Team Augmentation

Most founders we work with do not want to build a senior engineering team on day one, and they are right not to. But once the product is live, customers are growing and the next round is raised, owning the team becomes the smart move.

That is when hiring gets hard. Without a CTO, it is difficult to judge whether a candidate is genuinely senior, whether their code is good, or whether a recruiter's shortlist is any better than a job board. A bad engineering hire is expensive, slow to spot and painful to undo.

Supernova's Talent & Recruitment service solves that. Our senior engineers assess every candidate, because it takes an engineer to judge an engineer. We can find and place the people you hire directly, run a dedicated team for you while you grow, or hand over a team we have already built around your product.

• Technically assessed by senior Supernova engineers, not just screened by recruiters

• Hire, run or transfer: flexible models for each stage of growth

• Talent that already knows your product, when we built it with you

When it is time to build your own team

• The product has found its customers, and engineering work is now continuous rather than project by project

• You have raised, and investors expect a team you own

• Product knowledge has become an advantage you want to keep in-house

• You need a technical leader, such as a CTO or head of engineering, to own the roadmap and hire under them

• Costs have reached the point where a dedicated in-house team is better value than a project-based partner

If you are not there yet, that is fine. Many founders keep building with us and move to their own team when the numbers and the timing make sense.

Four ways we help

1. Engineering placement

We find, assess and place engineers, designers and QA specialists who join your payroll. Candidates come mainly from Sri Lanka's engineering talent pool, and from your own market when you need people on-site.

Best for: founders ready to hire their first engineers, or grow an existing team.

2. Leadership search

We find your CTO, head of engineering or head of product. Our senior engineers and our founder run the technical and product assessment, so you are not judging a technical leader on charm alone.

Best for: founders who need a technical co-leader to own the roadmap and build the team.

3. Dedicated team

Engineers employed by Supernova in Sri Lanka, working only on your product and directed by you. We handle hiring, payroll, HR, equipment and senior technical review, so you get a team without setting up a company abroad.

Best for: founders who want their own team now, without the legal and HR overhead of employing overseas.

4. Team transfer

When you are ready, the dedicated team, or the engineers who built your product with us, move onto your own payroll or entity. Product knowledge stays with your product, and nobody starts from scratch.

Best for: founders who want full ownership once the company is established.

How we hire

Step 1 — Define the role

We agree what the role actually needs to achieve in its first six months, the skills and seniority that requires, the salary range, and how the person will fit your team and product.

Step 2 — Source

We search our network and Sri Lanka's engineering community, and your own market where needed, for people who match, including those not actively looking.

Step 3 — Assess

Every shortlisted candidate goes through a technical assessment run by a senior Supernova engineer: a practical exercise, a code or design review, and a conversation about real decisions they have made. We also assess communication, ownership and how they work with AI tools.

Step 4 — Interview and offer

You meet a short, strong shortlist, usually three to five people, with our written assessment of each. We help you structure the interview, set a fair offer, and close the hire.

Step 5 — Onboard and support

We help the new hire get productive quickly with documentation, access and a first-month plan. If a placement does not work out within the guarantee period, we replace them at no extra fee.

Where our talent comes from

Supernova is based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and most of our candidates come from Sri Lanka's engineering community. For founders in Australia and Asia, that brings practical advantages:

• Overlapping working hours with Australia, Singapore and the rest of Asia

• Strong English and experience working with international product teams

• Lower cost for senior talent: market salaries for senior software engineers in Sri Lanka run at about LKR 320,000–450,000+ a month, roughly US$970–1,360+ at current exchange rates. Top engineers working for international companies earn above this range.

When you need people on-site in your own market, we search there too.

How our fees compare with the market

Sources: Sri Lanka salaries from ITPro.lk, IT Job Salaries in Sri Lanka 2026, converted at 330 LKR to the US dollar (exchange-rates.org, 7 October 2026); market fees from Underdog.io, Recruitment Agency Costs 2026.

Pricing

The dedicated team fee covers salary, statutory contributions, equipment, office, HR and senior technical review. There are no hidden costs.

Is this for you?

A good fit if you:

• Are a founder ready to build your own engineering team, but cannot judge technical candidates yourself

• Need a CTO or head of engineering to lead the product

• Want a dedicated team without setting up a company or payroll abroad

• Built your product with Supernova and want to bring the team in-house

Not the right fit if you:

• Need a short-term contractor for a few weeks of tasks

• Want developers by the hour with no product ownership

• Are hiring for non-technical roles such as sales or marketing

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from a normal recruitment agency? Most agencies screen CVs. We are engineers: every candidate is technically assessed by a senior Supernova engineer before you meet them, and we can tell you how they will fit the product we know.

Do I need a company in Sri Lanka to hire there? No. With a dedicated team, Supernova employs the engineers and handles payroll, HR and equipment. If you hire directly, we can advise on the options, such as contractor agreements or an employer-of-record service.

How long does it take to hire? Usually two to three weeks to a shortlist for engineering roles, and three to five weeks for leadership roles. A dedicated team is typically working within three to six weeks.

What if a hire does not work out? We replace them at no extra fee within 90 days for placements and leadership searches. With a dedicated team, we can replace a team member at any time.

Can I hire engineers who built my product at Supernova? Yes. That is exactly what team transfer is for. Engineers who already know your product move onto your payroll for an agreed fee, or free after an agreed period.

Do you hire outside Sri Lanka? Yes. When you need people in your own market, we search there too, using the same technical assessment.

From product to team

The best engineering teams are built by people who understand both the product and the craft. We built your product with you; we can build the team that owns it next.

Ready to build your team? Let's find the right people.