The hardest startup roles to fill

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The hardest startup roles to fill

Forward deployed tops the list

Forward deployed and solutions engineers are the hardest roles on Contrario. Every forward deployed role we scored came back rated Hard. No other role comes close.

The job explains it. A forward deployed engineer writes production code, then sits with a customer to get the product working inside their business, often on the same day. Plenty of engineers can do one of those. Few can do both.

And demand is climbing. In the last six months, forward deployed and solutions roles went from 3.5% of engineering roles on Contrario to 11.5%, roughly 3x. More startups now want a profile that was already scarce.

Most engineering roles are hard

Forward deployed sits at the top, but the roles behind it aren't far off: 82% of scored DevOps and infrastructure roles are rated Hard, along with 80% of AI and ML roles, 79% of full-stack roles and 73% of backend roles.

Frontend is the least likely to be rated Hard, and even there it's two out of three. Non-engineering roles, for comparison, sit at 63%.

For an early-stage startup hiring engineers, a hard search is the normal case. The question is where the time goes.

AI and ML: wide and fast

AI and ML roles are rated Hard 80% of the time, yet they close fastest of the larger engineering categories once a candidate is introduced.

The effort behind that is big. Recruiters submit about 200 candidates for every AI or ML hire, more than any other large engineering category (full-stack is 178). Contrario screens those submissions before a company sees them, so founders meet a shortlist, not the full pile.

What it means if you're hiring

Forward deployed or solutions: start early, and be clear about the split you want between engineering and customer work. That split is what narrows the pool.

AI and ML: decide what you're screening for before the search starts, so you can move on the right person in days.

Full-stack, backend and DevOps: write a brief that says what the person will own in their first three months. It saves time on both sides.

Every role: keep a fast lane. Agree in advance on what lets a standout skip a stage. Soff hired its first founding full-stack engineer in 10 days by going straight from a first chat to an onsite.

Where Contrario helps

Forward deployed or solutions: start early, and be clear about the split you want between engineering and customer work. That split is what narrows the pool.

AI and ML: decide what you're screening for before the search starts, so you can move on the right person in days.

Full-stack, backend and DevOps: write a brief that says what the person will own in their first three months. It saves time on both sides.

Every role: keep a fast lane. Agree in advance on what lets a standout skip a stage. Soff hired its first founding full-stack engineer in 10 days by going straight from a first chat to an onsite.

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