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A Hiring Framework for a New Kind of Services Company

These past couple of weeks I have been working closely with the team at Northslope Technologies on designing a hiring framework.

The Challenge

Founded by former Palantirians, Northslope is a professional services company that provides premium Foundry & AIP development services. This shape of the company is unique in that it is a professional services company that has a product component, and still relies on elite technical talent to deliver services. This makes hiring a unique challenge.

On one hand you can't hire in the same way as you would for a consulting company. You want to hire people who will take ownership of the outcome, and not just be a pair of hands. On the other hand, you can't hire in the same way as you would for a product company. While building reusable product components is important for efficiency and scalability, the primary focus remains on delivering high-impact client outcomes, on short timeframes.

This means we need people who can balance both mindsets - who can leverage Foundry's capabilities to deliver client solutions efficiently, while also identifying opportunities to build reusable components that amplify our impact across multiple engagements.

The Framework

Given this unique challenge, we have been working on a hiring framework that is designed to identify and attract the right kind of talent. It starts with two key questions:

  1. Are they smart?
  2. Do they want to win?

In some sense this is all you need to know about a candidate. If they are smart, they will learn and grow quickly - both on the technical side and on the business side. They will be creative, resourceful, and able to solve complex problems. If they have a desire to win, they will be able to deliver high-impact client solutions, build reusable product components, and help grow the business. They will be able to work effectively with clients, understand their needs, and deliver solutions that exceed their expectations.

This is obviously an oversimplification. If this is all we had on our hiring scorecard we would be missing a lot of important details. It also is highly subjective and prone to bias. But it is a useful starting point. Let's break it down further.

What Does It Mean to Be Smart?

  • Problem Solving: Are they analytical? Do they demonstrate empirical, evidence-based thinking? Can they break down complex problems into simpler components?
  • Creativity: Are they able to think outside the box? Can they come up with innovative solutions to problems?
  • Execution: Are they able to build a working solution? Can they take an idea from concept to reality?
  • Customer Focus: Are they able to understand the needs of the client? Can they deliver solutions that meet or exceed their expectations?

What Does It Mean to Be Able to Win?

  • Getting Things Done (GTD): Are they able to deliver results? Can they execute on their ideas and deliver high-impact solutions?
  • Ownership: Are they able to take ownership of the outcome? Can they drive projects to completion and take responsibility for the results? Do they demonstrate a commitment to excellence?
  • Low Ego: Are they able to work effectively with others? Can they collaborate with clients and team members to deliver solutions that meet everyone's needs?
  • Criticality: Are they able to identify opportunities for improvement? Can they see the big picture and understand how their work fits into the larger context?
  • Grit: Are they able to persevere in the face of challenges? Can they overcome obstacles and setbacks to achieve their goals?
  • High Chaos Tolerance: Are they able to thrive in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment? Can they adapt to changing circumstances and deliver results under tight deadlines?

The Process

We have developed an interview process that reflects these dimensions while remaining adaptable and evolving. Currently, it centers around three core components:

  1. An open-ended problem decomposition interview, where candidates work through an intentionally ambiguous challenge. This helps us evaluate their analytical thinking, creativity, and ability to navigate uncertainty - critical skills for client-facing work.

  2. A technical analysis and building exercise that assesses not just technical capability, but how candidates approach building solutions in practice.

  3. A behavioral interview that explores past experiences and approaches to challenges, helping us understand how candidates embody traits like ownership and grit in real-world situations.

Looking Forward

But perhaps more important than the specific format is our commitment to continuous refinement of the process itself. We regularly evaluate how well these interviews predict success in the role and adjust accordingly. This mirrors our broader approach at Northslope - we're building something new in the professional services space, and that requires being thoughtful and deliberate about every aspect of how we operate, including how we grow our team.