Book a Call
A wrong first engineering hire costs a year and six figures — and a non-technical founder has no way to tell a strong candidate from a confident one. First Engineers, Hired outsources the entire hire to a senior fractional CTO: a person in the seat, made right — not a hiring plan you still have to execute alone.
What you walk away with — per hire
- Job description and compensation benchmark — floor, target, and stretch for your market.
- Sourcing strategy and a qualified shortlist — technically screened by a senior technologist, not keyword-matched.
- Structured technical interviews with a scoring rubric — you sit in; we run them.
- Offer strategy and negotiation guidance — so the candidate you want says yes.
- 90-day onboarding plan — the hire lands productive, not abandoned.
Fixed fee per hire, sized to the role
Role under $100K
$9,500
- ✓Up to 5 qualified candidates presented
- ✓Up to 4 technical interviews
- ✓Offer strategy + 90-day onboarding plan
- ✓6–8 weeks typical
Role $100–150K
$12,500
- ✓Up to 5 qualified candidates presented
- ✓Up to 4 technical interviews
- ✓Offer strategy + 90-day onboarding plan
- ✓6–8 weeks typical
Role $150K+ / lead
$15,900
- ✓Up to 5 qualified candidates presented
- ✓Up to 4 technical interviews
- ✓Offer strategy + 90-day onboarding plan
- ✓6–8 weeks typical
Candidates or interviews beyond these caps are billed at $350/hr — agreed in writing first. Hiring more than one? A second concurrent search in the same discipline is 15% off.
Thirty minutes on the role, the salary band, and the timeline — then a fixed per-hire fee and a search that starts when you do.
Why a fixed fee beats a recruiter here
- Not a percentage of salary — contingency recruiters charge 20–25% of first-year salary; on a senior hire that's $28,000–$42,500. This is a fixed fee per hire, typically 55–70% less.
- Technical screening a recruiter can't do — every shortlisted candidate is screened by a senior technologist who has built and run engineering teams, not matched on keywords.
- No incentive to inflate the offer — a percentage fee grows with the salary; a fixed fee doesn't. Our comp benchmark works for you, not the fee.
- The interviews are yours to keep — the scoring rubric and interview structure stay with you for every hire after this one.
The Reyem Tech ladder
Pick the rung that matches where you are. Each step is a real, productized engagement.
First Engineers, Hired FAQs
By the salary band of the role, not a percentage of the salary: $9,500 for roles under $100K, $12,500 for $100–150K, and $15,900 for $150K+ or lead roles. Fixed per hire — the fee is the same whether the candidate accepts at the floor or the stretch of your comp band.
The complete search: job description and compensation benchmark (floor/target/stretch), sourcing strategy, technical screening to a qualified shortlist of up to 5 candidates, up to 4 structured technical interviews with a scoring rubric, offer strategy and negotiation guidance, and a 90-day onboarding plan. Typical elapsed time is 6–8 weeks.
Contingency recruiters charge 20–25% of first-year salary — $28,000 to $42,500 on a senior hire — and they match keywords, not competence. This is a fixed fee per hire, typically 55–70% less, with every shortlisted candidate technically screened by a senior technologist who has built and run engineering teams.
Yes: a second concurrent search in the same discipline is 15% off, because the sourcing and screening setup is shared. Searches in unrelated disciplines price as new searches — the setup work doesn't carry over.
Candidates or interviews beyond the per-hire caps (5 qualified candidates presented, 4 technical interviews) are billed at $350/hr, agreed in writing first. A role reshaped mid-search — different seniority, different discipline — is re-quoted as what it now is.
New to building an engineering team?
Hiring sequence, team structure, compensation, and how to keep engineers once you have them — the full guide.