's exactly what the engagement answers. The right first hire depends on your roadmap, your existing team, and where the risk is — we build a sequence so each hire sets up the next instead of leaving gaps.
Can you help with interviews directly?
Yes. I design the interview process and scorecards, and when it's useful I sit in on senior or leadership interviews as a calibrated second read — so you're not making your most important early hires alone.
I'm not technical — how do I know if I even need to hire an engineer yet?
That's often the real first question, and it's a fair one to bring even before you're sure hiring is the answer. We look at where you actually are — what you're trying to build, what's already been built, and how — and figure out whether the right next step is an employee, a contractor, a fractional engineer, or holding off a bit longer. If hiring is the right call, we move straight into the plan; if it's not yet, you leave knowing what would need to change for it to be.
Think this is the help you need?
Tell me where your team and technology are today, and we'll work out the right next step together — even if it isn't me.