Simon Monaghan

Helping startups hire Flutter Devs who build and ship like Founders.

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

US founders hiring Flutter: five recruiters, one senior role, 50 CVs, no clear answer.

Volume is not judgment.

One focused search beats five parallel searches nobody owns.

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

US founders hiring Flutter: are you hiring for speed or depth?

If features are slipping, hire velocity.

If architecture is blocking you, hire depth.

Get that wrong and the job post attracts the wrong people.

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

US founders hiring Flutter: if the role is vague, sourcing harder won’t fix it.

Define month-three outcomes, closest collaborators, and what the last mobile hire missed before the post goes live.

That 45 minutes saves week-four stalls.

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

Most teams say they want a product-minded Flutter developer.

Then they interview like they’re hiring a coder.

Ask about users.
Ask about time-to-ship.
Ask about trade-offs.

Judgment is the hiring screen most teams skip.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

Most Flutter interview processes fail when no one knows what each round is for.

CTO: product problem.
Senior engineer: production ownership.
Founder: can they move the product forward?

Every round needs a reason.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

A seed-stage Flutter hire and a Series A Flutter hire can have the same title.

They are not doing the same job.

Seed needs ownership.

Series A needs release discipline, crash rates, and clean handoff.

The stage defines the role.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

Senior Flutter developers worth hiring will ask:

How often do you ship?
Who owns releases?
What will I own in 90 days?

Those aren't icebreakers.

That's them interviewing you.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

Before any Flutter take-home test, ask this:

Tell me about a release that went sideways.

Strong candidates explain what broke, how they diagnosed it, and what changed.

Weaker ones describe what the team did.

Screen for ownership.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

Two strong interviews with a senior Flutter candidate.

One booked the next step.

The other said, "We'll be in touch."

No date. No next step.

Three days later, the candidate took another offer.

Silence makes the decision for them.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

I spoke to 14 senior Flutter developers in New York.

None were active.

Three are now interviewing.

Not because they were looking.

Because I knew this role would interest them.

Waiting on applications misses that.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

"Scale the app and improve performance" is not a Flutter hiring brief.

"Ship onboarding, fix performance, own releases" is.

Senior Flutter developers want to know what success looks like before they commit.

Define that first. Then write the job post.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

Most Flutter job posts fail in the first paragraph.

Senior engineers don’t start with your requirements.

They want to know:
What’s broken?
What needs to ship?
Why does this matter?

Lead with the problem.

The requirements list comes last.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

US founders hiring Flutter in US time zones:

I spoke to 14 senior Flutter developers last Thursday.

None were looking.

Three are now interviewing.

They didn't become available.
They were shown something better.

If you're waiting on applications, good luck.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

First call Tuesday.
Technical Wednesday.
Founder Friday.
Offer Saturday.

Candidate started two weeks later.

Three stages. Clean handoffs. No gaps.

If you're adding a fourth round, start writing the "we're still hiring" post now.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

Candidate cleared three stages.

Founder asked for one more call.
"Just to align on roadmap."

While that call was being scheduled, the candidate accepted another role.

One extra step. One lost hire.

Your process is part of your offer.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

Candidate wanted staff.

Company said no. Flat structure.

Base went from 280 to 300.

Title stayed senior.

He took it.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

Two companies moved from first call to offer last week.

Both were three-stage processes.

Roles filled. Job done.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

Three offers this week. Same candidate.

Two senior. One principal.

Senior paid more.

He took principal.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

A US startup hired a senior Flutter developer.

Six months later they let them go.

Not a developer problem. A hiring problem.

Seed-stage and Series A Flutter hires are different jobs with the same title.

The stage defines the job.

Hire for it.

#Flutter

[Simon Monaghan @SimonMonaghan]

A senior Flutter developer opens your job post.

Three seconds later, they close it.

Why? The first paragraph didn’t explain what you need.

Don’t make them guess.

“We’re hiring because this feature ships in Q2 and you own it.”

#Flutter