Two straightforward models. We charge a percentage of first year salary, paid across your new hire's first three months. Nothing hidden, nothing per seat.
Our recommended model, and where we do our best work.
20% upfront engagement fee, credited against the final invoice.
Success fee split into 4 payments over the first 3 months.
Free replacement search if the hire doesn't stick.
Pay only when you hire someone we introduce (low priority).
No upfront fee. The higher rate reflects the risk we carry.
Success fee split into 4 payments over the first 3 months.
Free replacement search if the hire doesn't stick.
Retainer or contingency, the success fee splits into four equal parts across your new hire's first three months. You pay as they prove out.
If, for any reason, you let the person go or they decide to leave, we run another search for the role, completely free. We're paid for placements that last, not signatures.
The retainer percentage scales with search complexity. We agree the rate with you before we begin.
Clearly defined roles with a healthy candidate pool, like full stack and product engineers.
Deeper or scarcer skill sets, like AI, infra, and computer vision engineers.
Rare, senior, or defining hires, like founding, research, and eval engineers.
Illustrative ranges. Final rates are confirmed per search.
On both retainer and contingency, the success fee splits into four equal installments across the first three months. You pay a quarter when the candidate is hired, another after month one, another after month two, and the last after month three. It spreads the cost over the window where the hire is proving out.
You're covered by our free replacement guarantee. If, for any reason, you let the person go or they decide to leave, we run another search for the role at no extra cost. We're paid for a hire that sticks, not a signature.
A full search: role scoping, sourcing, automated and human screening, Aurora's science backed assessments, coordination, and support through to offer. The 20% engagement fee is paid upfront and credited against the final placement fee.
With contingency we carry all the risk and only get paid if you hire, so that risk is priced into the higher 15 to 30% range. Retainer aligns incentives and lets us prioritize your search, which makes it both cheaper and faster.
It comes down to search complexity: how scarce the skill set is, how senior the role is, and how defined the requirements are. We agree the rate with you before we start. See the complexity guide above.
Yes. We focus exclusively on engineering hires at venture backed startups, mostly in the US. Going deep on a narrow set of roles is what makes our technology and our matching stand apart.
