For Companies
We qualify for the competencies that actually drive forward-deployed performance.
Tell Us About Your Role →The Fake FDE Problem
Strong presenter, weak builder. Strong builder, zero discovery ability. Role scoped as a pre-sales demo engineer. If your FDE posting says candidates “can be as technical or non-technical as they like,” those aren't FDEs. We filter signal from noise.
10-Competency Model
Surfaces the real problem beneath the stated request. Asks the question that reframes the engagement.
Separates signal from noise in ambiguous briefs. Knows which version of the problem is worth solving.
Builds working things, not just specs. Can ship production changes tied to business outcomes.
Compresses the loop from problem to prototype to feedback. Weeks of quality in days of effort.
Builds champions. Makes complex technical decisions legible to non-technical decision makers.
Makes progress without a playbook. Doesn't wait for full requirements to start moving.
Owns from discovery through deployment through adoption. Doesn't hand off at the hard parts.
Understands the user's world well enough to anticipate what they didn't ask for.
Translates between engineering, product, and executive layers. Loses nothing in translation.
Performs when the environment is imperfect, deadlines are real, and the original plan is obsolete.
3-Phase Work Trial
A real simulation of the job. Each phase surfaces a different dimension of the FDE competency profile.
Candidate receives a vague brief from a fictional stakeholder. We measure whether they ask the right questions before building anything.
48-hour build exercise with incomplete specifications. We measure technical execution speed, decision quality under ambiguity, and what they ship.
Candidate presents to a simulated C-suite panel and must defend their approach and iterate in real time.
Scoring output:
Delivery Models
The full-stack FDE profile. Discovery, build, stakeholder management. The unicorn is real — it just costs $400–630K and takes 6 months to find. We compress that.
Discovery FDE + Technical FDE. Palantir runs this model — Echo and Delta. Two specialists at $200K each vs. one unicorn at $500K, with better outcomes on high-ambiguity deployments.
Paired placement expands the talent pool and reduces time-to-fill. It also gives you explicit ownership across the competency spectrum.
Our Process
30 minutes. We understand your stack, your team, and what's made previous hires fail.
We build your FDE scorecard using the 10-competency model, weighted to your specific deployment context.
Every candidate runs the 3-phase work trial. You receive a competency heatmap, confidence rating, and recommendation.
We stay in the loop through offer. We've seen enough bad closes to know where they break.
Book Intake
We reply within 48 hours to schedule a 30-minute intake call.