Robotics, hardware and complex systems
Engineering recruitment where the product is physical and the systems are hard.
Robotics, autonomous systems and advanced engineering businesses hire across disciplines at once — mechanical, electronics, embedded, software and systems. Startup Staffing places those roles through Humand's engineering recruiters, with the fee paid as an agreed monthly percentage of gross salary while the employee stays.
Who this is for
SUS is built for technically complex businesses. If your hiring looks like this, the model tends to make sense.
- Robotics, autonomous systems and industrial technology companies
- Hardware and physical-product startups scaling from prototype to production
- Teams needing engineers who work across mechanical, electronics and software
- Businesses with capital tied up in tooling, materials and manufacturing
Roles we recruit
Examples of the roles the recruitment team works on. If your role is not listed but sits in the same technical territory, it is still worth a conversation — and if it genuinely sits outside our expertise, we will say so.
Embedded and electronics
- Embedded Software Engineer
- Firmware Engineer
- Electronics Design Engineer
- FPGA Engineer
Robotics and autonomy
- Robotics Engineer
- Controls Engineer
- Perception Engineer
- Autonomy Software Engineer
Mechanical and systems
- Mechanical Design Engineer
- Systems Engineer
- Test & Validation Engineer
- Manufacturing Engineer
Quality and leadership
- QA / Test Lead
- Engineering Manager
- Head of Hardware
- Technical Lead
Why these hires are hard
The best engineers sit between disciplines
The person you actually need has usually done embedded and mechanical, or controls and software. Job-title matching does not find them.
Established industry employers are the competition
You are often persuading someone out of a stable engineering employer and into a young company. That conversation needs handling properly.
Cash is already committed to hardware
Tooling, materials and manufacturing absorb capital long before revenue arrives. A large recruitment fee in the same quarter compounds the problem.
Why the SUS payment model fits here
The recruitment work is conventional specialist search. What changes is how it is paid for.
Recruitment stops competing with capital expenditure
Spreading the fee monthly means a hire does not have to be weighed directly against a tooling or prototype run in the same month.
Team builds stay affordable in sequence
The team hiring planner lets you stage roles across months and see the monthly and cumulative picture for the whole plan.
Billing follows the employment
If the hire leaves, billing stops from their final date of employment. A pre-agreed buy-out is available when you would rather close the arrangement early.
All percentages and figures used anywhere on this site are illustrative examples chosen by you in the calculator. Your commercial terms, including any buy-out value, are agreed with you and confirmed in writing before work begins.
The short version
SUS in 60 seconds
Everything that matters about the Startup Staffing model, in six answers.
- What is it?
- Permanent recruitment for international technology startups and scaleups, delivered by Humand Talent Solutions Limited under the Startup Staffing (SUS) model.
- How do I pay?
- An agreed monthly percentage of the employee's gross monthly salary, invoiced monthly in arrears from their start date, instead of one large fee at the point of hire.
- Who employs the person?
- You do, directly, on your own employment contract. We are not the employer and this is not a contract or umbrella arrangement.
- What if they leave?
- Billing stops from their final date of employment. Payments already made are not refunded.
- Can I buy out?
- Yes. Pay the pre-agreed buy-out value and future monthly billing for that placement ends. Previous payments are not deducted from it.
- What do I do next?
- Model your hiring in the calculator and send it to us, or just tell us what you are planning. Your percentage and buy-out value are agreed in writing before any work begins.
Percentages and buy-out values are agreed with each business individually in writing. Any figures shown elsewhere on this site are illustrative examples, not standard pricing.
Keep reading
- Technology recruitment at SUSHow we cover software, deep tech and complex engineering hiring.
- Model your hiring planSingle role or a staged team plan, with a shareable link.
- How SUS worksThe five steps from brief to monthly billing.
- SUS vs traditional feesWhere the two models differ, including where SUS costs more.
- SUS explainedA printable commercial explainer to share internally.
- Full FAQCosts, contracts, buy-outs and getting started.
Tell us about the role, and we will tell you honestly whether we can help.
A rough outline is enough to start. If the hire sits outside our technical territory, we will say so rather than take the brief.
- A specific live vacancy you are trying to fill
- Hiring you are planning over the next few months
- Several future hires and how they would work together
- Whether SUS is the right fit for your business at all
Prefer to talk? 01865 657 000
Prefer email? joseph@humand.co.uk