The hardest software engineering roles · Randstad · permanent
The senior engineer you are looking for does not apply.
They get found, through a relationship that existed before your vacancy did. We have been building that network since 2007. No search that starts today can compete with it, not even our own.
Thirty minutes, no cost, no obligation. We put your vacancy next to what we see in the market. If it is not a fit, we will say so.
4.9 from 220+ Google reviews · Xebia, Marktplaats, Silverflow
At Ximedes we placed 50+ engineers. Most are still there today.
Java · Kotlin · Scala · TypeScript · Go · Cloud & Platform
The problem
Plenty of CVs. Interviews worth your calendar: those are missing.
Most engineering leaders we speak with tell the same story. There are more CVs than ever, so the reflex is to compare more and add another round. That is exactly where it stalls: the pipeline floods, your senior capacity sits in interview loops instead of in delivery, and the calibre you actually want still is not in there.
Hiring next to your actual job
Ten hours a week on sourcing and screening. Hours that do not go to architecture, reviews and the team, while sprint goals keep slipping.
Your seniors sit in interviews that lead nowhere
Every round with a candidate who fails the first technical question costs your strongest people an afternoon of focus. The filtering lands on the team, because no one else can judge the level.
You cannot build a network on demand
Outreach that starts the moment a role opens, with one message for every type of engineer, does not reach seniors. That is not anyone's failing. It is structural. The network has to exist before the vacancy.
The offer dies
A month from first conversation to signature is already too long for the best engineers. They signed elsewhere last week. Not lost on salary. Lost on speed.
And this is what it looks like when it works: fewer people come through, but every interview is worth the level. Recognise the right one and you close within two weeks, taking that engineer off the market before anyone else calls. Your seniors are back to building instead of screening, and the new engineer is reviewing the first pull requests while a slow process is still in round two.
Not an agency with a stack of CVs. Two people with a network.
Together we specialise in the hardest software engineering vacancies to fill: roles where you must speak the language of the engineer and of the manager alike. We both work long-term for clients with high standards such as Xebia, Marktplaats, Silverflow, Ximedes and Blue Harvest.
We make the difference with the calibre of engineer we put forward, intensive guidance of the process and well-considered choices on both sides: career moves that fit the engineer, and growth with the people who form the pillars of your company.
We help you hire an 8 or a 9. Not a 6 who fills the seat.
Placing senior software engineers since 2007: over 300 himself, more than 1,100 with CodeGuild, the agency he built in 2014. Heard in thousands of intakes why good engineers leave and what they go looking for; he shares those insights with the hundreds of development managers, CTOs and software entrepreneurs he works with. Deliberately keeps it small and personal: he runs every search himself.
Placing senior JVM engineers since 2019: Java, Kotlin, Scala. Over 150 placements at product companies and specialist consultancies in the Randstad. Joined as a consultant, bought in and has been partner and co-owner since 2025.
Why clients stay after the first placement.
This is how we have been building teams at Xebia, Marktplaats, Silverflow, Ximedes and Miro, among others.
“We have been working with CodeGuild for over 10 years and have hired more than 50 developers through them. Most of them still work here. A CV from CodeGuild saves me time and frustration.”
Joris Portegies ZwartCEO, Ximedes“There are many agencies, but only a few that reach this level. Thanks to CodeGuild, we have built a team that is even better than I had dared to hope. For us, CodeGuild is indispensable.”
Paul BuyingCTO, Silverflow“We have been working with CodeGuild for over 8 years. The collaboration is personal and involved. They understand our culture, our standards and our mission. CodeGuild delivers exactly that type of people: 8s and 9s.”
Joseph GouriyeHead of Software Technology, Xebia NLHow we work
Three steps. Focus, speed and certainty.
We speak with every candidate for well over an hour, and not only about technology. Why they are leaving and what they are looking for next. Whether there is a line through the steps they have taken. What gives them energy, how they keep themselves sharp, how critically they look at their own work, and how they think about the business value of what they build.
We test it, we coach on it, and we are just as quick to say when someone is better off staying put. This is what working together looks like: commitment on both sides.
You know who you need before the first CV
We start with an intake: you receive a role profile and market read that also works internally. Valuable on its own, even if you don't hire through us.
Your role gets priority
When we work exclusively, our strongest capacity goes to your role first. Within 10 working days, 2 to 4 candidates who genuinely fit, each with a briefing on why.
On balance you pay on result
Everything up front is fully credited. You pay the same rate as elsewhere: with the speed, the first pick and a guarantee up to nine months.
The same CV from another source is not the same engineer. Without that hour and that mirror, no one knows whether the timing is right or whether this move is really what they are after. You find that out a few months in.
The same rate as the market, only a different commitment. We walk you through the exact rates and the model on the call.
The best engineers expect the best process. So we reward speed.
Standard guarantee
Three times the market standard of two months.
With a process inside 21 days
If the process from first introduction to signature completes within 21 calendar days, we extend to nine months. We guard that pace with you, on nearly twenty years of seeing what works and what scares people off. A tight process is exactly why our placements stay.
Does the engineer leave within the guarantee period? We replace at no cost. If replacement does not succeed within 8 weeks, you receive 75% of the fee back.
Robert Hawker, founder CodeGuild
Put your vacancy next to what we see in the market.
Thirty minutes, no cost, no obligation. You tell us what you are looking for and how it is going. We tell you what we see in the market and whether we can fill it. If it is not a fit, we will say so. You walk away with an honest market read either way.
Or call Robert directly: +31 6 54 33 64 92 · r.hawker@codeguild.nl