eCommerce staffing, planned around the freeze rather than into it
Retail engineering runs on a calendar that does not negotiate. The capacity decision that matters is made in July, because an engineer who starts in November arrives after the code freeze and cannot ship anything until January.
What changes here
IT Staffing in eCommerce is not the same engagement
Onboarded before the freeze, not during it
There is a window in which a new engineer can still learn a codebase and ship. After it closes, adding people adds coordination cost and nothing else. We plan start dates backwards from your freeze date rather than forwards from the requisition.
Peak-experienced engineers for peak cover
Someone who has worked a Black Friday knows that the job during peak is diagnosis and mitigation, not shipping. That is a different skill from feature delivery and we screen for it specifically when the role is peak support.
Sized to come back down
Retail demand is seasonal and staffing should be too. Engagements are shaped to scale back after peak without a severance conversation, which is most of the reason to use augmentation here rather than hiring.
What the retail calendar does to a staffing plan
These dates are fixed by the business, and a plan that ignores them produces cost without capacity.
- A code freeze that typically starts weeks before peak and holds through it
- Onboarding lead time that has to complete before the freeze to be worth anything
- Peak support cover including nights and weekends, agreed in advance rather than improvised
- PCI scope considerations where the role touches checkout or payment code
- A post-peak ramp-down that is planned rather than negotiated under pressure
The work itself
Full it staffing pageContract and contract-to-hire
Engineers embedded in your team, on your board and in your repository, with a defined path to permanent if the fit is right.
Managed delivery pods
A small team with its own lead, accountable for an outcome rather than for hours — useful when you need capacity but not another set of people to manage.
Direct hire and permanent search
Full search for roles you intend to keep, with the same technical assessment applied before anyone reaches your interview loop.
Onboarding and standards
Our engineers work to the same review, testing, and documentation standards as our delivery teams, so what they leave behind is maintainable.
Coverage and continuity
Named backup for critical roles and a documented handover if someone rolls off, so knowledge does not walk out with a contract end date.
Regular check-ins
Scheduled reviews with you and with the engineer, so a mismatch is fixed in week two rather than at the end of the quarter.
eCommerce questions we get asked
Something more specific? Send us the situation and we’ll answer it straight.