What it is
Ongoing senior technical leadership, two to four days a month: technical direction, architecture, hiring, delivery discipline, and the engineering relationship with the board — without the cost or commitment of a full-time executive hire. A three-month minimum engagement, reviewed every quarter after.
What you get
- An owner for the technology decisions, not an advisor who leaves you the homework.
- Technical direction and architecture accountable to one person, not diffused across the team.
- Hands-on hiring input — interviews, scorecards, and the calls on who joins.
- Delivery discipline — the roadmap pressure-tested against what the team can actually ship.
- The engineering relationship with the board — someone who can sit in that room, and read a pull request the next day.
- A quarterly review of the engagement itself — scope, days, and fit, kept honest.
What it costs
A monthly retainer, depending on scope and days needed — set at the fit check, before anything is agreed. Three-month minimum, reviewed quarterly: it continues only if the fit still makes sense to both sides.
Who it is for
- Seed to Series A companies with engineers, but no senior technical head.
- Non-technical founders whose CTO just left, who need continuity in the role.
- PE and VC portfolio companies needing interim technical cover.
- Boards who need one accountable technical voice, not a rotating cast of contractors.
Who it is NOT for
- Not a full-time hire — five days a week is a different conversation.
- Not a single decision or a written verdict — that's the audit.
- Not hands-on-keyboard delivery every day — for one bounded, already-defined outcome, that's a fixed-scope build.
- Not a short engagement — three months is the minimum; anything shorter doesn't give the role time to matter.
- Not for a company that already has senior technical leadership in place — this fills a gap, it doesn't duplicate one.
How an engagement starts
- Fit check. Email the situation: team size, what's missing, what "good" would look like. A short call confirms fit and the likely day count.
- Scope. Days per month, the specific remit — technical direction, hiring, architecture, delivery, the board relationship — and the price get set in a short written scope.
- First quarter. The seat starts: technical direction, hiring input, delivery discipline, and the board relationship, from day one.
- Quarterly review. At the three-month mark, and every quarter after, scope and fit get reviewed openly — nothing is locked into a year-long contract.