Startup Hiring Plan Template (First Hires)
First-hires plan: milestones, team gaps, roles with search and start dates, sequencing, budget tied to projection, recruiting, US/UK/EU checks
Cómo usar: Use it when a funded startup plans its first ten or so hires. Fill the milestones and team gaps first, then derive roles, start dates and budget, kept identical to the financial projection. The main pitfall is planning start dates without the three to four months a search and notice period take.
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Startup Hiring Plan: [Company name], [Period]
A plan for an early-stage company's first hires: which roles, in what order and why, when each search starts, what each role costs, how the plan ties to the financial projection, and the legal checks that apply when people join. Structure follows common startup practice. Replace every
[bracketed]value and every row marked Example. Figures are fictional. Employment rules differ by country and change often: this is a planning format, not legal, tax or employment advice; check the current official guidance and a qualified professional in each country where you hire.
Document control
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Document ID | [HIRE-PLAN-NNN] |
| Version | [0.1] |
| Status | [Draft / Approved / Superseded] |
| Owner | [@ceo] |
| Approvers / reviewers | [@co-founder], [@board] |
| Last updated | YYYY-MM-DD |
| Classification | Confidential, founders and board |
| Plan period | [YYYY-MM to YYYY-MM] |
| Linked projection | startup/financial-projections, version [x.y] |
Revision history
| Version | Date | Author | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | YYYY-MM-DD | [@ceo] | Example: First plan for seed round |
| 1.0 | YYYY-MM-DD | [@ceo] | Example: Approved by the board with the 2027 budget |
1. Milestones the hires must deliver
| Milestone ID | Milestone | Target date | Capability gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS-01 (Example) | Forecasting accuracy release for multi-location shops | 2027-09 | Backend capacity, product design |
| MS-02 (Example) | 140 paying shops, churn below 2% a month | 2027-12 | Onboarding and support capacity |
| MS-03 (Example) | Repeatable outbound sales, 18 new shops a month | 2028-06 | Founder-independent sales |
| MS-04 (Example) | About 1.0 million USD ARR run rate, Series A ready | 2028-12 | Marketing, second customer success role |
2. Current team and gaps
| Person or role | Covers today | Should hand over | Gap closed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CEO co-founder (Example) | Sales, support, finance, hiring | First-line support, onboarding | Customer success manager (H-04) |
| CTO co-founder (Example) | All engineering and design | Interface design, part of backend | Product designer (H-02), engineers (H-01, H-03) |
| [Contractor or advisor] | [Scope] | [Scope] | [Role] |
3. Role plan
| Hire ID | Role | Level | Milestone | Country and type | Search starts | Target start | Base salary, 2027 rate (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| H-01 (Example) | Senior software engineer | Senior | MS-01 | [Country], employee | 2026-11 | 2027-02 (M2) | 130,000 |
| H-02 (Example) | Product designer | Mid | MS-01 | [Country], employee | 2027-01 | 2027-04 (M4) | 105,000 |
| H-03 (Example) | Software engineer | Mid | MS-01 | [Country], employee | 2027-03 | 2027-06 (M6) | 120,000 |
| H-04 (Example) | Customer success manager | Mid | MS-02 | [Country], employee | 2027-06 | 2027-09 (M9) | 70,000 |
| H-05 (Example) | Account executive | Mid | MS-03 | [Country], employee | 2027-09 | 2027-12 (M12) | 85,000 |
| H-06 (Example) | Software engineer | Mid | MS-03 | [Country], employee | 2027-12 | 2028-03 (M15) | 120,000 |
| H-07 (Example) | Marketing lead | Senior | MS-04 | [Country], employee | 2028-02 | 2028-06 (M18) | 110,000 |
| H-08 (Example) | Customer success manager | Mid | MS-04 | [Country], employee | 2028-09 | 2028-12 (M24) | 70,000 |
| H-09 (Example) | Account executive | Mid | MS-04 | [Country], employee | 2028-12 | 2029-03 (M27) | 85,000 |
Salary benchmark used: [source and date]. Salaries rise 3% each January from 2028, so a role starting in 2028 is paid the 2027 rate x 1.03.
4. Sequencing rationale
- Engineering first (H-01, H-03): MS-01 is the product promise in the seed pitch, and the CTO cannot deliver it alone.
- Customer success before sales (H-04 before H-05): adding customers faster than they can be onboarded raises churn, the assumption the projection is most sensitive to after new customers.
- Marketing after two quarters of founder-led and account executive selling (H-07 at M18), once the message that converts is known.
- Change triggers: if closing customers at M18 are below 190, defer
H-08 and H-09 (trigger TRG-01 in
startup/financial-projections).
5. Budget
Fully loaded cost = salary x 1.20 (employer on-costs, Example assumption A-07), pro-rated from the start month.
| Hire ID | Fully loaded annual cost, 2027 rate | 2027 cost | 2028 cost | 2029 cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founders (2) (Example) | 216,000 | 216,000 | 222,480 | 229,154 |
| H-01 (Example) | 156,000 | 143,000 | 160,680 | 165,500 |
| H-02 (Example) | 126,000 | 94,500 | 129,780 | 133,673 |
| H-03 (Example) | 144,000 | 84,000 | 148,320 | 152,770 |
| H-04 (Example) | 84,000 | 28,000 | 86,520 | 89,116 |
| H-05 (Example) | 102,000 | 8,500 | 105,060 | 108,212 |
| H-06 (Example) | 144,000 | 0 | 123,600 | 152,770 |
| H-07 (Example) | 132,000 | 0 | 79,310 | 140,039 |
| H-08 (Example) | 84,000 | 0 | 7,210 | 89,116 |
| H-09 (Example) | 102,000 | 0 | 0 | 90,176 |
| Total | 574,000 | 1,062,960 | 1,350,526 |
Totals equal the people cost line in the projection (check CHK-05 there). Recruiting costs (job boards, assessment tools) are budgeted inside the 6,000 USD a month other operating costs; if you plan to use a recruiting agency, add its fee as a separate line. Equipment is 2,000 USD per hire, capitalised.
Equity: record the option pool and the proposed grant range per role
in [cap table link]; see mba/mba-venture-finance-cap-table-card for
the dilution arithmetic.
6. Recruiting process per role
| Step | What happens | Owner | Target time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Role scorecard: outcomes for the first 6 and 12 months, must-have skills | Hiring manager | Week 1 |
| 2 | Job advert with pay range (required in some places, see section 7) | Hiring manager | Week 1 |
| 3 | Sourcing: network, referrals, job boards | Founders | Weeks 1 to 4 |
| 4 | Screen against the scorecard | Hiring manager | Weeks 2 to 6 |
| 5 | Structured interviews and a paid or short work sample | Panel | Weeks 4 to 8 |
| 6 | References, offer, right-to-work check | CEO | Weeks 8 to 10 |
| 7 | Notice period and onboarding plan | Hiring manager | Weeks 10 to 14 |
Use hr/offer-letter for the offer and hr/new-hire-onboarding-plan
for the first 90 days.
7. Legal and compliance checks by country
| Jurisdiction | Check | Rule as checked 2026-10-30 | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | Employment eligibility (Form I-9) | The employee completes Section 1 no later than the first day of work for pay, and the employer completes Section 2 within three business days of the start date; current form edition 01/20/25 | USCIS Handbook for Employers M-274: https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-resources/handbook-for-employers-m-274 |
| UK | Right to work | Check before the person starts work; employers who skip a correct check may face a civil penalty of up to 60,000 GBP per illegal worker | https://www.gov.uk/check-job-applicant-right-to-work and https://www.gov.uk/penalties-for-employing-illegal-workers |
| EU | Pay transparency | Directive (EU) 2023/970 gives applicants a right to pay information before employment and bans asking about pay history; transposition deadline 7 June 2026; obligations reach employers through each Member State's transposing law, so check its current status and wording in every country where you hire | European Commission equal pay page: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/policies/justice-and-fundamental-rights/gender-equality/equal-pay/eu-action-equal-pay_en |
| [Country] | [Contractor or employee status] | [Ask a local adviser whether the working arrangement makes the person an employee] | [Official source] |
Questions to answer for each hire: Is the person an employee or a contractor under local law? Does the company have a legal entity or an employer of record in that country? Which written terms must be given on or before the first day? Does the offer include equity, and what tax election or filing applies?
8. Risks
| Risk ID | Risk | Effect | Response |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR-R-01 (Example) | Senior engineer search exceeds 4 months | MS-01 slips | Start search before the round closes, use a contractor bridge |
| HR-R-02 (Example) | Early account executive misses quota | MS-03 slips, CAC rises | Founder keeps a share of selling until two quarters of data |
| HR-R-03 (Example) | Revenue below plan | Cash runway shortens | Defer H-08 and H-09 under trigger TRG-01 |
9. References and related templates
startup/financial-projections(headcount build and triggers),startup/founders-agreement-outline,startup/fundraising-tracker.hr/offer-letter,hr/new-hire-onboarding-plan,hr/employee-handbook.- USCIS, Handbook for Employers M-274 (page updated July 2026, checked 2026-10-30).
- GOV.UK, "Check a job applicant's right to work" and "Penalties for employing illegal workers" (checked 2026-10-30).
- Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2023/970/oj
Standard and licence note
Based on common startup hiring practice, with dated US, UK and EU compliance examples taken from the official pages listed. All wording, the example company and its figures are original and fictional. Employment law changes often: check the current official guidance in every country where you hire. This is a planning format, not legal, tax or employment advice. Template licence: MIT.
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