Logistics · Global hiring · Ongoing
Hiring Zipline’s African team
Zipline runs drone delivery. We are helping the company hire its African team, role by role, as it grows.
Use cases — Scale-ups
Grow the team without lowering the bar.
The product works and the roadmap is longer than the team. ProDevs sources and assesses candidates role by role, so your engineers stay on the product and you interview only people who have already been tested.
01 What you usually need
More roles than your team has time to hire for.
Growth changes the hiring problem. It is no longer finding one good person. It is finding many, to one standard, without stopping the work.
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Several roles open at once
Each role is a separate search against a written definition, and hiring continues as the team grows. The process is the same for one role or twenty.
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The same standard for every hire
Every candidate goes through the same four stages: profile review, a timed technical test, a conversation with our engineering team, and a review that assigns an engineering level.
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Engineers’ time kept for the product
We do the sourcing and the assessment. Your team meets a shortlist that arrives with notes and scores, using your own interview process.
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People in countries where you have no entity
ProDevs can employ and pay the person locally and keep the employment compliant, while they work on your team full-time.
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A whole squad, not a single seat
When a new product line needs a product manager, designers and engineers together, a dedicated team can be assembled around your roadmap.
02 What fits
Five services, for five different growth problems.
Most growing companies use more than one: permanent hires where they can employ, ProDevs as employer where they cannot.
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- Use it when
- The roles are permanent and you can employ in the country. You interview a shortlist, and the person you choose joins on your own contract.
- What you pay
- A one-time placement fee of 10–15% of first-year salary, with a two-week replacement guarantee.
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Outsourcing & payroll
ProDevs employs and pays the person locally. They work on your team.
About outsourcing & payroll- Use it when
- You want a full-time person in a country where you have no legal entity, or one party to manage talent and payments across several countries.
- What you pay
- Outsourcing at 20% of salary. Payroll and compliance only, for someone you have already chosen, at 5% of salary, capped at $500 a month per hire.
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Dedicated product teams
Engineers, designers, product managers and QA working as one team.
About dedicated product teams- Use it when
- You have a roadmap and someone to lead it, and need more people to deliver it. The team joins your stand-ups, your backlog and your repositories.
- What you pay
- A monthly retainer for a dedicated team, or fixed-price delivery estimated before we start.
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Department buildout
Structure, leadership and team for a whole function, as one engagement.
About department buildout- Use it when
- You are hiring more than a few people at once, with a lead to run them. Structure, leadership and team are planned as one engagement.
- What you pay
- Scoped with you once we understand what the function has to deliver.
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Technical audit
An independent review of code, architecture, security and infrastructure.
About technical audit- Use it when
- The team is about to grow and you want an independent view of the code, architecture, security and infrastructure it will inherit.
- What you pay
- Scoped with you on a first call.
You can add or remove team members as your roadmap changes. Every model and fee is set out on the pricing page.
03 How it starts
Role by role, in the order the team needs them.
We run the search and the assessment. You keep every decision: who to meet, who to hire and on what terms.
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Day 0
Book a call
Tell us the roles, the levels, the locations and which ones are holding the roadmap up.
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After the call
Written role definitions
Each role gets a definition that candidates and your hiring managers are both assessed against, and the roles are put in a hiring order.
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Within 48 hours for most roles
Shortlists, role by role
We search our network of vetted professionals first, then go to market for what it does not already cover. Candidates arrive assessed, with notes and scores.
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Most hires: 2–3 weeks
Interviews and offers
You meet the people you want to meet. We schedule, collect feedback, keep candidates informed and help benchmark the offer.
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As the team grows
Keep going
We check in while each hire settles and replace them under the guarantee if the fit is not right. The next roles follow the same process.
04 From our work
A team hired gradually, as the company grows.
An ongoing engagement: each role is its own search, and the client hires the people it chooses.
05 Client testimonials
Hear it first-hand, from the people we worked with.
Founders, operators and executives describe working with ProDevs, in their own words.
Play video: Client testimonial: Olufemi Seyi, COO, Casafina development company
Play video: Client testimonial: Aproko Doctor, Building AwaDoc
Play video: Client testimonial: JT Liddell, Promenade CEO
06 Questions
Scale-ups, answered.
Something else? Book a call (opens in a new tab) and ask us directly.
Not quite your stage? See all four use cases, or look at ProDevs by industry.
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How many roles can you work on at once?
The process is the same for one role or twenty. Each role is a separate search against its own written definition, prioritised by the order in which your team needs them.
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How do you keep the standard consistent across many hires?
Every candidate is assessed in the same four stages: a review of the CV, portfolio and past projects against our engineering framework; a timed technical test; a conversation with our engineering team; and a final review that assigns an engineering level. Assessments run on Evalia, the assessment platform we built ourselves.
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How quickly will we see candidates?
For most roles you see a first shortlist within 48 hours of agreeing the brief. Most companies then find their hire within two to three weeks, depending on their interview process and the candidate’s notice period.
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What does it cost?
It depends on the model. Direct hire is a one-time placement fee of 10–15% of first-year salary. Outsourcing, where we find and employ the person for you, is 20% of salary. Payroll and compliance for someone you have already chosen is 5% of salary, capped at $500 a month per hire. A dedicated team is billed as a monthly retainer. We confirm the numbers for your roles once we understand the brief.
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Can we scale the team down as well as up?
Yes. With outsourcing and dedicated teams you can add or remove team members as your roadmap changes.
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Do you only hire engineers?
No. ProDevs started with engineering, product and design, and the same process now covers finance, sales, operations, people, marketing and leadership roles.
Talk to ProDevs
Which roles are holding the roadmap up?
Tell us the roles and the levels. We will tell you how quickly we can put assessed shortlists in front of you.