How do you hire verified automation engineers without paying the full fee upfront?
With Express TVP Sourcing you record the role and pay a part-advance. We source and technically screen PLC, SCADA, DCS and commissioning engineers, show you anonymised, rated profiles, and arrange and attend every interview. The balance of a fixed release fee is due when you select a candidate — and the name, contact details, full CV and our written assessment are yours.
Sign up with your company email and a six-digit code. You see the fee for your budget before you pay anything. Prefer to talk first? Send us the role.
Last updated 2 October 2026 · Source: TVP Express terms v0.3 and the TVP Hiring Process, ref TVP/COM/2026-09/02
Why hiring automation engineers stalls
The CV says PLC, SCADA or DCS. Whether the engineer can program, commission and hand over a system is what you find out too late.
CVs that only look right
Building management, IT support and test automation profiles all carry the word “automation”. A keyword search cannot tell them from a controls engineer.
Interviews spent on screening
Your senior engineers leave site to interview candidates who should never have reached them.
A full fee before you have met anyone
You commit to a search before you know whether the candidates will be worth meeting.
Express turns that around. You meet only candidates an automation engineer has signed off, and the larger part of the fee waits until you have chosen one.
How does Express TVP Sourcing work?
Five steps, all in your client portal. Each step shows who acts.
- STEP 1
Record the role You
The role, the number of positions and the budgeted annual CTC. The release fee for that budget is fixed the moment your requirement opens.
- STEP 2
Pay the advance You
A part of the total, in credits, starts the search. It is adjusted against each release — and returns to your balance as credits if you select no one.
- STEP 3
We source and screen TVP
Our screened pool first, then the market. Every candidate passes the same four screening gates and is signed off by a named automation engineer.
- STEP 4
Interview Both
You see anonymised, rated profiles and ask for an interview. We arrange it, create the meeting link, and a TVP colleague attends throughout.
- STEP 5
Select You
Pay the balance of the release fee for the candidate you choose. The name, contact details, full CV and our written assessment open in your portal.
What do you see before you pay the balance — and after?
The same candidate card, before and after you select. Illustrations — not a real candidate.
Senior DCS engineer — process plants
Our screener's reason: strong on engineering, FAT, SAT and site commissioning; has not yet led a large site team.
| Platforms | Verified against a platform-specific technical paper |
| Experience · location | Years of experience and city |
| Employer | Described, not named — “a large EPC contractor” |
| CV | Anonymised copy to open and read |
The candidate's name
Released to you the moment the balance of the release fee is paid.
| Contact | Email and phone |
| Employer | Current employer, by name |
| CV | The candidate's own full CV |
| TVP's assessment | Strengths, weaknesses and a recommendation, signed by a senior engineer |
What does it cost to hire through Express?
One fixed release fee per candidate you select, set by the role's budgeted annual CTC. It is fixed when your requirement opens and does not move with the salary you finally offer.
| Budgeted annual CTC | Release fee per selected candidate | In credits |
|---|
See the fee for your budget
The release fee depends on the role's budget band. You pay a part of the total as an advance to start, and the balance for each candidate when you select. Your client account shows the exact figures before you pay anything.
Create your client account →The fee is paid in credits — you buy credits in your portal and spend them on any TVP service. How credits work.
What happens if you do not find the right engineer?
| If… | Then |
|---|---|
| You select no one | Close the requirement. The advance returns to your balance as credits, to use on any TVP service. |
| You fill some positions, not all | The unused share of the advance returns the same way. |
| A candidate does not suit you after the interview | You have not paid that candidate's balance. Ask for the next interview. |
| Your budget is above the Express bands | The role is served on Retained Search, where we run the hire through to joining. |
Express Sourcing or Retained Search — which fits your role?
Both run on the same client portal and the same four screening gates. The difference is who runs the hire after the shortlist.
| Express TVP Sourcing | Retained Search | |
|---|---|---|
| You get | Verified, interviewed candidates and TVP's written assessment | The whole hire, run to the joining date |
| The fee | A fixed release fee per selected candidate, by budget band | A placement fee as a percentage of annual CTC, banded by level |
| When you pay | A part-advance to start; the balance for each candidate when you select | An activation fee before the search starts, credited against the placement fee on joining |
| Our timeline | We aim to show the first verified candidates within 15 working days of the advance | The first shortlist within 21 working days of kickoff, or the activation fee is returned |
| Offer and joining | Yours, from the moment of release | Run by TVP — offer conversation, notice period and joining |
| Replacement cover | Not included | As set out in the Commercial Schedule |
| Best when | You have the team to close a hire and want verified candidates quickly | The role is senior or hard to close, and you want one firm accountable to joining |
Sources: TVP Express terms v0.3 (1 October 2026) · TVP Hiring Process, ref TVP/COM/2026-09/02 (30 September 2026). See how a Retained search runs, step by step.
Can TVP verify candidates you have already found?
Yes — the TVP Verification Service. Send the CVs you already have and get an engineer's verdict on each.
- You submit candidates in batches from your portal — name, contact details, role and CV.
- We ask each candidate for consent first. Nothing is screened before they say yes.
- Each candidate sits a platform-specific technical paper and a phone screen, and is reviewed by a senior engineer.
- You receive a written report per candidate — verdict, score, platforms covered, strengths and weaknesses — in your portal and as a PDF.
- A candidate who does not consent, is outside our niche or is a duplicate is credited back.
Which roles can you hire through Express?
Technical roles in industrial automation and OT — the only field we recruit in.
- PLC & HMI
- SCADA
- DCS
- MES & Industry 4.0
- Commissioning & field service
- Process & pharma automation
- Substation & energy automation
- BESS & renewables
Hiring one discipline? See how we screen it: PLC programmers, SCADA engineers, DCS and process control, commissioning staffing. Setting the budget? Use the industrial automation salary guide for India and the Automation Skills Demand Index.
What employers ask about Express
What is Express TVP Sourcing?
It is the fastest way to hire through Talent Vertex Partners. You record a role in your client portal and pay a part-advance in credits. We source and technically screen automation engineers, show you anonymised, rated profiles, and arrange and attend every interview. When you select a candidate you pay the balance of a fixed release fee and receive the name, contact details, full CV and our written assessment.
How is Express different from Retained Search?
On Retained Search we run the whole hire to the joining date — the offer conversation, the notice period and replacement cover — for a placement fee set as a percentage of annual CTC. On Express we deliver verified, interviewed candidates and our written assessment for a fixed release fee per candidate you select; the offer and the joining are then yours to run.
What does Express cost?
One fixed release fee per candidate you select, set by the role's budgeted annual CTC when the requirement opens. You start with a part-advance in credits, which is adjusted against each release. The fee for your budget is shown in your client account before you pay anything.
When do I see the candidate's name and contact details?
When you select the candidate and pay the balance of that candidate's release fee. Until then profiles are anonymised — no name, no contact details and no employer name — and a TVP colleague attends each interview.
What happens if I do not select anyone?
Close the requirement and the advance returns to your credit balance as credits, to use on any TVP service. Where some positions are filled, the unused share of the advance returns the same way.
How are the candidates screened?
Through the same four gates as every TVP search: a look-alike filter that removes building-management, IT and test-automation profiles, a structural fit check against your brief, a technical paper built for the exact platforms the candidate claims, and sign-off by a named automation engineer.
Who runs the interview?
Talent Vertex Partners arranges it. We propose the times, create the meeting link, brief the candidate, and a named TVP colleague attends the interview from start to finish.
What is not included in Express?
Offer negotiation, joining follow-up and replacement. The release fee pays for a verified candidate with our written assessment, not for joining. If you want us to run the hire through to joining, use Retained Search.
Can you verify candidates we already found ourselves?
Yes. With the TVP Verification Service you send the CVs you already have in batches. We ask each candidate for consent, screen them the same way, and deliver a written report per candidate in your portal.
How do I start?
Create your client account with your company email and a six-digit code, open Services, and choose Express TVP Sourcing. You sign one Express agreement, which we countersign, record the role, and pay the advance. Or send us the role through the form on this page and we will set it up with you.
Two ways to begin
Open the account yourself in a few minutes, or send us the role and we set it up with you.
Start now
Everything on this page runs from your client portal.
- Create your account — company email and a six-digit code.
- Open Services and choose Express TVP Sourcing.
- Sign the Express agreement — we countersign it — then record the role and pay the advance.
Already a client? Sign in and open Services.