CLIENT STORY · CONTRACT HIRING
From permanent hiring to project-ready contract delivery.
How delivering at volume for a global investment bank’s technology centre opened the door to a hiring model the business had never had before.
2025 TIARA AWARDS·SPECIALIST RECRUITMENT COMPANY OF THE YEAR
LEAD CONSULTANT
Will Hacking · Managing Director
GEOGRAPHY
Eastern Europe
MANDATE
Permanent and contract technology hiring
OVERVIEW
The best new business usually starts with doing the existing job well.
Radley James was first introduced to this global investment bank’s Eastern European technology centre through our partnership with a global RPO provider. We delivered a large number of permanent hires in a short space of time, and when the bank launched a high volume Java hiring programme, we were brought back in to deliver it.
That delivery earned us a seat at the table with the head of the centre. In that conversation, he shared a problem nobody else was solving for him, and asked whether we could.
The work has spanned software engineering, infrastructure, quantitative research, and front-office trading, delivered across the USA.
01 THE CHALLENGE
A permanent workforce built around project work.
The centre only hired permanent staff. That worked for steady state delivery, but when new projects landed, ramping up quickly was a real struggle. Hiring permanent engineers for six or twelve month pieces of work made little sense, and scaling back down afterwards was just as hard.
The only route to contract talent was through large IT consultancies. That meant paying consultancy rates for people who were often not the strongest fit for the work. Hiring managers simply did not have the option of bringing in an independent contractor.
They’d never had that option before. If they wanted a contractor, they had to go through a consultancy, which was expensive and generally not as good. We’ve given them another way to do it.
WILL HACKING · MANAGING DIRECTOR · RADLEY JAMES
02 APPROACH
Three principles that turned delivery into a new partnership.
Deliver first. The volume Java programme was where trust was built. Radley James placed 15 to 16 Java developers, working alongside one other agency, and proved we could deliver at pace and at quality.
Get in the room. Will and Paul travelled out to meet the hiring managers and the head of the centre in person. That is where the real problem came up, and where the opportunity was created.
Build the model around the client. Rather than pushing a standard offer, we built a contract solution around how the centre actually works: independent contractors for six and twelve month projects, engaged directly with the bank and completely separate from the RPO relationship.
The result is a client that now has two hiring routes instead of one, and a partner that supports both.
03 COVERAGE
Delivery across hiring models.
FUNCTION 1
Permanent Engineering
High volume Java development hiring delivered through our RPO partnership.
FUNCTION 2
Project Contractors
Independent contractors engaged for six and twelve month projects.
FUNCTION 3
Direct Partnership
A direct relationship with the bank, built on the back of our permanent delivery.
04 EXPANSION
How the relationship expanded over time.
What started as permanent hiring through an RPO became a direct partnership solving a problem the client had never been able to solve.
15+
JAVA DEVELOPERS PLACED
5
CONTRACT PLACEMENTS SINCE JUNE
2
HIRING MODELS SUPPORTED
6-12
MONTH PROJECT CONTRACTS
Around five years ago, our RPO partnership brought us into the technology centre, where we delivered a strong run of permanent hires in a short period. Hiring then slowed for a couple of years, as it often does.
Roughly two years ago, our relationship with the RPO brought us back in for a large Java hiring programme. Off the back of that delivery, the head of the centre asked us to help him bring in contractors. The first handful of contract roles were all filled, and as more hiring managers learn the option exists, demand is growing.
05 THE CONSULTANT
The relationship was led by
Will Hacking, Managing Director.
As Managing Director, Will has built and managed some of Radley James’ longest standing banking relationships, working alongside our Director, Paul, to take the business from London into new markets across Europe and the Baltics.
He is known for building relationships that go beyond a single hiring programme, and for spotting where a client’s hiring model is holding their business back.
06 OUTCOME
A new option, and a growing one.
The bank can now scale its technology workforce around projects, without relying on expensive consultancy resource or hiring permanent staff for temporary work.
The measurable outcomes: 15 to 16 permanent Java placements through the volume programme, five contract placements since June, and a direct client relationship that sits alongside our RPO partnership rather than depending on it. Every placement makes more hiring managers aware the option exists, and the pipeline keeps building.
I.
Delivery
Proving ourselves on volume hiring before asking for more.
II.
Partnership
Listening for the problem behind the vacancy.
III.
Flexibility
Building a hiring model around how the client really works.
Partner with Us
Speak to Will and the Radley James team about permanent and contract technology hiring, whether you are scaling a delivery centre or bringing in specialists for your next project.
radleyjames.com · +44 (0) 207 332 9820 · 2025 Tiara Awards Winner
