Permanent Recruitment

Permanent usually makes sense when the work is ongoing and the role sits at the centre of the product. Contract suits a defined project, cover, or a skill you need for a set period. More companies are now hiring AI engineers and AI product managers permanently for this reason. They have accepted the need is not going away. If a role would be better as a contract or fractional hire, we will say so.

It depends on the role, the location and your interview process. We usually have a shortlist with you within three to five days of the brief. From shortlist to accepted offer, the median is around 46 days, and it can be as quick as ten. Most of that time sits with the hiring side: how urgent the role feels, how many people need to agree, and how quickly feedback comes back. Some companies take two weeks to give feedback after a single interview. Strong candidates are usually talking to more than one company in that time. Agreeing stages, decision-makers and feedback times at the start is the simplest way to avoid losing someone late.

Quickly. Until recently, many clients did not want AI used in interviews at all. Engineering interviews now often ask candidates to show how they work with coding agents and how they check that work. Some regulated environments remain more cautious. Take-home tasks are harder to judge, because AI tools can produce a polished result fast. Asking candidates to talk through and defend their work live usually tells you more.

Counter-offers are not a major issue in most searches right now, with one exception. People who already use AI well in their current role are often underpaid for what they now deliver. When they resign, some employers respond with a late counter-offer. We raise that risk early, so motivation and salary are discussed before an offer is made. In our experience, accepting a counter-offer rarely works out in the long run.

Yes. We run permanent searches across the UK, Europe, the US and the UAE, and each market behaves differently. The US is still hiring actively, while the UK is more cautious. A lot of European hiring is remote roles for UK, US and UAE businesses. In the UAE, strong local tech talent is scarce, so searches often look abroad. We benchmark every search against its own local market.

Clients can get in touch to discuss a brief, and candidates are welcome to register their interest. The quickest route is our contact page or a call to +44 203 397 4565, and one of our consultants will pick things up from there.