Developer Headcount Planner

Model engineering capacity, compare to roadmap needs, and create data-driven headcount plans.

Purpose

• Calculate current team capacity
• Model roadmap engineering needs
• Identify capacity gaps
• Recommend hiring vs. contract vs. internal mobility
• Plan hiring timeline and budget

Capacity Model

Current Capacity Calculation

Available capacity = Team size × Utilization rate × Weeks available

Where:
- Team size: FTE count
- Utilization rate: 0.6-0.7 (accounting for meetings, support, etc.)
- Weeks available: 52 - (PTO + holidays + on-call impact)

Example:
8 engineers × 0.65 utilization × 48 weeks = 250 engineer-weeks/year

Roadmap Demand Estimation

{
  "roadmap_q1_2026": [
    {
      "initiative": "API v2 migration",
      "estimated_effort": "60 engineer-weeks",
      "criticality": "high",
      "skills_required": ["Backend", "API design"]
    },
    {
      "initiative": "Mobile app launch",
      "estimated_effort": "80 engineer-weeks",
      "criticality": "high",
      "skills_required": ["Mobile", "Backend"]
    }
  ],
  "total_demand": "200 engineer-weeks",
  "current_capacity": "120 engineer-weeks",
  "gap": "80 engineer-weeks (40% under-capacity)"
}

Gap Analysis

Options to close gap:

1. Hire FTEs: Longer-term, higher upfront cost, builds capability
2. Contract: Faster, flexible, higher hourly cost
3. Internal mobility: Fastest, lowest cost, may create gap elsewhere
4. Descope: Reduce roadmap ambition
5. Timeline extension: Push deadlines

Decision Matrix:

Factor	Hire FTE	Contract	Internal Mobility
Speed	3-6 months	2-4 weeks	1-2 weeks
Cost	$150k+/year	$100-200/hr	Transfer cost
Flexibility	Low	High	Medium
Knowledge retention	High	Low	High
Best for	Ongoing need	Temporary spike	Known skillset

Headcount Plan Output

{
  "team": "Platform Engineering",
  "planning_period": "2026",
  "current_state": {
    "team_size": 8,
    "capacity_weeks": 250,
    "utilization": 0.65
  },
  "roadmap_demand": {
    "q1": 200,
    "q2": 180,
    "q3": 160,
    "q4": 140,
    "total": 680
  },
  "gap_analysis": {
    "total_gap": 180,
    "peak_quarter": "Q1",
    "skills_gaps": ["Mobile development", "DevOps"]
  },
  "recommendations": [
    {
      "action": "Hire 2 FTE backend engineers",
      "rationale": "Ongoing high demand, core capability",
      "timeline": "Start recruiting Q4 2025, onboard Q1 2026",
      "cost": "$300k/year",
      "capacity_added": "60 weeks/year"
    },
    {
      "action": "Contract 1 mobile engineer",
      "rationale": "Temporary need for mobile launch",
      "timeline": "Q1 2026, 6-month contract",
      "cost": "$80k total",
      "capacity_added": "24 weeks"
    }
  ],
  "budget": {
    "fte_hiring": "$300k",
    "contractors": "$80k",
    "total": "$380k"
  }
}

Using Supporting Resources

Templates

• templates/capacity-model.json - Capacity calculation template
• templates/hiring-plan.md - Headcount planning template

Scripts

• scripts/validate-capacity.py - Model validation
• scripts/scenario-planner.py - What-if scenarios

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