Seattle has unusual depth in cloud infrastructure and data engineering, largely because two of the biggest employers in the world have been training people here for two decades. That is an advantage when you are hiring and a problem when you are competing with those same employers for the result.
The concentration of large technology employers sets the compensation benchmark and the interview expectations. Candidates arrive well practised at structured interview loops and well informed about what their skills are worth.
It also produces genuine infrastructure and distributed systems depth that is hard to find elsewhere at the same density, particularly in cloud, platform and data engineering.
If you are not a large technology employer, you win on scope and impact rather than package, and the pitch has to say so specifically. We help frame that and take it to people directly instead of relying on adverts nobody sees.
The contract market here is strong, so where a permanent hire is slow or the budget is not ready, we will tell you when a contractor is the better answer instead of stringing out a search.
Cloud and platform engineering, data engineering and data science, backend and distributed systems, plus programme and technical operations roles.
We cover both permanent and contract, and contract moves considerably faster here than in most markets.
A scoping call including a realistic benchmark against the large local employers, direct market approach, then a shortlist inside a week. Permanent placements carry a 90-day replacement guarantee.
Rarely on package. You compete on scope, ownership and what someone will actually get to build. That pitch works, but it has to be specific rather than a general claim about culture.
Yes, noticeably so in cloud and data. Where a permanent search is slow or budget is not signed off, contract is often the faster and more sensible route, and we will say so.
Cloud infrastructure, distributed systems and data engineering, at a density that is hard to match. Frontend and product design pools are healthy but less distinctive.
Many do, and the large employers have moved around on it repeatedly. State your policy plainly. Ambiguity costs you candidates late in the process.
Send us the brief and we will come back with a shortlist inside five working days.