Every role here has a salary band on it, and the whole process is written down before you apply.

The band is the real one — The number people actually get offered is inside it, and the top of it has been paid to somebody. A band nobody ever reaches is worse than no band at all
Where you land in it — Decided by what you can do, and explained at offer stage rather than left as a mystery. Nobody is placed at the bottom because they didn't push
We don't ask what you earn now — Not on the form, not in the first call, not at offer. It is how a gap gets carried from one job to the next, and it tells us nothing about whether somebody can do the work
We don't negotiate downwards — The offer is what we think the work is worth, not an opening position. It moves for new information about the job, not for how hard somebody pushes
Same role, same band, reviewed together — Once a year across the whole team, rather than whenever somebody threatens to leave. The second version quietly pays for confidence instead of work

The application — a form, about ten minutes — No cover letter and no "tell us why you're passionate". Three questions about the work, plus a CV or a link, whichever you'd rather send
A reply to everyone, inside a week — Including the no. Written by a person, and where we can say why, we do. Silence is the cheapest thing a company can do to a candidate and it costs them the most
First conversation — 45 minutes — With the person you'd report to, not a screener reading a script. Bring questions: half the time is yours and it is the half that decides most of it
A paid exercise — half a day, paid at the band's day rate — Real work, time-boxed, and paid whether or not we go further. Where half a day isn't possible around a current job or caring responsibilities, say so and we'll do it another way
Meeting the team — an hour — Two or three people you'd genuinely work with. It is not a culture-fit round and nobody holds a veto based on a feeling they can't explain
A decision within three working days — Of the last conversation. If it's going to take longer you'll hear that on the day it was due, rather than discovering it by waiting

The systems are older than you'd like — Parts of this were built quickly by people who have since left, and the work includes living with that while it gets replaced a piece at a time. If you want a green field, this is not one
You'll do unglamorous work — Everybody takes some support shifts, writes some documentation, and does the thing nobody wants. It's shared rather than dumped on the newest person, but it isn't zero and it never will be
Decisions take longer than they should — We over-consult and we know it. It is the price of a flat structure and we would rather name it than pretend it away in an interview
Progression is honest rather than fast — There isn't a new title every year. Where somebody is ready they move, and where they aren't they're told what is missing instead of being kept warm with a vague conversation
The on-call rota is real — One week in six for the engineering roles, paid, with a genuine right to hand it back. It is on this page rather than in week two of the process

No unpaid take-home task — Not a small one, and not "only a couple of hours". Work is paid or it doesn't happen, and that rule is easier to keep than to explain away
No brain-teasers, no live whiteboard coding — They measure how well somebody performs while being watched, which is a skill almost no job actually requires
No personal projects required — Having none says nothing except that somebody has a life outside work, or responsibilities that fill the evenings
No references before an offer — Asking someone's current employer whether they're any good, before you've committed to anything, is a thing done to a candidate rather than for them
No culture-fit round — We check the specific things the role needs. "Fit" without a definition reliably means people similar to the ones already here
Reapplying is fine — After six months, with no black mark. Where somebody got a long way last time we say so and pick up from there rather than starting again