DC Digital Talent editorial ·
Start with a recent example
Before asking for a senior engineer, pick a piece of work that mattered recently. What needed to happen? Who owned the decision? Where did progress slow, and what changed for a customer or the business? The answers help distinguish an implementation task from a coordination problem, an unclear priority or a genuinely missing capability.
Name the responsibility, not every technology
A mobile engineer who owns store releases and production debugging has a different brief from one extending a well-supported feature team. A backend engineer designing service boundaries needs different evidence from someone maintaining an established API. Describe the decisions the person will own and the support already around them. Then separate essential platform depth from knowledge that can be learned in context.
Make the assessment follow the work
For each responsibility, agree what an example of relevant experience would look like. Ask the candidate to explain a decision they made, what they personally contributed and what happened afterwards. Use the same role-based criteria across the shortlist, and record unanswered questions. A collection of matching keywords is not evidence that someone has owned the work.
Keep more than one outcome open
A clearer requirement may support a permanent hire. It may also reveal that the priority needs sharpening or that existing expertise is not being used effectively. Write down what would change your mind before opening the search. That keeps recruitment tied to the capability the business actually needs.