The engagement playbook

Last updated: May 2026

How we actually work.

No fluff. No surprises. The exact terms, timelines, and standards under which Uvik Software embeds senior Python and AI engineers into your team. Read it before the first call — most of our clients have.

48 hours
Shortlist SLA
14 days
Trial period
30 days
Replacement
5+ years
Seniority floor

01 The six commitments

What we guarantee, in plain language.

Each of these is contractually binding and operational across every Uvik engagement, from a single embedded engineer to a 12-person team. None of them require negotiation. None of them are upsells.

Seniority

Senior-only floor.

Every engineer placed has 5+ years of production Python experience, has shipped architectural decisions in real products, and has been a Uvik employee for at least 12 months before client placement. We do not bench juniors. We do not fill seats with mid-level engineers wearing senior titles.

Speed

48-hour shortlist.

From signed NDA and role brief, we deliver 2–3 matched senior profiles within 48 business hours. Profiles include CV, technical portfolio, and a 30-minute recorded technical screen. Engineer operational on your codebase within two weeks of contract signature in 92% of engagements.

Trial

Two-week paid trial.

Every engagement starts with a 14-day evaluation window. If the engineer is not the right fit, you owe nothing beyond the prorated trial period — we absorb the search and onboarding cost. Past the trial, our 30-day replacement guarantee applies.

Replacement

30-day replacement, no charge.

Flag any fit issue within 30 days of trial completion: replacement profile delivered within 7 business days, with a 5-day parallel hand-off, at zero charge. The replacement clock resets on the new engineer.

Scaling

Monthly scale, no penalty.

Add or remove engineers with 30 days written notice. No exit fees, no minimum engagement length beyond the trial, no clawback on volume discounts. Your team size flexes with your roadmap, not our quarterly targets.

Ownership

You own the IP. Always.

All code, documentation, models, and derivative work are assigned to you on creation under work-for-hire. NDA and IP assignment are signed before any code is written. Repositories, credentials, and infrastructure live in your accounts — never ours.

02 Engagement timeline

From first call to shipping code, in 14 days.

The exact sequence. Most clients are working with embedded Uvik engineers inside two weeks of the discovery call. Here’s how that happens, day by day.

Day 0 FIRST CALL

Discovery call & role calibration.

30–45 minute call with a Uvik engineering lead — not a sales rep. We map your stack, team shape, sprint cadence, and the specific problem the new engineer will own. NDA sent during the call if needed.

  • Engineering-led
  • NDA on request
Day 1–2 SHORTLIST

Matched profiles delivered.

2–3 engineer profiles selected from our internal bench. Each profile ships with a CV, GitHub or portfolio, a recorded 30-minute technical interview, and a written rationale explaining why this engineer fits your specific role. No 50-CV inbox dumps.

  • 2–3 profiles
  • Recorded screens
  • Internal bench only
Day 3–5 CLIENT INTERVIEWS

You interview the shortlist.

Schedule 60-minute interviews with shortlisted engineers on your terms — technical deep-dive, pair programming, take-home, system design, whatever your hiring bar requires. We’ll prepare them on your domain context but not on the questions.

  • Client-led process
  • Any format
Day 6–7 CONTRACT

MSA & first SOW signed.

Standard Master Services Agreement plus a monthly Statement of Work — both available in advance for your legal review. IP assignment, GDPR DPA, NDA confirmation, security addendum if needed. Most clients close in a single redline cycle.

  • MSA + SOW
  • DPA included
  • Single redline
Day 8–10 PROVISIONING

Access & environment setup.

Engineer receives credentials to your Slack, Jira, GitHub, CI, and any cloud accounts they’ll touch. Endpoint hardened to your standards. Background check confirmed in writing. We provide the laptop unless you require client-issued hardware.

  • Hardware secured
  • Repo-scoped access
  • BG check confirmed
Day 11–14 RAMP

Embedded & shipping first PR.

Engineer joins your standups from Day 11. First merged PR by Day 14 in 87% of engagements — typically a small, scoped task to validate environment access, code review fluency, and team collaboration. Trial period begins.

  • First PR Day 14
  • Trial period starts
Day 15–28 TRIAL

Two-week trial period.

Engineer ships against your sprint goals. Mid-trial check-in with your tech lead and a Uvik engineering manager. End-of-trial decision: continue, replace, or terminate at no further cost. The replacement clock resets for the new engineer.

  • Mid-trial check-in
  • No-cost exit
Day 29+ ONGOING

Steady-state operations.

Monthly business review with your sponsor and our delivery lead — covers velocity, code quality metrics, blockers, and team composition decisions. Quarterly retrospective on the engagement itself. Median active engagement runs 18 months; 64% renew or expand.

  • Monthly review
  • Quarterly retro
  • 18mo median

We optimise for long-term product health, not for one-off gigs. If your project doesn't compound, we're the wrong vendor.

Uvik engineering principle #04

03 Operating data

The numbers we run the business against.

These are not aspirational targets. They are the operating envelope inside which our delivery team runs. We publish them because every Uvik engagement is judged against them, and because we’d rather lose a deal to a competitor whose numbers genuinely look better than win one on vague promises.

Numbers are recalculated quarterly from the live engagement portfolio and validated against client-signed monthly reports. Last refresh: Q1 2026.

Time to first matched shortlist
≤ 48 h
Engineer operational (signed SOW → first PR)
14 d
Replacement profile lead time
7 bd
Engineer seniority floor
5+ yrs
Engineer tenure with Uvik before placement
12+ mo
Median active engagement length
18 mo
Client renewal / expansion rate (6 mo+)
64 %
Replacement events per 100 placements
~ 4
Client NPS (rolling 12 mo)
+72
Clutch rating (27 verified reviews)
5.0 / 5

04 Engineering standards

Non-negotiables on every engagement.

These are not optional add-ons or premium-tier features. Every Uvik engineer carries these practices into every codebase, every sprint, by default.

# 01

Code review on every PR.

Zero merges to protected branches without peer review — either by your internal team or, if you have only one engineer in the stack, by a second Uvik engineer at your option. No “rubber-stamp” approvals.

# 02

Tests are part of the PR.

New code ships with tests in the same pull request. Coverage thresholds match your existing standards or, on greenfield work, default to ≥80% line coverage on business logic. TDD where practical.

# 03

CI pipeline is sacred.

Broken build, broken pipeline, or red main is a P0 — work stops until it’s green. Engineers fix CI first and feature work second. We don’t add CI as an afterthought.

# 04

Architectural decisions are written.

Material design choices ship as ADRs (Architecture Decision Records) committed to the repo, including alternatives considered and trade-offs accepted. Future engineers — yours or ours — inherit the reasoning, not just the code.

# 05

Documentation as a deliverable.

Every shipped feature includes runtime docs, README updates, and onboarding notes for the next engineer. Documentation debt is treated identically to test debt — fixed in the same sprint, not deferred indefinitely.

# 06

Security is in the pipeline.

Dependency scanning, secret detection, SAST, and dependency review run on every PR. Findings above medium severity block merge until triaged. We use your existing tools where possible — never a parallel security stack.

05 Governance & security

Mid-enterprise governance, boutique pace.

We hold ourselves to enterprise-grade controls without the overhead of a Big Four consultancy. Our governance posture is documented, audit-ready, and identical across engagements.

NDA & IP
Mutual NDA on first business day of discussion. Work-for-hire IP assignment in MSA — all code, models, documentation, and derivative materials assigned to client on creation. No retained ownership clauses.
Data Protection
GDPR-compliant by design. Standard Data Processing Agreement (DPA) included with MSA. Data residency in EU/EEA unless client-specified otherwise. Right-to-erasure workflows documented. Subprocessor list maintained and disclosed.
Security Controls
Aligned with SOC 2 Type II control objectives and ISO 27001 framework. Endpoint encryption (FileVault / LUKS), MDM-managed devices, hardware-backed MFA on all client systems. Annual penetration test on internal infrastructure. Incident response runbook.
Access Control
Repo-scoped, role-scoped access via your IdP (SSO, SAML, SCIM). Engineers receive minimum-privilege access to client systems. Just-in-time elevation for production access. All access logged, reviewable on request.
Background Checks
Full criminal-record and employment-history background check on every engineer before client placement. Updated check on each new client engagement. Reference letters available on request.
Subcontracting
None by default. Every engineer placed is a Uvik employee on Uvik payroll. We do not subcontract, "white-label", or proxy through third-party agencies. If subcontracting is ever needed for a specific skill, we disclose and seek written approval first.
Audit Trail
Time tracking via Hubstaff or Toggl, configurable. Monthly time reports signed by client sponsor before invoicing. Sprint-level and PR-level activity available on request for SOX, FCA, and audit purposes.
Insurance
£2M Professional Indemnity insurance, £5M Public Liability. Cyber-incident insurance separately maintained. Certificates available on request for vendor onboarding.

06 Engagement models

Three models. Same standards.

Pick the one that fits your team shape today. Switch between them with 30 days notice. No fee, no friction.

Monthly T&M · 78% of engagements

Embedded Engineer

One or more senior engineers will be integrated into your team. They report to your tech lead, attend your standups, work in your repos, and on your roadmap. The default model.

  • Single role or squad-of-1
  • Full-time or 3-day part-time
  • 30-day notice, no minimum
  • You manage the day-to-day
  • Monthly T&M, fixed hourly rate
Squad rate · 3-month minimum

Dedicated Squad

A 3-to-8 person team — engineers, optional QA, optional team lead — embedded as a unit on a defined product or initiative. Reports to your stakeholder; we provide engineering management overhead.

  • 3–8 engineers, 1 lead
  • Optional QA, DevOps, data engineer
  • 3-month minimum, 30-day notice
  • Volume rate from 4+ engineers
  • Monthly business review included
1–2 days / week · senior-only

Fractional Tech Lead

A bounded engagement with a senior staff-or-principal-grade engineer providing architecture, code review, hiring support, and technical strategy — typically 1–2 days a week alongside your in-house team.

  • Staff- or principal-grade only
  • Architecture, ADRs, code review
  • Hiring panel support
  • 30-day notice, no minimum
  • Pairs well with embedded squad

07 Communication cadence

When you'll hear from us. Predictably.

Ad-hoc reporting and surprise check-ins waste time and signal nothing useful. We run a fixed cadence so your sponsor knows exactly what to expect and exactly when.

Touchpoint Frequency Format & participants
Standup Daily Joins your existing team standup. Engineer reports as a member of your team, not as an external vendor. 15 min max.
Sprint demo Weekly / bi-weekly Engineer demos shipped work in your existing demo. No separate Uvik demo cycle, no parallel reporting.
Sponsor sync Weekly, 30 min Your sponsor + Uvik delivery lead. Ad-hoc unblockers, scope flex, team adjustments. Skipped freely if nothing to discuss.
Monthly business review Monthly, 60 min Your sponsor + our engineering manager. Velocity, code quality metrics, satisfaction signals, team composition, upcoming roadmap fit. Written summary follows.
Quarterly retrospective Quarterly Honest review of the engagement itself — what's working, what isn't, what should change. Uvik comes prepared with our own observations, not just yours.
Incident response As needed, <2 h P0/P1 issues escalated to a Uvik engineering manager within 2 business hours. Direct line for the engagement sponsor — no ticket queues.

08 Fit & not-fit

Knowing when we're not the right call.

We turn down roughly 20% of inbound engagements because they aren’t a fit. We’d rather tell you upfront than disappoint you in month three. The map below covers what we ship, where we ship it, and the contexts we’re built for — and the engagements we’ll honestly refer you elsewhere on.

Where we excel.

01 — Technical specialisations
  • Python backends — Django, FastAPI, Flask, Celery, Postgres, Redis, async stacks.
  • Data engineering — Databricks, Snowflake, Spark, Kafka, dbt, Airflow, BigQuery.
  • AI & LLM engineering — RAG, agentic workflows, fine-tuning, embeddings, LangChain, vector DBs
  • Full-stack squads — Python + React, React Native, TypeScript, Next.js
  • DevOps & cloud — AWS, GCP, Azure, Kubernetes, Terraform, GitHub Actions, observability.
  • API engineering — REST, GraphQL, gRPC, async webhooks, OpenAPI contracts.
  • Go (Golang) — performance-critical services, microservices, infra tooling.
  • Blockchain — smart contracts, on-chain integrations, custodial flows
02 — Service models
  • Staff augmentation — senior engineers embedded into your team and codebase.
  • Python outsourcing — scoped delivery with Uvik-managed engineering and PM layer.
  • Data science & engineering on demand — pipelines, feature stores, ML serving, analytics.
  • Generative AI consulting — strategy, architecture, vendor selection, build vs buy.
  • Generative AI development — LLM features shipped into production Python backends.
  • Python & Django consulting — architecture review, audits, performance optimisation.
  • Fractional tech leadership — staff- and principal-grade architecture and review.
03 — Industries we ship in
  • EdTech & LMS platforms — modernisation, scaling, security hardening.
  • Retail & e-commerce — AI chatbots, dynamic pricing, marketplace data ETL.
  • Fintech & payments — secure Python, PCI-DSS-aware flows, audit trails.
  • GovTech & public sector — high-uptime messaging, citizen platforms, accessibility.
  • Health-tech & medtech — HIPAA-aware workflows, clinical data, patient portals.
  • Legal-tech — contract automation, document intelligence, matter-management.
  • SaaS & B2B platforms — multi-tenant Django, billing, RBAC, API extensibility.
  • Marketplaces & two-sided platforms — transactional flows, scalable services.
04 — Markets we serve
  • United States — daily overlap, US contract law, Delaware MSA on request.
  • United Kingdom — UK GDPR, FCA-aware engagements, London commercial office
  • DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) — DSGVO, German-speaking POCs available.
  • Nordics — Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki, Reykjavík
  • Benelux — Amsterdam, Brussels, Luxembourg, Rotterdam.
  • GCC — Dubai, Riyadh, Doha, working-hours overlap with Tallinn.
05 — Compliance & governance contexts
  • GDPR / UK GDPR / DSGVO — DPA included by default, EU-resident delivery.
  • SOC 2 Type II — control objectives — alignment, evidence, audit support.
  • ISO 27001 framework — documented controls, annual review cycle.
  • HIPAA-aware — US health workflows — PHI handling, BAAs where applicable.
  • PCI-DSS — secure handling of payment flows, scope minimisation
  • NIS2 readiness — for EU operators of essential and important entities.

Where we'll refer you elsewhere.

  • One-off tasks under four weeks — try a marketplace (Toptal, Gun.io) instead.
  • No internal product or technical leadership — try a full-cycle consultancy (EPAM, Thoughtworks).
  • Cheapest-possible-developer mandate — try a high-volume offshore vendor.
  • Multi-stack, multi-domain programs — needing 100+ engineers across stacks
  • WordPress / PHP / .NET-only stacks — we don't pretend to be polyglot generalists.
  • Pure research-grade AI/ML — work without a productisation path — try a research lab partner.
  • Vendor-owned discovery — from blank-page to roadmap — that's a strategy consultancy, not us.
  • Body-shop offshore replacement — if you're optimising for headcount, not capability.
  • Salesforce / SAP / Oracle implementation — try an ERP-specialist partner.
  • Mobile-first projects — without a Python or data component — try a mobile-native shop.

A note on referrals

We turn down roughly 20% of inbound engagements and refer them to one of the firms named above. If you’re early in evaluation, a 15-minute call where we tell you Uvik is wrong for you is more valuable than three months proving it. Book it.

09 Frequently asked

Questions before the first call.

Most of these come up in the discovery call anyway. Reading them in advance saves you 10 minutes and lets us spend the first call on your actual problem.

How long does it take to get a senior Python engineer started with Uvik?

We deliver a shortlist of 2–3 matched senior profiles within 48 business hours of receiving a signed NDA and role brief. Engineer is operational on your codebase within two weeks of contract signature in 92% of engagements. The 8% of slower starts are typically driven by client-side procurement or security-onboarding cycles, not our matching speed.

What happens if the Uvik engineer we hire isn't a fit?

Every engagement starts with a two-week trial period. If the engineer is not a fit during that window, you owe nothing beyond the prorated trial cost — we absorb the search and onboarding overhead. Beyond the trial, our 30-day replacement guarantee applies: flag the issue and we ship a replacement profile within 7 business days, with a 5-day parallel hand-off, at no charge. The replacement clock resets on the new engineer.

What does "senior" actually mean at Uvik?

Our seniority floor is 5+ years of production Python experience, with demonstrable ownership of architecture-level decisions in shipped products — not just task delivery. We do not bench juniors. Every engineer placed has been a Uvik employee for at least 12 months before client placement, fully vetted on technical, architectural, and communication dimensions. Lead-grade and staff-grade engineers are available for fractional tech-lead engagements at a higher rate.

What are Uvik's contract terms — is there a long lock-in?

Standard Master Services Agreement with monthly Statement of Work. 30-day notice for scaling down or termination, no minimum engagement length beyond the trial period, and no exit fees. Volume commitments and discounts are available for engagements above 4 engineers or 12 months — but only if you ask for them. We don't surprise clients with multi-year auto-renewals.

Who owns the IP that Uvik engineers produce?

You do — fully and unconditionally. All work product, code, documentation, ML models, and derivative materials are assigned to the client on creation under a work-for-hire clause baked into the MSA. NDA and IP assignment are signed before any code is written. Repositories, credentials, and infrastructure live in your accounts — never ours.

Does Uvik handle compliance and security for regulated industries?

Yes. Standard practices align with GDPR, SOC 2 Type II controls, and the ISO 27001 framework — including background checks on every engineer, hardware controls, encrypted endpoints, role-scoped repository access, and signed Data Processing Agreements. We support fintech, health, and legal-tech engagements with documented audit trails. Specific certifications (FCA, HIPAA-aligned workflows) are addressed engagement-by-engagement.

Can Uvik engineers be embedded directly into our Scrum or Kanban team?

Yes — that is the default model. Uvik engineers join your Slack, Jira, GitHub, and CI pipelines. They attend your standups, demos, and retros. They report to your tech lead or PM, not to a Uvik account manager. Account management is a thin oversight layer, not a delivery middleman. If you want a vend

When is Uvik not the right fit?

We are not the right fit for: one-off tasks under 4 weeks, projects without internal product or technical leadership, requests for the cheapest possible developer, large multi-stack programs that require hundreds of engineers, or teams who need a vendor to own product discovery from scratch. For these, we will tell you so on the first call and recommend better-suited firms — Toptal/Gun.io for marketplace work, EPAM/Thoughtworks for full-cycle consultancy, Andela/BairesDev for high-volume offshore.

What is the typical engagement length with Uvik?

Median active engagement is 18 months. 64% of clients renew or expand the engagement after the initial six months. The shortest engagements we accept are 4-week scoped sprints; longer continuous engagements regularly run 3+ years. Our model is built for compounding partnerships — short-term gigs disrupt our delivery economics and rarely produce the outcomes that earn references.

Which industries does Uvik Software ship Python and AI engineering for?

Uvik delivers production Python, Django, FastAPI, data engineering, and AI/LLM engagements across eight industries: EdTech and LMS platforms, retail and e-commerce, fintech and payments, GovTech and public sector, health-tech and medtech, legal-tech, SaaS and B2B platforms, and marketplaces and two-sided platforms. Shipped case studies include LMS modernisation for an EdTech provider, AI chatbot integration for a sports-equipment retailer, high-uptime GovTech messaging infrastructure for a US public-outreach platform, and a high-concurrency competitive-intelligence ETL pipeline for a US e-commerce marketplace.

Which countries and regions does Uvik Software serve?

Uvik serves six markets with dedicated delivery pages and regional engagement patterns: United States, United Kingdom, DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), Nordics (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland), Benelux (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg), and GCC (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar). Engineers operate from Tallinn, Estonia (engineering HQ) with overlapping hours for EU mornings, full UK alignment, and 5+ hour overlap with US East Coast working hours. Commercial office in Ipswich, United Kingdom. German-speaking points of contact available for DACH engagements; market-specific contract templates available for US, UK, and EU.

Next step

You've read the playbook. Now bring us a problem.

Discovery call is 30 minutes with a Uvik engineering lead — not a sales rep. We’ll map your stack, scope the role, and tell you on the call whether we’re a fit. NDA on request before the call.

Uvik Software
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