Services
Contingent Search
You pay on successful placement. The risk sits with us.
The right model when the brief is clear, the market is identifiable, and speed matters.
When contingent works
Contingent search works when the role is well-defined, the skill set maps to a specific and identifiable candidate pool, and you do not need to commit upfront. For a Senior Controls Engineer or Perception Engineer role where you know the domain, the seniority, and the rough technical environment — contingent gives you access to our direct-approach capability with no financial risk if the search does not convert.
The structural limit of contingent is attention. A contingent relationship means we bear all the risk and divide focus across multiple active mandates. If the brief is unusual, the timeline is tight, or attracting the right person requires sustained effort over weeks — contingent may produce slower output than the role deserves. In those situations, exclusive or retained search is usually the better structure.
What we do differently
We do not run contingent the way most firms do. We do not blast your brief to everyone who has ever registered on a database. We run the same targeted, research-led process we use on retained mandates — we just absorb the risk. That means you get quality over volume, within the economics that contingent allows.
Every candidate we send has been approached directly, qualified against the brief, and assessed for fit before they reach you. We do not pad pipelines.
Typical roles
- Senior Robotics Software Engineer
- Perception Engineer
- Controls Engineer
- Middleware and Communications Engineer
- Embedded Systems Engineer
- Autonomy Software Engineer
- Applied ML for Robotics Engineer
- Robotics Platform Engineer
How it works
- 1
Understand
We learn the role properly: what the system does, what the hire will own, and what success looks like at six months. Not every contingent brief is as defined as it appears.
- 2
Map
We build a picture of the relevant candidate pool — the companies, teams, and individuals with the right domain experience — before the first approach is made.
- 3
Reach out
Direct contact with the right people. No spray campaigns, no job board reliance. Each message is written for the person receiving it.
- 4
Manage
We maintain calibration and feedback loops so strong candidates do not drift between conversations. Most searches stall between first interview and offer. We prevent that.
- 5
Close
We manage offer and counter-offer through to acceptance. The finish matters as much as the start.