Cense AG – IT staffing of Senior Node.js Developers for a Swiss Web3 financial compliance firm

Elen Muradian

Last updated on November 21, 2025 | 13 min read

As banks and wealth managers face growing demand to serve crypto-holding clients, compliance is the make-or-break factor. Cense AG, a Swiss Web3 compliance firm, was growing its core product teams. To find Senior Node.js Talent, it turned to DevsData LLC, known for fast recruitment and precise matching of niche requirements. What followed was a focused collaboration built on speed, selectivity, and deep technical alignment.

Client profile

Cense AG is a Swiss technology company developing software solutions at the intersection of Web3, finance, and regulatory compliance. As blockchain-based systems continue to evolve, financial institutions face pressure to meet complex legal requirements. Cense addresses this challenge with an automated compliance and due diligence platform that generates auditable reports on digital asset holders. The product verifies sources of funds, performs risk scoring, analyzes counterparties, screens for sanctions exposure, and confirms wallet ownership, helping banks and financial institutions evaluate crypto clients quickly and accurately. Their technology enables clients to ensure transparency, legal traceability, and adherence to both national and cross-border regulations, without sacrificing speed or scalability.

With a compact team of around 20 professionals, Cense maintains a strong focus on product innovation, domain expertise, and technical reliability. The company’s core products integrate with both traditional and blockchain-based systems, offering high levels of configurability for use cases in financial auditing, real-time transaction monitoring, and identity verification. By combining a deep understanding of the regulatory landscape with advanced software engineering, Cense positions itself as a trusted infrastructure partner for FinTechs, Web3 startups, and institutions navigating complex digital ecosystems.

Highlights:

• The Swiss-based firm focused on Web3, finance, and regulatory compliance tech.
• Builds automation tools for real-time monitoring, transparency, and legal traceability.
• Tight-knit team of ~20 experts working across engineering, compliance, and blockchain domains.

Challenge: niche requirements and an evolving scope

Cense AG approached DevsData LLC, intending to hire several Senior Backend Developers to strengthen its core product teams. The ideal candidates had to possess advanced Node.js expertise and, crucially, hands-on experience with the Solana blockchain and smart contract development: skills rarely found in standard software house profiles. The company sought individuals who had worked almost exclusively on backend systems, with a focus on designing and scaling APIs, building microservices architectures, and managing messaging and data pipelines for distributed applications.

The project’s complexity was heightened by an unclear scope and constantly evolving technical expectations. At the outset, there was no formal job specification, nor a fully mapped hiring process. Details about the tech stack, including expectations around smart contract frameworks and blockchain integrations, emerged progressively, often through conversations with early candidates. It later became clear that the evaluation process involved over five stages, each requiring careful preparation and alignment:

1. Initial screening and alignment call – clarifying expectations with stakeholders and synchronizing on the evolving scope.
2. Technical assessment – reviewing coding skills, blockchain knowledge, and smart contract expertise.
3. Practical task or coding challenge – testing applied problem-solving and adaptability to decentralized technologies.
4. Panel or team interview – assessing collaboration skills, communication, and cultural fit within a distributed team.
5. Final decision round – consolidating feedback across stakeholders and aligning on compensation, timeline, and long-term fit.

DevsData LLC had to navigate these shifting conditions while maintaining both speed and candidate quality, ensuring that top-tier professionals were not lost to competing opportunities.

Additionally, sourcing was made more difficult by the absence of a disclosed compensation range, a common filter for qualified candidates in competitive markets. This required recruiters to rely heavily on rapport-building, technical insight, and trust to engage Senior Talent. The search called for an extremely precise, consultative approach, balancing highly specific technical filters with cultural sensitivity and market expectations. The pressure was on to deliver not just one but multiple standout candidates under demanding and evolving conditions.

Goals

Expanding the backend engineering team was a strategic priority for Cense AG as they advanced the development of their Web3 compliance platform. The company needed Developers who could immediately contribute to complex blockchain integrations, particularly those involving Solana smart contracts, while also fitting into a fast-moving, product-oriented environment. These hires were seen as critical to maintaining development velocity ahead of several key product milestones.

Beyond technical competence, the company emphasized stability and long-term collaboration. They were not looking for contractors or consultants but for individuals with a proven track record of ownership and the intent to grow with the team. With several key products under development, speed was essential, but only if paired with rigorous quality control. The overarching goal was to identify and onboard highly specialized Engineers in a compressed timeframe, without compromising on fit or expertise.

Our approach

We began the engagement by assigning a specialized recruitment unit with deep knowledge of blockchain and FinTech hiring landscapes. Our approach was shaped by prior experience handling complex technical roles in the financial sector, notably our collaboration with BNP Paribas, where we successfully staffed seven Java Engineers for high-compliance projects. This background shaped our approach to speed, role clarification, and expectation management. While the underlying technologies differed – Java in banking systems versus Solana and Node.js in blockchain development – the common denominator was recruiting Engineers for environments demanding rigorous code quality, security, and long-term maintainability. Both contexts required candidates who could navigate mission-critical systems where even minor errors carried significant business impact, making our banking experience directly transferable to this blockchain search.

Within the first 48 hours, we built a multi-channel sourcing strategy focused on Senior Engineers across Central and Eastern Europe and the DACH region. Key sourcing channels included:

• Internal Talent pools curated for blockchain and backend profiles.
• Niche online communities (e.g., blockchain-focused Discord groups, Developer forums).
• Specialized job boards, such as CryptoJobs and Web3.career.
• Advanced LinkedIn search filters and Boolean logic.
• Alumni networks and invite-only Developer groups with high engagement.
• Remote hubs experienced in backend blockchain infrastructure.

Candidate outreach was handled with personalized, high-touch messaging that highlighted Cense AG’s mission, product maturity, and engineering challenges. We focused on long-term growth potential and technical ownership to appeal to passive candidates with strong career stability. In parallel, we worked closely with Cense to clarify the interview structure, align on evaluation criteria, and streamline communication across the funnel, reducing friction and improving transparency on both sides. Early candidate conversations also helped us fine-tune the original brief, allowing for sharper targeting from the third day onward.

Execution and delivery

Our team screened over 120 candidates and delivered the first curated shortlist within six business days. Each shortlisted candidate underwent a multi-layered evaluation process beginning with technical pre-screening and cultural alignment assessments conducted by our senior team. Candidates who advanced were carefully guided through Cense’s complex, multi-stage interview flow, often requiring over five interactions per person, while we provided ongoing support and coordination throughout.

Even without a finalized job spec or published salary range, we sourced over 120 candidates and delivered a qualified shortlist within six business days.

To maximize momentum, we facilitated rapid feedback cycles between interview stages, prepared candidates with detailed briefings at each step, and adjusted sourcing strategies in real time based on live data from the funnel. All candidate recommendations were accompanied by structured summaries covering strengths, relevant blockchain experience, red flags, and team fit.

Outcome

Within the first month of the collaboration, DevsData LLC delivered four Senior-level Backend Engineers who met Cense AG’s highly specific technical and cultural requirements. These hires were integrated into product teams working on core modules related to blockchain compliance, including smart contract auditing, real-time transaction validation, and API-level security enhancements. The recruitment process was marked by speed, transparency, and deep alignment with the evolving role scope.

In less than four weeks, DevsData LLC filled four Senior Backend roles; each candidate had hands-on Solana experience and was a strong cultural fit.

Thanks to an adaptive sourcing strategy and tight feedback loops, candidate engagement remained consistently high throughout the process. Our client reported reduced interview drop-off rates, improved technical match rates, and faster ramp-up time for new hires. As trust deepened, the partnership expanded organically, leading to additional roles being scoped and filled beyond the initial engagement.

• Four specialized Backend Engineers hired in under four weeks, each with blockchain and Solana experience.
• High retention rate and smooth integration into core product teams.
• Specialized job boards, such as CryptoJobs and Web3.career.
• Ongoing collaboration established for long-term hiring and role advisory.

To illustrate the outcomes of this collaboration, the table below summarizes key recruitment metrics and results achieved during the first phase of hiring.

What’s next?

As Cense AG continues to develop advanced tools for regulatory automation in the Web3 space, the demand for highly skilled, niche Engineering Talent remains a strategic priority. DevsData LLC remains actively involved to support future recruitment waves and advise on role design and market fit.

The next phase of the collaboration will likely focus on scaling the platform’s backend infrastructure and expanding into areas such as security auditing, cross-chain integrations, and compliance intelligence. With a trusted foundation already in place, the relationship is shifting from one-time delivery to an ongoing Talent partnership aligned with Cense’s broader growth roadmap.

Hiring Engineers with Solana expertise in a high-compliance environment? You’re not the only one navigating a narrow Talent pool with evolving role requirements. Cense AG faced similar challenges: undefined scope, no published salary range, and a need for highly specialized Backend Developers. In under four weeks, we delivered four Engineers with the exact blockchain skills and cultural alignment they needed.

If your current hiring strategy feels more like debugging than scaling, let’s talk. To connect with DevsData LLC, email us at general@devsdata.com or visit our website at www.devsdata.com.

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Elen Muradian Copywriter and Marketer

As a versatile and accomplished writer with 3+ years of experience in digital media publishing, Elen is skilled in crafting engaging content across various subjects, styles, and media. In her previous experience, Elen worked closely with editorial teams and visual artists to bring content to life. She always seeks opportunities for personal and professional growth and is eager to contribute to the writing field.

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