A US digital agency had more client work than its team could handle, US hires were too expensive, and some projects needed specialist skills it didn’t have in-house, like web accessibility. Within 2–3 weeks, Rad Hires helped it build a senior LatAm team of four professionals from Argentina and Colombia, at about $40 an hour on average, roughly half the cost of US equivalents.
Editor’s note: Some clients prefer not to be named, so we’ve left out the company’s name.
At a glance
- Client: a US digital marketing agency offering branding, web design and development
- Roles: senior WordPress and Shopify development, QA testing and web accessibility
- Team size: 4 hires
- Hired from: Argentina and Colombia
- Time to hire: 2–3 weeks
- Engagement: Talent On-Demand (flexible, fully managed)
- Cost: about $40 an hour averaged across roles, roughly half the US cost
The challenge
The agency builds brands and websites for its clients, and client demand had outgrown its in-house team. Adding senior developers in the US would have cost too much and eaten into the agency’s margins.
Some projects also called for skills the team didn’t have, especially web accessibility. The agency needed senior people who could join client projects quickly and work alongside its US team.
How Rad Hires built the senior LatAm team
After a kickoff call to understand the agency’s clients, tech stack and budget, our recruiters searched our network across Latin America for each role. We screened candidates for technical depth, communication and fit with agency work, and the agency interviewed and chose its hires.
Within 2–3 weeks, the agency had a four-person team in place, based in Argentina and Colombia. Both countries share most of the US workday, so the team worked in step with the agency.
Because the agency used Talent On-Demand, Rad Hires contracted and paid the team. That let the agency add capacity without setting up hiring in another country.
Who they hired
The team covered four kinds of work the agency needed for its clients:
- WordPress development. Building and maintaining client websites.
- Shopify development. Building and customizing client online stores.
- QA testing. Checking sites and stores before they went live.
- Web accessibility. Auditing and fixing sites so people with disabilities can use them.
The results
- More client projects delivered. With more senior people, the agency could take on and ship more work.
- Faster turnaround. Client projects moved through development and testing more quickly.
- Better margins. At about $40 an hour on average, the team cost roughly half what US equivalents would.
- A new service. With accessibility specialists on board, the agency began offering accessibility audits to its clients.
- A lasting hire. A couple of years on, one of the original hires is still with the agency.
Why it worked
- Senior talent at agency margins. Hiring in Latin America made senior specialists affordable.
- Speed. The agency went from kickoff to a working team in 2–3 weeks.
- Specialist skills on demand. The agency could add skills like accessibility without a long search.
- Less admin. Talent On-Demand kept the arrangement simple and flexible.
Need to grow your agency team?
Rad Hires recruits senior developers, QA testers and digital specialists across Latin America for US companies. Most clients hire in 2–4 weeks for 40–60% less than a comparable US hire, and every hire comes with a 90-day replacement guarantee.
Hiring a single senior engineer instead? See how a US startup hired a senior Android engineer in Argentina for $8.7k a month, or learn about Direct Hire.