Technology talent
Verified engineers, working inside your team in weeks
Contract engineers for product and platform teams, verified through four layers before you see a profile. You interview a focused shortlist, lead the work yourself, and we handle contracting, invoicing and compliance.
At a glance
- verification layers before you see a profile
- 4
- verification layers before you see a profile
- weeks, typical brief-to-start window
- 1 to 4
- weeks, typical brief-to-start window
- contract and one invoice, whatever the engineer's location
- 1
- contract and one invoice, whatever the engineer's location
Why it works
Fewer interviews, better engineers
Every engineering manager knows the ritual: forty CVs that match the keywords, ten interviews, and one hire made partly from exhaustion.
Volume is not speed. A supplier who sends fifteen profiles in a day has forwarded their inbox, not saved you time. We work the other way round: the verification happens before you spend a minute, because we are a software company, and assessing engineers is something we do for our own delivery work every week.
Each shortlisted candidate arrives with a written scorecard: how they performed at each layer, where they are strong and where they are not. A shortlist with no weaknesses listed is a sales document, and you have read enough of those.
We stay in touch. Both ways.
If a search is proving hard, you hear it from us first, with what we are changing. Candidates get an answer every time, including a reasoned no. Engineers we treat well come back and refer the next ones, which is why our searches never start from zero.
Day 0
Brief agreed
Typically 5 to 10 days
Shortlist with written scorecards
At your pace
Your interviews
Typically 1 to 4 weeks
Contracted and started
Verification
Four layers before you meet anyone
Only candidates who pass every relevant layer reach you. Not the best of what we had: passed.
Profile and right-to-work verification
We confirm that the CV's claims can be checked and that the right to work is real, at the first layer rather than at contract time.
Communication screen
A real conversation, because most contract engagements fail on communication before they fail on code. Can they explain a decision? Do they say "I don't know" when it is true?
Written technical assessment
Work we can read: reasoning about code they did not write, which is the daily reality of joining your team. No puzzles.
Live technical interview
Run by a senior engineer, in the actual stack, against documented criteria for the tier, so every candidate is measured the same way.
What you are buying
Who owns what, agreed before you sign
A talent engagement is not a managed service at a lower price. Stating the split up front is what keeps these engagements working for years.
Codentures owns
- Sourcing and four-layer verification against your brief
- Contracting through our Portuguese company, with IP and confidentiality terms from day one
- Invoicing, contractor payment and cross-border compliance
- Replacement sourcing if a placement does not work out
- Regular check-ins on the engagement
You own
- Day-to-day direction and sprint planning
- Code review and technical standards
- Onboarding into your systems
- Performance feedback
No one on your side to review the work? Then a dedicated delivery team is the right purchase, and we will say so on the first call.
When clients call us
- A resignation you need covered without a hiring round
- A headcount freeze that still allows contractor budget
- A deadline that needs more capacity this month, not next quarter
- A stack you can lead but cannot currently source for
Seniority and locations
The right level of engineer, in the right time zone
You are told the tier and location of every candidate before you interview them. EU-based candidates arrive with verified work authorisation.
| Tier | Best suited to |
|---|---|
| Lead engineer or architectEngineers who have owned architecture and led delivery teams. Placed where a client needs technical leadership inside an existing organisation. | Platform decisions, team leadership, modernisation programmes. |
| Senior engineer, Portugal and EUEU-resident senior engineers with verified work authorisation, contracted through our Portuguese company. | Regulated work, EU data residency, heavy same-time-zone collaboration with European and UK teams. |
| Senior engineer, India networkSenior engineers from our long-standing India network, verified to the same technical bar and contracted through the same company. | Senior capability at an efficient cost base, with four to five hours of daily overlap with Central European Time. |
| Mid-level engineer, any locationEngineers who work independently inside an established team with an existing review culture. | Teams with senior engineers in place who need throughput rather than direction. |
Working-hours overlap
- Lisbon (WET)Full day
- London (GMT / BST)Full day
- Berlin (CET)Full day
- New York (ET)Morning overlap
On price: Rates are set per role, seniority and location. We confirm a firm monthly figure on the first call, once we know the stack, the seniority you need and the expected duration. Quotes are available in EUR, GBP or USD.
The full pipeline
How an engagement runs, end to end
The four verification layers sit inside a documented pipeline that runs from your brief to regular check-ins for the life of the engagement.
Step 1: Role brief
We write the role down before we look at anyone: the stack, the seniority genuinely required, the team the engineer will join, and the budget.
- Stack, domain and the parts of the system the engineer will touch
- The seniority the role actually needs, including when that is less than requested
- Who reviews their work on your side
- Time-zone overlap, start date and expected duration
Step 2: Sourcing from an established network
Candidates come from a network we run continuously, not a search we start when you call. That is what makes a one-to-four-week start possible.
- Referrals from engineers already working with us, our highest-signal channel
- Direct outreach to engineers in Portugal, across the EU and in India
- Developer communities in Braga, Porto, Lisbon and our India network
- Applications through our engineering network page
Step 3: Technical assessment
A structured technical assessment against documented criteria for the tier, run the same way for every candidate so results are comparable.
- Depth in the specific stack, not a general programming quiz
- Reading and reasoning about code they did not write
- How they handle being wrong, and whether they say so early
- Written communication, because most of the working relationship is written
Step 4: Reliability and references
Competence is the baseline. The failure that costs clients money is unreliability, so we check for it deliberately.
- Reference conversations with people who managed their work directly
- A track record of finishing engagements they started
- Availability and competing commitments, stated plainly
- Right to work and contracting status for the location involved
Step 5: Shortlist and introduction
We put forward a small number of candidates we would stand behind, each with a written scorecard. You interview and decide.
- A focused shortlist rather than a volume of CVs
- A written scorecard per candidate, including our reservations
- Your own interview, always; we never ask you to hire on our word alone
Step 6: Contract, onboarding and check-ins
We handle contracting, IP assignment, invoicing and compliance, support the first weeks of onboarding, then stay in touch for the life of the engagement.
- Contracting through our Portuguese company, with IP assignment and confidentiality from day one
- One invoice to you, whatever the engineer's location
- A structured check-in at 30 days, then at regular intervals
- Replacement sourcing if the match does not work
Contract terms
The terms we raise before you do
- One contract, one invoice
- Whatever the engineer’s location, you contract with and are invoiced by Semântica Nómada Lda, in EUR, GBP or USD.
- UK and US engagements
- UK clients engage us on a B2B basis, and we support your off-payroll (IR35) status determination for each engagement. US clients contract under a master services agreement with statements of work.
- IP and confidentiality
- Written IP assignment and confidentiality terms are in every contractor agreement from the first day, not added when a client asks.
- Direct hiring
- Placement contracts include a conversion term covering direct hiring of a placed engineer within an initial protected period. We walk you through it before the first invoice, not in month nine.
Senior .NET engineering embedded in a UK product team
A UK travel technology platform
A long-running placement: a senior engineer working inside the client's own engineering organisation, under their direction and review, with Codentures as the contracting counterparty.
- Rolling engagement, renewed by the client
- Productive inside an existing release process
- B2B contracting suited to UK off-payroll rules
Who you contract with
Semântica Nómada Lda, trading as Codentures, headquartered in Braga, Portugal. Company details
Questions
Technology talent questions we are asked most
Who manages the engineer once they are placed?
You do. Your engineering organisation sets priorities, runs stand-ups, reviews code and gives performance feedback, exactly as it would for an internal engineer. Codentures handles contracting, invoicing, compliance and regular check-ins on the engagement.
What happens if a placement does not work out?
Tell us early. We source a replacement against the same brief, and the notice terms in the contract govern the wind-down of the original placement. Because sourcing runs continuously, a replacement search starts from an established network rather than from zero.
Can we hire the engineer directly?
Yes, under the conversion term in the placement contract. It covers direct hiring of a placed engineer within an initial protected period and sets the fee that applies. This is standard practice in contract staffing, and we explain the term before you sign rather than after.
Which seniority levels do you place?
Lead engineers and architects, senior engineers and mid-level engineers, from Portugal, the wider EU and our India network. You are told the tier and location of every candidate before you interview them, and EU-based candidates arrive with verified work authorisation.
How are invoicing and compliance handled across countries?
Through one Portuguese company. You receive a single invoice regardless of where the engineer is based, in EUR, GBP or USD. Codentures handles contractor payment, currency and the cross-border administration behind it, and every contractor agreement carries written IP assignment and confidentiality terms from day one.
Strengthen your engineering team
Tell us the stack, the seniority and the start date. We will tell you honestly what the market will give you, and how quickly.