The Right Team, Not the Perfect CV
How Invicta built a two-person remote team that fixed a broken system for Asuntosäästö Asua Oy — and stayed on to keep it running.
- Client
- Asuntosäästö Asua Oy, Helsinki, Finland
- Industry
- Technology
- Solution
- Two specialist remote engineers, placed as a team
- Engagement
- Team Augmentation — client-managed
- Outcome
- Platform stabilised, project delivered ahead of schedule
- Status
- Ongoing — both specialists still with the client today
The Problem
Asuntosäästö Asua Oy needed help fast. Their core platform was breaking down — old technical debt had piled up, and the team that originally built it had already left. No documentation. No handover. Nobody left in-house who understood how the system actually worked.
We see this a lot. A client writes the brief around what the project needs to get done, not around how engineers actually specialise in the real world. The profile that brief describes either doesn't exist, or the person who comes closest ends up spread too thin to be great at any one part of it.
So before we searched for anyone, we asked a different question: is one hire even the right structure?
The Hiring Problem Nobody Talks About
The original brief asked for one senior engineer who could do everything: backend, frontend, Java, GoLang, UI/UX — and reverse-engineer an undocumented codebase solo, while also shipping new features.
We see this a lot. A client writes the brief around what the project needs to get done, not around how engineers actually specialise in the real world. The profile that brief describes either doesn't exist, or the person who comes closest ends up spread too thin to be great at any one part of it.
So before we searched for anyone, we asked a different question: is one hire even the right structure?
What the brief asked for
- One hire to cover all technical disciplines
- Backend, frontend, Java, GoLang, and UI/UX
- Legacy reverse-engineering plus new feature delivery
- All within a fixed monthly budget
What the talent market reflects
- Specialists exist — true multi-stack depth rarely does
- Backend engineers and UI/UX designers are different profiles
- Splitting focus between legacy and new build slows both
- That level of breadth commands a steep premium
What We Recommended
Instead of one generalist stretched across five disciplines, we proposed two specialists working as a team — within the same budget the client had already set aside. Each person could go deep in their own area instead of being pulled in five directions.
This is the part of the job we think matters most: not just filling a brief, but checking whether the brief itself is set up to succeed. In this case, restructuring the hire before searching for anyone made the difference.
The client agreed, and we got to work finding both people.
Who We Placed
- A backend and systems engineer — strong in Java and GoLang, with the ability to map an undocumented codebase from scratch, stabilise it, and build the backend foundation the new features would need.
- A frontend engineer with UI/UX skills — responsible for modernising the interface and designing and building the new features on the roadmap.
We didn't just match skills to the brief — we paid close attention to how the two would work together day to day, since they'd be figuring out a messy, undocumented system side by side. Invicta also structured the first few weeks around a clear discovery process to map the legacy system, split the work so both engineers could move in parallel, and stayed close through Invicta's client success team as the engagement got underway.
The client managed the team directly, with Invicta staying available in the background.
What Happened
- The full project was delivered ahead of schedule.
- The legacy codebase was mapped, documented, and stabilised — starting from nothing.
- The technical debt that had been slowing everything down got resolved.
- New features shipped, on scope, on the original roadmap.
- Full documentation now exists where none did before — something the client owns going forward.
We were dealing with a legacy system that had become unstable, with fragmented data and persistent issues in partner payment calculations. Invicta's team understood the problem quickly, stabilised the system, resolved the data issues, and ensured payments were processed accurately and on time.
When the project wrapped, the client didn't let the team go. Both engineers are still there today, working on an ongoing retainer as a permanent part of the business.
Why This Matters
This isn't really a story about technology. It's a story about getting the talent structure right before you start hiring.
The original brief, if we'd filled it as written, would have set someone up to fail — one person, five disciplines, an undocumented system, and a roadmap to hit at the same time. Nobody does their best work like that.
That's the thinking behind how Invicta approaches every brief: nearly 15 years of HR leadership across large organisations taught us to ask "who does this business actually need?" before we ask "who's available?" For this client, the answer was two specialists, working as one team.
They fixed the problem. They stayed. And they're still growing with the business today.