Founder-led · technically screened
Backend hiring lives or dies on whether someone can build systems that stay up. We technically screen every backend engineer ourselves, so you meet people who can model data well, reason about scale, and own what happens in production.
Every candidate is technically assessed by us, people who have done the job, before you spend a minute interviewing.
Not sure which fits? Talk to us and we’ll recommend the right approach.
Base ranges benchmarked to our placement data at venture-backed startups and scale-ups; equity and bonus sit on top. Where a role shares the software-engineer ladder, the bands below are the reference we use. For the full picture, see our salary benchmarks.
| Level | London | Berlin | Amsterdam | New York |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-level | £55k–£85k | €55k–€85k | €55k–€85k | $120k–$150k |
| Senior | £85k–£120k | €85k–€120k | €80k–€115k | $150k–$200k |
| Staff / Principal | £120k–£150k | €115k–€145k | €110k–€140k | $190k–$240k |
Salary data reviewed July 2026.
FAQ
We use a realistic work sample and a collaborative system-design conversation rather than abstract puzzles, scored against a written rubric. We look for production awareness — observability, rollouts, failure modes — which is what separates strong backend engineers from the rest.
We recruit deeply across modern backend stacks including [Python](/skills/python-developers/), Go, Java, C#, [Node.js](/skills/nodejs-developers/) and [TypeScript](/skills/typescript-developers/), plus AWS, Azure and Kubernetes. What matters more than any single language is whether someone can build and operate reliable systems.
Usually within days. We screen every backend engineer ourselves and keep an active network of pre-vetted people, so you get a shortlist built on evidence, fast.
Ready to build your team?
Tell us what you’re hiring for and we’ll come back with a plan, and usually a technically screened shortlist faster than you’d expect.