J&T Associates recruits developers in Nepal and employs them on Nepali contracts. You direct the work; we hold the employment relationship, the payroll and the compliance. That is the whole point of the arrangement: you get a developer on your team without registering a company in Nepal.
We have been operating from Kathmandu since 2003 and currently employ and manage staff for 20 client organisations. We also run Merocareer.com, Nepal’s job board, which is where much of our candidate pipeline comes from.
What it actually means to hire a developer in Nepal
There are two ways companies use us for technical roles, and the difference matters.
A developer on your team, employed by us. We recruit against your requirements, employ the developer on a Nepali employment contract, run their salary, tax withholding and statutory contributions, and handle leave and replacement cover. They work under your direction — your tools, your stand-ups, your priorities.
Employer of Record for a developer you already found. If you have already identified someone in Nepal, we become their legal employer so you get the hire without the entity. This is the same structure we run for non-technical roles, covered in detail on our Employer of Record in Nepal page.
A complete team set up for you. If you need more than one developer, we recruit the whole team rather than leaving you to assemble it piece by piece — engineers, a QA engineer, a technical lead, whichever shape the work needs. Every member of that team is employed by us on Nepali contracts. We manage the payroll, the statutory contributions and the day-to-day administration; your side directs the delivery. You get a functioning team rather than a list of names to manage.
Roles and stacks we recruit for
Any developer your project needs. The stack is your requirement, not our template — we recruit against the role you describe. Clients most often ask for:
- Backend engineers — APIs, services, databases
- Frontend and full-stack developers
- Mobile developers
- QA, test automation and security engineers
- DevOps, cloud and infrastructure
- Data engineers, analysts and reporting
- Technical leads and engineering managers
That list is illustrative rather than exhaustive. If you need a stack, framework or specialism that is not on it, ask — we will tell you what the Kathmandu market can supply, and if a role is genuinely hard to fill we will say so rather than put the wrong person in front of you.
How an engagement works
- Requirement. You give us the role, the seniority and the working hours you need covered. The hours question is the one most people underestimate — see the timezone sections below.
- Shortlist. We recruit and screen, and send you candidates with the technical assessment already done.
- Employ and onboard. You choose; we issue the Nepali employment contract, set up payroll and statutory contributions, and the developer starts on your team.
- Manage and replace. We keep the employment, payroll and records running. If the developer leaves, replacement is our problem, not a vacancy on your desk.
Why an employer rather than a freelance marketplace
Freelance marketplaces are the first place most companies look, and they work — for short, well-defined pieces of work. They become expensive when you need someone who behaves like a team member.
With a marketplace, the developer is a contractor invoicing you. You carry the compliance position, you have no continuity if they take a better offer, and you have no recourse when the relationship sours mid-project. With us, the developer is our employee on a Nepali contract, with statutory contributions and records in place. Continuity, replacement cover and payroll administration sit with us.
That is a different product from a marketplace listing, and it is the reason our clients include banks and telecoms as well as smaller teams — organisations that need the employment side handled properly, not just a name and a rate.
Working with US teams
Nepal is at UTC+5:45. That means there is no overlap between a US working day and a normal Kathmandu day shift, and it is better to be direct about that at the start rather than discover it in week two.
- US Eastern 09:00–17:00 falls at 18:45–02:45 in Kathmandu
- US Central: 19:45–03:45 · Mountain: 20:45–04:45 · Pacific: 21:45–05:45 in Kathmandu
So there are two workable patterns. The first is a Kathmandu evening shift, roughly 18:00–02:00 local, which covers most of the US Eastern working day with live collaboration. The second is a standard Kathmandu day, which means the developer works while your team sleeps — no live overlap, but the work is finished and waiting when your day starts. Many US engagements mix the two: a day-shift developer for delivery, with a couple of hours of scheduled overlap for handover.
See hiring developers in Nepal from the USA for the shift patterns and what US clients usually choose.
Working with Australian teams
Australia is the easier market, because the working days genuinely overlap. Sydney 09:00–17:00 corresponds to roughly 03:45–11:45 in Kathmandu during AEDT, which gives about 2¾ hours of live overlap with a normal Kathmandu day shift — and close to 3¾ hours once Australia returns to AEST. Starting the Kathmandu shift later in the day extends that overlap further, and it is the usual way we run Australian engagements.
For the broader picture of outsourcing to Nepal from Australia, including costs and how engagements are structured, see outsourcing to Nepal from Australia.
What it costs
We do not publish a rate card, because the honest range is too wide to be useful — a mid-level backend developer on a Kathmandu day shift and a senior engineer on a US-aligned night shift are very different numbers, and a figure quoted without the details would mislead you.
What we will do is quote against your actual requirement: role, seniority, hours, and shift pattern. The shift pattern is usually the largest single variable, since night and evening shifts command a premium in Nepal as they do anywhere.
Questions we are asked
Do we need to set up a company in Nepal?
No. That is the reason to use this structure. We are the employer; you are the client.
Are the developers your employees or independent contractors?
Our employees, on Nepali employment contracts, with their statutory contributions administered by us.
Can you cover our working hours?
Yes, but it depends on where you are. Australia overlaps with a normal Kathmandu day. The US requires an evening or night shift, and that is priced accordingly.
What happens if the developer leaves?
Replacement is ours to organise. That is one of the main differences between employing through us and engaging a freelancer directly.
Can we interview before committing?
Yes. You see shortlisted candidates and choose. We do not place anyone into your team without your decision.
Talk to us about the role
Tell us the role, the seniority and the hours you need covered, and we will come back with a realistic view of who is available in Kathmandu and what it would cost. J&T Associates, Parbati Marg, Thapathali, Kathmandu. [email protected] · 01-5901815.
See also staffing agency in Nepal and our services.