Dev Talent Spotlight | February '26

+ Extend your runway with 43.5% cash back on research and development spend from the government

Author

Lisa Deng
February 10, 2026 • Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes

🌟 Featured Developer

Head of Engineering
⏳ 10+ years
📍 Sydney, Remote
🥞 PHP, AWS, Go
💵 $200k p/a or $50 p/h
✅ Salary negotiable for equity
This engineering leader scaled a property tech startup from monolith to event-driven architecture with 20+ microservices, ultimately driving acquisition. Grew teams to 10 engineers, boosted velocity by +20 points, and delivered: 3x Booking.com reservations, $40K+/month booking revenue, 8%+ CTR on Google Hotels, and AI pipelines processing 500M+ daily records.

Seeking roles—contract or permanent, fractional or full-time—where they can work closely with the founder to build the product from 0-1.
Vouched for by
Nina Jung, Head of Growth
"This developer is not only a pragmatic, highly effective engineering lead who goes out of the way to deliver, but also an exceptional leader who is very much respected by their team and others in the business."

Get 5 pre-vetted developers sent to your inbox every month

Advice for founders

R&D Tax Incentive 101: How Startups Can Get Up to 43.5% Cash Back

This guide explains how Australian startups can claim up to 43.5% cash back on eligible R&D spend, providing crucial funding to reduce innovation risk and extend runway.
"
It's there to stop people being scared of innovating - to encourage companies to try things that do not have a guaranteed outcome... A lot of projects end up never being completed or are discontinued. Even if you make no money from a project, if it is eligible you can still claim.
— Jasper Steel, Grant Help

Most startups run out of cash before finding product-market fit. But in Australia, there's an underutilized government program that can give you up to 43.5% of your R&D spend back in cash — no equity dilution, no loans, no competition.

This comprehensive guide walks you through the R&D Tax Incentive: what it is, who qualifies, and how to claim it without unnecessary risk. Learn from an R&D tax specialist who has helped startups survive critical cash crunches and turn government funding into extended runway.

Key takeaways:

  • Get cash refunds even with zero revenue — if you spend at least $20K on eligible R&D, you can receive 43.5% back as a cash refund or tax deduction
  • This is annual, recurring funding you can claim year after year, not a one-time grant
  • Claim salaries, contractors, prototypes, software, and more — if it's genuine R&D work, it likely qualifies
  • Understand what counts as R&D (experimentation, technical uncertainty) vs. what doesn't
  • Learn why documentation matters and when to use a specialist

Read more


 Find out if you’re eligible to get cash back on development costs

You can still claim for last financial year!

Get advice from a R&D tax specialist on if you’re eligible for R&D tax incentive, the application process, how long it’ll take and how much money you could get back.

Book using the link below to get $200 off your first invoice
(p.s You only get invoiced after you receive your grant money from the government 🙌).

🗓️ Other Notable Profiles

Software Engineer
👨‍💼 2-5 years
🏠 Melbourne, Remote
💻 Python, SQL, TypeScript
🤑 $140k p/a or $85 p/h
✅ ✅ Salary negotiable for equity
Founding engineer who scaled IoT platform to thousands of users. Full-stack developer building AI-powered GovTech solutions with SOC 2 compliance, data pipelines, and multi-lingual accessibility.
Ben Letchford
Vouched for by
Ben Letchford
Chief Technology Officer at Zetifi

Software engineer
👨‍💼 7+ years
🏠 Sydney, Remote
💻 React, C#, Python
🤑 $100k p/a or $50 p/h
✅ ✅ Salary negotiable for equity
Rebuilt logistics company's legacy system into modern cloud platform, significantly improving maintainability and workflows. Full-stack engineer (React/.NET/AWS) with product mindset who's built AI-powered tools and delivered for large European banks.
Chris Puype
Vouched for by
Chris Puype
CEO & Founder ElysianNxt

Machine Learning Engineer
👨‍💼 Less than 1 year
🏠 Sydney (Open to relocating), Remote
💻 Python, Flutter, C
🤑 $100k p/a or $50 p/h
✅ ✅ Salary negotiable for equity
PhD candidate developing AI-powered artificial spine technology to restore mobility for spinal disability patients. Previously built neural networks with CSIRO predicting housing market trends.
Durlabh Pande
Vouched for by
Durlabh Pande
Software and Space Engineer at Quasar Satellite Technologies

Full-stack Developer
👨‍💼 2-5 years
🏠 Sydney, Remote
💻 NodeJS, React, SQL
🤑 $110k p/a
✅
Founded profitable ecommerce startup at 17. Now builds full-stack AI phone agent solutions at Series A startup, owning critical HubSpot/Stripe integrations and championing developer productivity tools.
Lawrence Ong
Vouched for by
Lawrence Ong
Lead Engineer at Xero

New Job Opportunities

Permanent, Full-time Roles

📍 Sydney CBD
💵 $140-180k + equity
⏳  Full-time

A profitable, fast-moving startup working with leading companies like Canva, Anthropic, and Microsoft to help researchers quickly find and recruit the right participants for interviews, usability tests, and surveys globally. Join the Sydney team as a Full Stack Engineer with real ownership—you'll build features end-to-end (TypeScript, Node.js, React, AWS, MongoDB), ship meaningful work quickly, and see the direct impact in production.

Looking to hire?

Post your role with SkillsRobin to receive personalised referrals from our network of trusted tech professionals.

Looking for a dev job or side-hustle?

Create a profile on SkillsRobin and get invitations to connect from startup founders and hiring managers.

📍 Remote
💵 Cash
⏳ Part-time / Casual / Contract - opportunity to join for long-haul
 

Revolutionising the $95 billion global sports streaming market by building a "Spotify for Sport" to unlock the 99% of sports content that traditional broadcasters ignore—community clubs, niche leagues, and school teams. Join as the third person in the company (alongside CEO and CTO) with a live MVP already in market, preparing for seed funding to scale. CEO has a product management background and worked in numerous successful Aussie startups. Looking for someone relentlessly self-driven who can navigate ambiguity independently with strong skills in Node.js, TypeScript, React, Flutter, Native iOS/Android, and AWS.

Become a Co-founder + Equity-based Roles

📍 Sydney Preferred, Remote
💵 Equity-based
⏳ Part-time, Join as co-founder

Join as the technical co-founder of an early-stage startup developing a first-of-its-kind digital marketplace for recruiter-qualified, de-identified contingent talent—creating fairer, faster, bias-free hiring pathways. Currently pre-MVP and preparing to build a prototype, pilot with major employers, and raise the first investment round.

📍 Canberra, Remote
💵 Equity-based
⏳ Join as co-founder, Part-time/Freelance
 

Founded by a veterinarian with more than a decade's experience, we support pets at home through personalised healthcare and recovery plans, digital health support and at-home testing. After securing pre-seed investment, we are accelerating our product development to help more pets (and their people)

We’re looking for a full-stack developer to progress product development with a focus on AI tools.

Offers

  • Get up to 43.5% of your research and development spending as a cash refund. If your research and development involves taking on technical risk, the R&D tax incentive could be an ongoing source of funding for your startup. Contact Grant Help and get $200 off your first invoice when you book through this link: https://hs.granthelp.com.au/rdti-eoi-skillsrobin

  • Work 3x faster - Translate speech to text with 95% accuracy with Wispr Flow. No need to stop to fix up punctuation. Get one month free of pro using this referral link 

  • Get 10% Google Workplace for the first year when you sign up through this link https://referworkspace.app.goo.gl/9kwf

About SkillsRobin

SkillsRobin is an open-source employee referral program that connects startups with pre-vetted technical talent through trusted industry referrers.

Our fees are simple and founder-friendly:

  • No upfront costs - you only pay when you hire

  • $500 for part-time hires, $3,500 for full-time hires - only pay once they join your team

  • 6-month guarantee - additional fee of the same amount only if hire stays 6+ months

  • 10x cheaper than traditional recruiting agencies

  • 25% discount on all fees for early, bootstrapping startups (<A$100,000 in funding raised or ARR < $100,000)

Candidates are developers based in ANZ, interested in working with early stage startups and come with referrals from industry professionals, saving you time in the initial screening process.

Know a founder looking for a CTO or founding engineer?

Forward this newsletter and speed up their search

Questions about any of these profiles or our process? Reply to this email ([email protected]) or visit our website