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Startup StaffingSUS

For founders and CEOs building technology teams

Hire the technical talent you need, without handing over the runway.

Startup Staffing gives international technology startups and scaleups — pre-seed through Series B+, bootstrapped or funded — experienced recruitment support for specialist technical and engineering roles, with the fee paid as an agreed monthly percentage of each hire's gross monthly salary for as long as they stay. Build the plan first, then talk to us.

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The founder problem SUS is built around

You are usually deciding between the hire you need and the cash you want to keep. Recruitment fees make that decision harder than it should be.

  • Working capital stays where it is useful

    A traditional fee lands as one invoice weeks after your new hire starts, at exactly the point you are also absorbing salary, equipment and onboarding. SUS replaces that invoice with monthly payments tied to that employee, for as long as they stay.

  • Several hires do not become several large invoices

    Growth usually means hiring in clusters. Three or four conventional fees arriving in the same quarter is a real cash event. With SUS each hire adds a known monthly figure instead.

  • You still employ the person, in the normal way

    The candidate joins on your employment contract, your terms, your team. Nothing about the funding model changes who the employer is.

  • The trade-off, stated plainly

    Monthly payments continue while the employee stays, so over a long tenure the cumulative cost can exceed a one-off fee. The calculator shows both the exact breakeven and the first full month above a one-off fee, and your written terms include a pre-agreed buy-out for when you want to close out future monthly charges for that hire.

  • Flexibility you can act on

    If someone leaves, billing stops from their final date of employment. If you would rather stop future monthly charges for that hire, you exercise the buy-out already agreed with you in writing at the outset.

Model the whole hiring plan, not one role

Most founders are not hiring one person. The team hiring planner takes up to ten role lines, each with its own salary and number of hires, and shows the month-one cash comparison, the cumulative cost over time and the crossover month for the plan as a whole.

You end up with a shareable link and a printable one-page summary — the two things you need when the conversation moves to your co-founder, your board or whoever signs off spend. Figures in the planner are illustrative until we agree your terms in writing.

Open the team hiring planner

Just closed a round? Building a hiring plan after a Series A

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 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. The buy-out value, or the basis for calculating it, is agreed with you in writing in your commercial terms at the outset, for each hire. You can exercise that pre-agreed option later under those terms, without a fresh commercial negotiation. Once it is paid, future monthly billing for that hire stops. Other hires are unaffected. Monthly fees already paid are not deducted, credited or refunded against the buy-out by default; they cover the months already elapsed.
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.

What you probably want answered first

Whether to make the hire now, and how to do it without a large recruitment invoice landing in the same quarter as the salary.

What does this actually cost me in month one?
A monthly percentage of that hire's gross monthly salary instead of a single fee at the point of hire. The calculator shows both side by side, with your own numbers.
Where is the catch?
Monthly payments continue while the employee stays, so over a long tenure the cumulative total can pass what a one-off fee would have been. We show that crossover month rather than hiding it.
What if I am hiring three or four people, not one?
The team planner models up to ten role lines with their own salaries and headcount, and gives you the plan-level month-one cash requirement and crossover.
How quickly can this start?
A short conversation is enough to begin. You do not need a signed-off role, a finished job specification or a budget line to talk to us.
Is this borrowing?
No. It is a recruitment fee payment structure, not lending, credit or a financial product, and no accounting or tax treatment is implied.

Your route through this site

Five steps, in order, from understanding the model to modelling your own numbers to talking to a person. You can skip straight to the end at any point.

  1. 1Understand

    Read SUS explained

    The commercial model in one printable page, written so you can forward it to a co-founder or an investor without translating it first.

  2. 2Understand

    See where the models differ

    A straight comparison with a traditional one-off fee, including the situations where the monthly model ends up costing more.

  3. 3Model it

    Model the whole hiring plan

    Up to ten role lines, month-one cash, cumulative cost and the crossover month for the plan as a whole — with a shareable link and a printable summary.

  4. 4Model it

    Check the approach that fits

    Two minutes of questions if you are not sure whether a single hire, a phased plan or a written brief is the right starting point.

  5. 5Talk to us

    Talk to us

    Bring the plan, or bring nothing at all. Early hiring conversations are welcome, including whether SUS suits you.

Reading for this decision

Written for this role specifically, and useful whether or not you ever work with us.

Browse the full hiring resource hub

Not the decision you are making?

The same model, answered for the other people usually in the room.

Hiring in one of these areas?

The sector pages set out the roles we search for and how the monthly model applies.

Tell us what you are trying to build.

You do not need a signed-off role or a finished job specification. Early hiring conversations are welcome, including whether SUS is the right fit for you at all.

  • 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

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