Our new developers were able to hit the ground running, we've worked with them for over two years now, and they are truly part of our team.
Alison WhittleProduct Delivery Manager, BladeFSIn-house feel, nearshore
QA Analysts & Testers
British teams tend to hire QA last and regret it first, usually the week a bad release reaches customers. We embed QA analysts and test engineers into your sprint cycle on your hours, manual and automated, so quality is checked while features are built rather than after they escape. As our employees they cost 50 to 75% less than comparable British hires.
- Manual, automated and exploratory testing, often in one person
- Inside the sprint from planning, not bolted on before release
- Faster releases because problems surface earlier and cheaper
CypressSeleniumPlaywrightJestPostman
Our Service
Testers vetted for judgement about risk
Anyone can write test cases, and AI can now write most of them. What we vet for, through CTO-led assessment and live pairing, is the judgement to know where a product is most likely to break and what a failure would cost. If your real problem is process rather than headcount, we will say that before you hire anyone.
- Matched to your product, release rhythm and tooling
- Regression, functional and exploratory coverage that earns trust
- Clear bug reports and test notes your developers respect
Beyond Bug-Hunting
Quality engineers who raise how the whole team ships
- Manual QAExecute test plans, catch regressions, and validate UI/UX.
- Automated TestingWrite tests using Cypress, Playwright, Selenium & more.
- Test StrategyDesign scalable QA processes and testing frameworks.
- Mobile & Cross-Device QAEnsure performance across devices, viewports & OS versions.
- Release ConfidencePartner with developers for pre-release testing & sign-off.
- QA ReportingTrack quality metrics, document defects & trends over time.
Tools That Fit Your Stack
From test plans to automation frameworks, matched to what you run
Technology coverage
From your front end to your back end, we've got your stack handled.
Frequently placed for QA Analysts & Testers
Cypress DevelopersFrontend test automation
Selenium DevelopersBrowser test scripting
Playwright DevelopersEnd-to-end test suite
Jest DevelopersJS testing framework
Postman DevelopersAPI testing and mocks
Jira SpecialistsProject & sprint tracking
TestRail DevelopersQA test case manager
BrowserStack DevelopersCross-browser testing specialists, embedded in your team
Qase DevelopersScalable QA test suites
Vetting
You see two people - not 200 CVs.
Engineers vet engineers
A senior engineer runs a live technical conversation on the candidate's real stack, not a recruiter working from a keyword list.
Live coding, not take-homes
Real problems solved in front of an assessor, with anti-cheating checks. You see how they actually work, not what they submitted overnight.
A full profile, not a CV
Every candidate arrives with a CV, interview summary, coding-test breakdown and rate in pounds. You decide on evidence.
Every tab is a stage a candidate has to clear. Six of them, all run by our own internal engineers at Cloud Employee, before you see a name.
- Overview
- CV
- Tech interview
- Coding test
- Psychometric
- Soft skills
Scored by people. We use AI to cross-check our own consistency - never to decide who reaches your shortlist.
✓Luka M.
VettedSenior QA Engineer · Playwright · Cypress · CI · 6 yrs · Zagreb, Croatia (GMT+1)
Assessment
Six years in production Python, the last three on LLM systems - retrieval pipelines, eval suites, and agent tooling for UK fintech. Owns delivery end to end.
Stack
Python · LangGraph
English
C1 fluent
Overlap
8 hrs UK
Notice
2 weeks
AI in practiceShips with Copilot and Claude Code daily, and rewrote 40% of the generated code in his observed task - the judgement is his, the tooling only makes him faster.
Career history
2023 - now
Senior AI Engineer
UK payments platform · 40-person product team
Built the retrieval assistant now resolving 30% of tier-1 tickets; owns its eval suite and guardrails.
2020 - 2023
Backend Engineer, Python
Travel booking SaaS · Zagreb
Moved fraud scoring onto a real-time feature pipeline; cut false declines by 18%.
2019 - 2020
Data Engineer
Agency · Python, Postgres, AWS
- Python
- FastAPI
- LangGraph
- pgvector
- Evals & tracing
- AWS
- Docker
Technical interview
Assessed by Marco R., Principal Engineer
12 Jun 2026
55 min · live call
"Walked me through an assistant that was quietly hallucinating refund policy, how he caught it in evals, and what he got wrong on the first fix. Hire-ready for a senior seat."
Live coding test
Stabilise a flaky end-to-end suite
88
score
Tests passed
21 / 21
Time used
62 of 90 min
Anti-cheat flags
0
retrieval.py · submitted diff
- hits = index.query(q, k=50)+ hits = index.query(rewrite(q), k=50, filter=tenant)+ hits = rerank(hits, q)[:8] # recall 0.62 -> 0.91+ assert_context_budget(hits, max_tokens=6000)
Psychometric · technical thinking
How he reasons under a real deadline - not a personality quiz.
Top 9%of engineers
we test
A 45-minute reasoning test, scored against the 4,000+ engineers we have already placed. Our assessors do the marking - AI only flags where our own scoring looks inconsistent.
Soft skills · working with your team
Spoken English
C1 · assessed on call
References
2 of 2 verified
"He raised the payment edge case nobody else had spotted, in writing, two days before release."
This is what you receive - not a CV.
Ask our AI anythingWhy Cloud Employee?
Stability in the role that guards your stability
QA churn quietly destroys product knowledge, because a tester's value compounds with every release they have seen. Ours stay, 97% beyond two years, on full employment with a 1,000 pound annual learning budget. You get a rolling monthly contract with 30 days notice, a two-week money-back guarantee, a free replacement if needed, and a UK-based client success manager throughout.
- Aligned to your stack, schedule and definition of done
- Employment, HR and support carried by us, not your ops team
- Scale QA up or down as the release calendar demands
Reliable & Retained
We run the contracts and care so your QA can guard quality
Fully supported
We handle the rest so your engineers can focus on building.
Performance reviews
Payroll & complianceEquipment
WorkspaceIn-house, without the friction
No upfront fees. No lock-in contracts.
- No placement or upfront fees
- Rolling 30-day contract, cancel anytime
- One monthly rate, everything included
Ready to find your engineer?
Tell us exactly who you need.
In 90 seconds
Two matched engineers in 7 days. No fees, no obligation.
What role are you hiring for?
Pick one to start - you'll see matching engineers at the end.
- Founded in 2014
- 97% stay 2+ years
- Replace if it isn't working
Got questions?
The questions CTOs and founders ask.
01Can I hire developers through Cloud Employee from the UK?
Yes. Most of our clients are in the UK, the US and Australia. Your developer works your hours, and a UK-based client success manager is your point of contact throughout.
02How does this sit with IR35 and employment status?
Cloud Employee is the employer of record, so your developer is our full-time employee rather than a contractor you engage directly. We handle their payroll, benefits and HR in their own country.
03What does it cost compared with hiring in the UK?
Typically 50-75% less than a comparable UK hire once salary, employer costs and overheads are counted. Rates run from roughly £28 to £63 an hour ($35-80, depending on seniority), billed as one monthly fee with no placement charges.
04How are developers vetted?
Vetting is CTO-led and covers a technical assessment, a live pair programming session and cultural fit screening, all run by senior engineers rather than recruiters. You interview a shortlist of two matched candidates.
05How quickly can a developer start?
You are typically interviewing matched candidates within 7 working days of a requirements call, and developers are often embedded and pushing code within about two weeks.
06What happens if the developer is not the right fit?
There is a two-week money-back guarantee, and if you want to continue we replace the developer free of charge.
07How do you handle time zone alignment?
Your developer's working hours are aligned to yours, so stand-ups and pairing happen through the UK day, and we keep cover available outside standard hours for anything critical.
08How is Cloud Employee different from a recruitment agency?
There are no placement fees and you pay nothing to interview. Vetting is run by our in-house CTO with peer review from senior engineers, and after the hire we stay responsible for HR, payroll and retention rather than disappearing once the invoice clears.
09Do I communicate directly with my developer?
Yes, always. Your developer sits in your Slack, email and daily channels as a full member of your team, and can even list your company on their LinkedIn if you prefer.
10Can we visit our developers in person?
Yes, clients are welcome at our offices, which are set up for exactly that. Hire four or more developers and we cover the flights and accommodation for a visit.
11What do I get at the end of a product build?
You'll receive a launch-ready product, fully tested, deployed, and handed over with clean documentation, source code, and a clear path for scaling or ongoing support.
12Can I bring my own designs or do you handle design too?
Both work. Bring your own designs, or let our in-house designers handle UX and UI as part of the build.
13What if I already have some code or a prototype?
We can audit your existing work and build on top of it, or help you start fresh if it's faster, safer, or more scalable.
14Do I need to manage the developers during the build?
Nope. We handle day-to-day project management, progress tracking, and delivery, you just stay in the loop and make key decisions.
15How long does it typically take to build a product?
That depends on the scope. We'll define timelines during the scoping phase and keep delivery lean and milestone-driven.
16What happens after the product is launched?
We can support post-launch updates, bug fixes, and new features, or help you build your own embedded team to take it forward.
17Can you build across web, mobile, and backend?
Yes. We deliver full-stack products, front end, back end, mobile apps, and APIs, designed to work together from day one.
18Will the codebase be handed over to me?
Yes. It's your IP. You'll receive full access to the codebase, repos, and all project documentation.
19Do you offer fixed-price product builds?
We offer both fixed-price and flexible engagement models, depending on the scope, complexity, and timeline.
20Can I add more features or change scope mid-build?
We scope tightly up front but remain flexible. If priorities shift, we can adjust your roadmap or re-scope milestones without derailing delivery.
21What kind of consulting do you provide?
We offer strategic product and technical consulting, scoping features, planning roadmaps, validating AI use cases, and advising on build decisions.
22How is this different from working with a dev agency?
This isn't just discovery fluff. Our consultants are CTOs, engineers and PMs who know how to ship. You'll leave with actionable output, not just slides.
23Do I need to know exactly what I want to build?
Not at all. We'll help shape your ideas into something buildable, whether it's an MVP, a prototype, or a feature release plan.
24Can you help me choose between different tech options?
Yes. We recommend tech based on your product needs, not on what we happen to know. Stack-agnostic, outcome-first guidance.
25Do I need to commit to a build after consulting?
No. Our scoping and consulting services are standalone. You can take the plan elsewhere, or build with us when you're ready.
26How technical do I need to be to benefit from consulting?
Not at all. We work with both technical founders and non-technical leaders. We translate ideas into build-ready outcomes, no jargon required.
27Can you help scope an MVP?
Absolutely. We'll help define the leanest version of your product that delivers real user value, fast and buildable.
28Do you offer AI-specific consulting?
Yes. We help teams assess AI feasibility, recommend models, and shape realistic delivery plans, without the buzzword noise.
29Can I book just a single session to get advice?
Yes. You can start with a focused engagement to explore ideas or validate direction. No long-term commitment required.
30How quickly can a developer start, and how does the engagement work?
You are typically interviewing matched candidates within 7 working days of a requirements call, and developers are often embedded and pushing code within about two weeks. From there it is a rolling monthly contract with 30 days' notice, one monthly fee, and no placement charges. You can scale up or down as the work changes, and you pay nothing to interview.
Proof, not promises
Hear from our customers
In their words
What the difference feels like
Alison WhittleProduct Delivery Manager, BladeFSWhat I love about Cloud Employee is that you have taken all of that hard work off my shoulders.
Marcus KilgourCTO, Salmon SoftwareWorking with Cloud Employee developers is great, because they're not afraid to push back. They're proactive, they're positive, and they feel like part of the team.
Doran EskinaziHead of Engineering, HealthpointeWe actually hired the whole team remotely, having never met them. And we made a bunch of really good hires.
Euan CameronCEO, WilloCloud Employee provides a level of professionalism, communication and support we haven't found elsewhere.
Trevor SathorManaging Director, Square EyeWorking in tandem with Cloud Employee we have successfully released a major version of our main software product during a critical period for us.
James StringerManaging Director, CleanLink