Step 1: Write the brief before you talk to anyone
One page is enough: the outcome you need in the next two quarters, the stack, the working hours you expect to overlap, and who the engineers will report to. Briefs written as job adverts attract CVs. Briefs written as outcomes attract the right conversation about team shape — one senior engineer, a pod of three, or a full team with its own lead.
Step 2: Ask how candidates were vetted, not how many exist
Bench size is a vanity number. What matters is what stands between an application and your shortlist. Ask for the stages, the pass rate, and whether the technical assessment is proctored. A partner who cannot describe their filter is passing the vetting cost to you.
- Which stages does every engineer clear, in order?
- Is coding assessed live and without AI assistance?
- Is communication tested against a client-style scenario?
- What share of applicants reach the bench?
Step 3: Interview the shortlist yourself
Never skip this, even when the vetting is thorough. Your interview is not testing whether they can code — it is testing whether they fit your team, your domain and your communication style. Two conversations per candidate is usually enough when the technical bar has already been cleared.
Step 4: Settle contracts, IP and exit terms in writing
Before anyone starts, confirm four things on paper: who employs the engineer, who owns the code and IP, what happens if the fit is wrong, and how notice works. Compliance and payroll in the engineer's country should be the partner's problem, not yours. A replacement guarantee is standard — ask how fast it actually operates in practice.
Step 5: Plan the time-zone overlap deliberately
Distributed teams fail on response time, not talent. Agree the daily overlap window in advance and protect it. Engineers based in South Asia (UTC+6) can commit to several hours of shared working time with US East and West Coast teams — enough for standups, reviews and pairing, provided the window is a commitment rather than a hope.
Step 6: Run the first 30 days like an onboarding, not a trial
- Day 1: systems access, repositories, and a named buddy on your side
- Week 1: a small, shippable task that touches your real deployment path
- Week 2: participation in reviews and planning, not just execution
- Day 30: a written check-in on output, communication and fit
How long the whole process takes
With a partner sourcing from scratch, expect the same timeline as a domestic hire: months. With a pre-vetted bench, the sourcing delay disappears — at Riseup Asia the shortlist arrives inside the first week and onboarding averages about 14 days from the briefing call.