Roles we recruit
- Backend engineers
- Frontend engineers
- Full-stack engineers
- Platform & DevOps
- Security engineers
- Staff & principal engineers
From your first senior hire to building out a whole platform team.
Founder-led · technically screened
Software Engineering Recruitment Agency
We help startups and scale-ups hire software engineers who can genuinely do the job. Every developer is technically screened by us, people who have written production code, before they ever reach your team.
Software developer recruitment, done properly
A CV and a friendly chat won’t tell you whether someone can build. Most recruitment agencies never find out, because nobody in the process has done the work. We start from the opposite place: a genuine technical screen, run by a former software developer, before any engineer reaches your team. That one decision changes everything downstream, you stop wasting interview time on people who can’t do the job, and candidates get a process run by someone who actually understands it.
We are founder-led, and we embed with your team rather than firing over CVs. That means we learn your stack, your bar and what “great” looks like for you, then bring a shortlist built on evidence. It is how we’ve delivered strong engineering hires for startups and scale-ups across the UK, Europe and the US.
Stacks we know
We recruit deeply across modern back and front-end stacks and cloud.
Three ways to hire with us
However you engage us, every engineer is technically screened first. Pick the model that fits how much you’re hiring and how critical the roles are: contingent recruitment for one-off hires (pay only on a placement), embedded recruitment for hiring at volume, and retained search for senior and business-critical engineering roles. Not sure which fits? Talk to us and we’ll recommend the right approach.
FAQ
Software engineering recruitment, answered
What does a software engineering recruitment agency do?
A specialist software engineering recruitment agency sources, screens and introduces developers, rather than forwarding CVs a generalist can’t assess. At OpenSource every engineer is technically screened by us, people who have written production code, before they reach you, so your interview time goes on people who can genuinely do the job.
What kinds of software developer roles do you recruit for?
We hire across the full engineering stack: backend, frontend, full-stack, platform, DevOps and security engineers, from strong mid-level developers to senior, staff and principal individual contributors, for startups and scale-ups across the UK, Europe and the US.
How are you different from a typical developer recruitment agency?
We are founder-led by a former software developer and a seasoned recruiter, and we technically screen every candidate ourselves before they reach you. We embed with your team rather than firing over CVs, which saves clients hours a week in interviews and means shortlists are built on evidence, not keyword matching.
How quickly can you deliver a shortlist of software engineers?
For most roles we come back with a technically screened shortlist within days, not weeks, because we screen candidates ourselves and maintain an active network of pre-vetted engineers.
What does software engineering recruitment cost?
We offer three models: contingent (you pay only on a successful placement), embedded / RPO (a dedicated recruiter for hiring at volume) and retained search (for senior and business-critical roles). We recommend the right fit for your stage.