Fractional Engineering Lead
A senior engineer who owns your product for a stretch, frontend first: architecture decisions, the design system, the API contract, pull-request review, and shipping the hard features, embedded with your team two to five days a week.
Some teams do not need another developer. They need someone to own the product: decide how it is built, keep quality up in review, teach the patterns, and still ship the features nobody else wants to touch. The frontend is usually where that starts, because it is where a dated product shows its age, but ownership does not stop at the API. This engagement provides that person on a monthly retainer, working inside your repositories, your process, and your tools, with a documented handoff when the retainer ends.
Problems this solves
- The senior frontend engineer left and the codebase is drifting with every pull request
- A large feature has been in progress for months and needs an owner to land it
- Reviews are rubber stamps because nobody has time to read the frontend carefully
- The team is strong on backend and treats the UI as an afterthought
- Frontend and backend are owned by different teams or vendors, and features stall at the API boundary
- A consultancy or agency needs a senior engineering lead for a client engagement without a permanent hire
- Adopting AI-assisted development is on the roadmap and nobody knows how to do it well
How it runs
- First two weeks: read the codebase, map the architecture, and write down what the team has never written down
- Own outcomes, not tickets: a feature or a platform area is designed, built, reviewed, and shipped end to end, including the API contract and the service behind it when the feature needs it
- Raise the floor in review: precise, teachable feedback with the reasoning, and patterns documented so they stick
- Work at team pace as one person: AI-assisted planning, research, and verification are part of how the work gets done, and your team learns the workflow alongside it
- Leave with a handoff: architecture notes, decision records, and a design system your team keeps using
Frequently Asked Questions
How many days a week?
Two to five, agreed up front and held for the duration of the retainer. Most engagements run three or four days, which leaves room for review and pairing without the cost of a full-time seat.
Is this staff augmentation?
It is closer to an interim lead. The retainer covers ownership of an area or a feature end to end, including architecture, review, and mentoring, not a seat to assign tickets to.
Is this frontend only?
Frontend first, not frontend only. That is where dated products show their age, so it is where the work usually starts, but the engagement owns the API contract and builds or fixes the .NET or Node services behind it when a feature needs it. Recent engagements included Azure Functions, Express services, Postgres and MongoDB data layers, and Kubernetes cron jobs.
How is this priced?
A flat monthly retainer based on days per week, with a three-month initial term and month to month after that. No hourly tracking.
Will you work in our tools and process?
Yes. Your repositories, your CI, your ticketing, your review rules. Azure DevOps, GitHub, and Bitbucket are all familiar.
What about AI tooling?
It is part of daily work: planning, codebase research, verification, and review run through Claude Code and multi-agent workflows, which is how one engineer keeps team pace. If your team wants that workflow, teaching it is included.
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Monthly retainer
Typical timeline
3-month initial term, then month to month
Starting at
Custom scope
Who this is for
Engineering teams and consultancies that need a senior owner for a product area or a client engagement without a permanent hire. Not for one-off bug fixing.
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Talk it through
Describe what you're working with and you'll get an honest read on scope, cost, and whether this is the right fit.
Flat monthly fee based on days per week. Includes review, architecture, and mentoring alongside feature work.