Service
RPO for Startups
RPO for startups is recruitment process outsourcing sized for early-stage companies: our team takes ownership of a defined part of your hiring process — or all of it — and runs it as a service on a flat monthly fee. You get an AI-fluent recruiting team running the function, not a coordinator forwarding resumes. Unlike enterprise RPO, there is no multi-year contract, no minimum hire volume and no per-hire fee on top.
Background
What recruitment process outsourcing means
Where did RPO come from?
RPO began in large enterprises. A company with hundreds of hires a year hands the machinery of recruiting to a provider who runs it against service levels. That machinery covers sourcing teams, coordinators, systems, compliance and reporting.
The provider is paid to operate a function, not to place individuals.
Why does that not fit a startup?
The structure works at scale and translates badly to a fifty-person company. Standard enterprise agreements assume three things a Series A company does not have:
- Stable hiring volume.
- A documented process.
- A one to two-year horizon.
An early-stage hiring plan can double or halt inside a quarter.
What do we keep and what do we drop?
We keep the useful part: someone owns the process end to end, with real reporting. We drop the parts that do not fit, which are the long contract, the minimum volumes, and the account-management layer between you and the people doing the work. We also run the breadth work with tooling, which is how a startup-sized fee covers a function that used to need a team of coordinators.
Scope
What our startup RPO covers
- 01
Process design
Interview loops, scorecards, structured questions and a decision framework, documented so the process survives the engagement.
- 02
Sourcing and outbound
Multi-channel outbound from your domain, with messaging tested and iterated against reply rates rather than guessed.
- 03
Screening and coordination
Screening calls, written candidate summaries, scheduling across time zones and interviewer prep.
- 04
ATS and tooling
Set up or clean up your ATS, pipeline stages and templates. If you do not have one, we recommend based on your volume, not on our partnerships.
- 05
Reporting
Weekly funnel metrics — contacted, replied, screened, onsite, offer, accepted — plus time to hire and source-of-hire.
- 06
Offer and onboarding handover
Offer strategy, closing, notice management and a clean handover to whoever owns onboarding.
Comparison
Startup RPO vs enterprise RPO vs contingency
Scroll horizontally to compare
| Crucial startup RPO | Enterprise RPO | Contingency agency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract length | Rolling monthly | 12-24 months | Per role |
| Minimum volume | None | Often 40+ hires a year | None |
| Pricing | Flat monthly fee | Fee plus per-hire or SLA charges | 20-30% per hire |
| Who you speak to | The recruiter doing the work | A relationship layer above the delivery team | Consultant |
| Systems | Yours | Provider's, reported to you | Provider's |
| Process documentation | Included, yours to keep | Provider-owned, licensed | None |
| Exit | 30 days notice | Contractual, often staged | Stop briefing roles |
RPO for startups FAQs
- What is RPO for startups?
- RPO for startups is recruitment process outsourcing sized for early-stage companies. An external team takes ownership of a defined part of the hiring process — sourcing, screening, coordination, reporting, or all of it — and runs it as a service for a fixed monthly fee, without the twelve to twenty-four month contracts used in enterprise RPO.
- How is RPO different from a recruitment agency?
- An agency is paid per hire and works role by role. RPO is paid for running a process and works across the whole hiring program, including reporting, tooling and interview design.
- Is RPO worth it below 20 hires a year?
- Usually not in its classic form. Below about twenty hires a year, an embedded recruiter gives most of the benefit at a lower fixed cost and with far less contractual commitment.
- What does startup RPO include?
- Typically role scoping, sourcing, screening, interview scheduling, offer management, ATS hygiene, weekly funnel reporting and process documentation. A dedicated recruiter runs the search end to end, with AI-augmented sourcing feeding the pipeline and a recruiter in the loop on every step. Employer brand work and careers-site content can be added.
- How long does an RPO contract run?
- Enterprise RPO usually runs one to two years. Our version runs on a rolling monthly basis with 30 days notice, because early-stage hiring plans change with funding.
- Can we move from RPO back to in-house recruiting?
- Yes, and it should be the plan. Everything runs in your ATS with documented process and scorecards, so an in-house hire can take it over rather than start again.
Related reading
Work out whether RPO or embedded fits
Give us your hiring plan for the next twelve months and we will tell you which model is cheaper and faster for it, including when the answer is neither.