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Software engineering recruitment agency
Backend, frontend, full-stack & systems
Humand is a specialist software engineering recruitment agency based in Eynsham, Oxfordshire. We recruit backend, frontend, full-stack, platform, embedded and systems software engineers — and the engineering leaders above them — for employers across the UK, on a permanent, contract or retained basis.
Senior individual contributors and engineering leaders across web, backend, systems and embedded software.
Oxfordshire and UK-wide. Part of Humand's specialist technology recruitment for employers.
Rated 5.0 from 124 Google reviews as of 1 Nov 2026 — reviews of all of Humand's work, not only software.
What we recruit
Software Engineering recruitment: the roles we cover
Seniority runs from graduate and junior engineers through Staff and Principal, and on into engineering leadership.
Backend engineering
Backend and API engineers, from mid-level through Staff and Principal.
Java and the JVM, Python, .NET and C#, Go, Rust, PHP
Frontend and full-stack
Frontend and full-stack engineers building web products end to end.
TypeScript, JavaScript, React
Embedded and systems software
Engineers writing software that runs on hardware — instruments, devices and systems.
C++, Rust
Instrumentation recruitmentPlatform, DevOps and reliability
Platform, DevOps and site reliability engineers who keep software running.
Cloud and container platforms
DevOps recruitmentQuality engineering
QA and test engineers working inside software teams.
Engineering leadership
Tech leads, engineering managers and heads of engineering.
Executive and technical leadership searchHow employers work with us on Software Engineering hiring
Permanent recruitment
Permanent software engineering hires, from individual contributors to engineering leaders.
Contract recruitment
Contract and interim software engineers. How contract engagements and IR35 work is set out on the service page.
Executive Search (Retained)
Retained search for senior engineering leadership.
Hiring trends
What we're seeing
TypeScript full-stack and Go/Rust backend are the two hottest lanes. Staff+ engineers with genuine distributed-systems experience remain scarce; strong front-end + product sense pays well above baseline.
Salary & packages
Shaped role by role
We don't publish generic salary bands for Software Engineering. Packages are shaped role by role — by seniority, location, technical depth and current market conditions. Speak to a consultant for a current, evidence-based view of what your search will take.
Hiring insights from our consultants →Need a role-specific figure for Software Engineering? Salary benchmarking gives you a written range from live market data.
Common skills
TypeScriptGoRustPythonReactKubernetesAWS
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Software Engineering roles
Search all Software Engineering roles →Talent pool
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Community
Software Engineering communities we are involved in
Humand is part of Oxfordshire's technology community year-round, independently of any live vacancy: we organise some groups, and host or sponsor events for others. They are not a candidate database — the value is that the relationships and the market knowledge exist before a role does.
Hiring in Software Engineering?
Three ways to move forward.
Software Engineering recruitment — common questions
- Which software engineering roles does Humand recruit?
- Individual contributors from mid-level through Staff and Principal, the engineering leadership above them, and the platform and reliability roles beside them. Backend, frontend, full-stack, systems and embedded software all sit inside this practice.
- Do you recruit contract as well as permanent software engineers?
- Yes. Permanent, contract and retained leadership searches are three separate services with their own pages, because they are genuinely different pieces of work rather than the same process priced differently.
- Which languages and stacks do you cover?
- The stacks the roles we run actually use — Java and the JVM, Python, .NET and C#, Go, Rust, C++, TypeScript and the JavaScript ecosystem, PHP, and the cloud and container platforms around them. We do not claim a specialism in a language we have not recruited for.
- How is a specialist software engineering recruitment agency different from a generalist one?
- Rather than relying on advertised roles and keyword matches, Humand's software practice works from the hiring manager's brief, approaches engineers directly through the technology communities and relationships it is part of, and qualifies each person on what they have actually built, the stack and domain they have worked in, and why they would move. Technical assessment stays with your team.
- Are you Oxfordshire-only, or UK-wide?
- Humand is based in Oxfordshire and much of the community programme is rooted there, but software searches run for employers across the UK. Where a role is remote or hybrid, what matters is the arrangement the client will actually accept.
- How do you assess technical ability before a shortlist?
- Honestly: we do not run coding tests or technical assessments as standard, and we would rather say so than imply a depth of vetting we do not perform. What a Humand shortlist carries is recruiter-led qualification — what the person has actually built, the stack and domain they have worked in, why they are open, what they need, and where they fall short. Technical validation remains the hiring team's, unless something different is agreed in advance.
- How do the technology communities help a software hire?
- Humand helps organise and support specialist technology communities across Oxfordshire and the Thames Valley, including Java, Go, PHP and DevOps groups. They are not a candidate database — the value is that the relationships and the market knowledge exist before a role does, which is what makes a direct approach land.