Building an In-House Platform Team
Most CommonYou are moving from partner-delivered to internally owned and need the first permanent hires to be right.
- Long horizon
- Core hires
Contract-to-Hire
Work Together First, Then Decide Whether to Make It Permanent
The same start as a contract engagement, with a planned route to permanent employment agreed before day one. Both sides get evidence instead of an interview impression — and on bespoke platforms, evidence is worth a great deal more.
Best used when you are building a permanent in-house platform team rather than covering a gap.
How Contract-to-Hire Works
Live demand- Best for
- A role you intend to make permanent, where the platform is bespoke enough that an interview will not settle it
- Who directs
- You do, exactly as with contract staffing. Nothing about the work differs
- Trial period
- Agreed up front, long enough to see real delivery rather than onboarding
- Conversion
- Terms and any fee agreed at the start, so the decision later is about the person
- If it does not convert
- The engagement ends or continues on contract terms. No obligation either way
Send us a JD or a rough outline —start a requirement.
Staffed this way
- Configuration
- Integration
- Tech leads
- Tuning & detection
- BA
- QA
The Honest Version
It Solves a Real Problem, and It Narrows the Pool
Both things are true, so it is worth saying both. Hiring permanently onto a bespoke platform is genuinely hard to judge in two interviews, and a trial period gives you months of evidence instead. That is a real advantage for a role you expect to keep for years.
The cost is candidate supply. Established contractors on specialist platforms often decline contract-to-hire outright, because a permanent offer is a pay cut they did not ask for. So the pool skews toward people who actually want a permanent role — which is fine if that is what you are offering, and a problem if you are quietly using it to hedge. We will ask which it is on the intake call.
All Staffing Models- A Contract Brief in DisguiseIf the permanent seat is not actually approved, the candidate finds out eventually and leaves. Straight contract staffing is the honest option.
- Conversion Decided LateA decision left to the final fortnight usually loses the person. The review point belongs in the diary at the start.
- Permanent Package Not ReadyIf the salary band, level and approval do not exist yet, conversion stalls at exactly the wrong moment.
- Rate and Salary MismatchContract rate and permanent package have to be reconcilable from the outset, or the conversation collapses.
- Used to Avoid a DecisionTrialling three people for one seat is expensive and gets around. This model works on good faith or not at all.
When It Fits
The Situations This Model Was Built For
If your requirement looks like one of these, contract-to-hire earns its place.
A Key Technical Seat
A tech lead or architect whose judgement shapes years of configuration decisions.
- High stakes
- Judgement-led
Hard-to-Judge Fit
The technical bar is clear but the working style, pace or stakeholder handling is not.
- Evidence
- Working style
Headcount Approved Later
The work is needed now, the permanent requisition lands next quarter. Start on contract, convert when it opens.
- Timing
- Bridge
Retaining Programme Knowledge
Someone has done well on a programme and you want to keep what they learned.
- Retention
- Continuity
A New Capability In-House
First permanent hire in rating, rules, tuning or integration, where you have no internal benchmark yet.
- First hire
- No benchmark
Slow Permanent Process
Internal hiring takes months you do not have. Start the work, run the process in parallel.
- Speed
- Parallel track
Reducing Contractor Dependency
Long-running contract seats converting deliberately into permanent roles.
- Cost
- Stability
The Mechanics
What Is Agreed Before Anyone Starts
Contract-to-hire only works when the conversion terms are settled at the beginning. Left until later, they become a renegotiation with someone who now has options.
Conversion TermsSettled before the first profile arrives
- Qualifying period
- Conversion fee basis
- Target salary band
- Level & title
- Notice on conversion
- What happens if neither side converts
The Trial PeriodLong enough to see delivery, not onboarding
- Contract rate
- Duration
- Review checkpoints
- What success looks like, written down
- Who makes the call
Candidate ExpectationsWhere this model usually fails
- Permanent intent stated up front
- Salary expectation confirmed early
- Benefits & package shared
- No surprise at conversion
- Right to decline on either side
Direction & ReportingIdentical to contract staffing
- You set priorities
- You run reviews
- We stay reachable
- Escalation route agreed
- Check-in cadence
Onboarding & AccessThe usual reason a start date slips
- Background checks
- Right to work
- Environment & VPN access
- Repository & tooling
- Day one plan
Contracting RouteWhichever is faster for you
- Direct with the hiring team
- Through an existing MSP
- Inside a vendor framework
- Onsite, hybrid or offshore
- Right-to-represent agreed first
Compare
See all modelsHow This Sits Against the Other Three
Contract-to-Hire
The same start, with a planned route to permanent.
You are hereHow It Runs
From Brief to Conversion
Four steps, with the conversion decision scheduled rather than improvised.
- 1
Requirement and Terms
Role, rate, target salary band, qualifying period and conversion terms — all agreed before we approach anyone.
- 2
Shortlist With Intent Stated
Candidates are told this is a route to permanent from the first conversation, so nobody is surprised later.
- 3
Trial Period With Checkpoints
The work runs as normal contract delivery, with review points in the diary from day one.
- 4
Convert or Conclude
A decision made on evidence, early enough to act on. If it is a no, we say so plainly and move on.
Typical Engagements
What Contract-to-Hire Briefs Usually Look Like
Illustrative shapes, not packages. Each one gets sized against your requirement.
First In-House Specialist
One seat · new capability
- Your first permanent rating, rules or tuning hire
- No internal benchmark to interview against yet
- Trial period gives you one before you commit
- Conversion terms agreed at the start
Team Build-Out
Several seats · staggered conversion
- Two to four hires converting on their own timelines
- Lead hired first, sets the standard for the rest
- Salary bands confirmed before the search opens
- Often follows a partner-delivered implementation
Converting Existing Cover
Retention · already embedded
- A long-running contract seat becoming permanent
- The person already knows your estate
- Package and level need to be ready before the conversation
- Usually the cheapest good hire available to you
Engagement shapes are illustrative. Actual composition, rates and availability are agreed against a specific requirement.
Before You Send a Brief
Questions We Get Asked
Will good contractors accept contract-to-hire?
Some will, many will not, and it is better to know that at the start. Established specialists often see a permanent offer as a pay cut they did not ask for. The pool for this model skews toward people who genuinely want a permanent role, so if you are offering a good one it works well. If you are using it to hedge on headcount, expect the search to be harder and slower.
What if we decide not to convert?
The engagement ends on the agreed date or continues on contract terms — whichever you both prefer. There is no obligation to convert, and we would rather you decided honestly than converted reluctantly.
What if the candidate decides not to convert?
That happens, and it is usually about package or scope rather than the work. It is the main reason we push to have the salary band and level settled before the search starts rather than discovered at the end.
How long should the trial period be?
Long enough to see delivery rather than onboarding. On bespoke platforms the first weeks are largely orientation, so a period that ends before real work has shipped tells you very little. We will suggest a duration based on the role during intake.
Is there a conversion fee?
The basis is agreed in your contract before anyone starts, so there is nothing to negotiate at conversion.
What do you need from us to start?
A JD if you have one, plus three things that matter more here than in a contract brief: the target salary band, whether the permanent seat is actually approved, and who makes the conversion decision.
Request Talent
Tell Us Which Seat You Want to Keep
Send a JD or a two-line outline. We come back with the roles that fit, what the market looks like for them, and a shortlist against your requirement.
Send Your Requirement
Two minutes now, a shortlist conversation next.