Capacity · Contract to permanent
Contract to permanent: test the fit before you hire
Contract to permanent is the Kernavique Capacity service for converting an engineer on contract into a permanent employee at the end of the term. The engineer starts on contract through their own company, works on your platform to a defined scope, and both sides judge the fit on real work. How conversion works is agreed before the engagement starts. It is for companies building a platform team that want evidence before a permanent offer.
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Contract to permanent
What you get
Conversion agreed up front
When conversion can happen and how it works, written into the engagement before the engineer starts, so the end of the term holds no surprises.
A defined first scope
Real deliverables on your platform, so the decision rests on work rather than on interviews alone.
A check-in during the term
We ask you and the engineer, separately, how it is going and whether conversion is on the table for both sides.
The permanent offer
We handle the offer conversation and the move from contract to employment.
How it runs
- Agree conversion termsBefore the engagement starts, we set out with you how and when conversion can happen.
- Work on contractThe engineer works to a written scope and term, on contract through their own company.
- DecideToward the end of the term, both sides say whether they want to convert.
- ConvertWe handle the permanent offer, and the engineer joins you as an employee.
When it fits
- You are hiring your first platform engineers and want to see real work before a permanent offer.
- The role is new to your company and you are not yet sure what it needs.
- An engineer on contract has become central to your platform and you want to keep them.
Who it is for
- Series A to C companies with a platform to build
- Mid-size consultancies growing an AI platform practice
- Palantir partners and implementation consultancies
Questions buyers ask
- Can we convert an engineer who is already on contract through Kernavique?
- Yes. If conversion was set out when the engagement started, it follows those terms. If not, we agree it with you and the engineer before the term ends.
- Does the engineer have to agree to convert?
- Yes. Conversion is a choice for both sides. We ask each of you during the term, so neither is surprised at the end.
- What if the fit is not right?
- Then the engagement ends with the term, as written. The work has been delivered, and if you still need the role filled, you can open a permanent search with a clearer specification.
- Which roles suit contract to permanent?
- Platform roles where the work shows the fit: Foundry and AIP, LLM and GenAI, MLOps and data, and AI infrastructure engineers. For a leadership role, Leadership search is usually the better route.
Terms on this page
- AIP
- Palantir’s Artificial Intelligence Platform, used alongside its Foundry data platform.
- LLM
- Large language model, the kind of model behind chat assistants and many AI products.
- MLOps
- Machine learning operations: deploying, monitoring and maintaining models in production.
Related services
- CapacityPlatform engineersIndividual Foundry, AIP, LLM and MLOps engineers on contract for a defined scope and term, each matched to a written scope before they start.
- SearchEngineering searchPermanent commissioning, mission-critical MEP, construction, platform and forward deployed engineers, through a contingent or committed search.
- AdvisoryCapability BlueprintA written org design for an AI platform practice, data center delivery team or expert program: roles, hiring sequence, contract and permanent mix.