Hire Zephyr developer

Pricing is transparent and pay-as-you-go. You pay a flat hourly rate that already includes taxes, benefits, workspace, and our service fee, so Total Cost of Ownership stays crystal clear. Rates vary by seniority—mid-level Zephyr engineers average $55–$65 per hour, while principal-level talent tops out near $85. No long-term retainers: you can scale hours up or down with five business-day notice. Because you only pay for productive time, most clients spend 30-40 % less than they would on a direct hire once you factor in recruitment agency fees, PTO, healthcare, 401(k) matches, and the typical six-week onboarding lag. The first week is a risk-free trial; if the Hire Zephyr developer we propose isn’t a fit, you pay nothing.

Every engagement starts with a mutual NDA and a Master Services Agreement that assigns all work product, inventions, and derivative works to your company the instant code is committed. Developers sign mirrored NDAs and IP-assignment clauses before they ever see your repository. All work occurs inside encrypted VDI or your preferred VPN; we can even enforce hardware-token authentication and disable local copy. smartbrain.io is US-registered, so you have full legal recourse under American law. For additional peace of mind, we support on-prem code reviews, repo-level access controls, and SOC 2 Type II audited processes. In five years of operation we’ve had zero IP disputes—our reputation depends on it.

Yes. We maintain a global bench of Zephyr specialists across North America, Latin America, and Europe, allowing 4- to 8-hour overlaps with any US time zone. During intake we ask for core stand-up hours; only candidates able to commit are presented. If your project requires 24/7 coverage, we can split the team into follow-the-sun shifts while keeping single-team continuity through shared sprint artifacts. Our average overlap for US clients is 6.3 hours, ensuring real-time code reviews, pair programming, and incident response without burning your engineers on late-night calls.

Contracts are month-to-month with a simple 30-day exit clause—no multi-year lock-ins. You set weekly hour caps and can amend them at any sprint boundary. Need to pause development? Give two weeks’ notice and billing stops. All invoices are NET 15 and can be paid by ACH, wire, or credit card. smartbrain.io shoulders payroll, local compliance, and benefits, so you avoid permanent-establishment risk in foreign jurisdictions. We also offer capped-budget milestones if you prefer fixed-fee predictability.

Our five-step funnel filters the top 2 % of applicants: (1) resume screen by former embedded CTOs; (2) 90-minute Zephyr kernel coding test; (3) live debugging session on ST or Nordic silicon streamed via webcam; (4) English-language and soft-skills interview; (5) reference checks with two prior clients. Only then are candidates added to the bench. Median time invested per engineer: 11 hours. This rigor means you never waste time on unqualified résumés; you interview only the cream, and typical client acceptance after first interview is 93 %.

If performance or culture misalignment appears within the first week, we replace the developer free of charge and credit all hours. After that, our replacement guarantee remains in force for the life of the engagement: notify us, and we supply a backup within five business days. Because all documentation and tickets live in your tools, knowledge transfer is fast. Less than 4 % of engagements need replacement, but when they do, median swap time is 3.2 days, keeping sprint velocity intact.

Speed is our calling card. From signed scope to developer Slack invite averages 48 hours. The process: (1) you sign the MSA and statement of work; (2) we hold a 30-minute technical alignment call; (3) candidate shortlist with recorded tech interviews lands in your inbox within one business day; (4) you pick and schedule a 45-minute final interview; (5) upon mutual nod, the Hire Zephyr developer begins onboarding the next morning. Need multiple engineers? We can spin up full pods of 4–6 in under a week thanks to our continuously validated bench.