Fractional CTO
I provide senior technical leadership for companies that need it but aren't ready for — or can't justify — a full-time hire. The engagement looks different depending on the company, but the common thread is the same: you've got technology decisions that matter, and no one in the room with the experience to make them confidently.
Where I Tend to Fit Best
You've built a product that works, but the early technical decisions are starting to create drag. Architecture that held up at launch won't hold at scale. You're managing outsourced developers you can't fully evaluate. You need someone who's done this before.
You're scaling the team, rethinking the platform, or integrating after an acquisition — and the technical strategy needs to keep pace with the business strategy.
You've promoted a strong engineer into leadership, or hired your first technical lead, and they're figuring it out without a senior peer to learn from. I provide the experienced sounding board that helps them grow into the role faster — without undermining their ownership.
What It Looks Like in Practice
Architecture review, technical roadmaps, team building and mentoring, engineering process optimisation, AWS cost optimisation, due diligence support ahead of fundraising or acquisition.
I'm still hands-on — I've spent the past year designing serverless architectures, sorting out AWS cost structures, improving engineering processes, and hiring first engineers. Not just advising from a distance.
Background
I spent a decade building and leading an engineering operation in Belfast for a global adtech platform — from first hire to over 60 engineers, through a major acquisition and the multi-year technology integration that followed.
Post-acquisition, I led a global engineering team of 100+, consolidating technology platforms across four acquired companies and delivering significant cost reductions through platform rationalisation. I built a large-scale real-time data platform — 3,600+ cores, 100+ nodes, 300TB+ — powering analytics and reporting products.
I've overseen AWS environments running tens of millions a year and led the kind of platform decisions that shape a company's trajectory. That's what I bring to every engagement: not frameworks from a textbook, but pattern recognition from having done it.
Let's Talk
If you're facing technology decisions that matter and want someone who's been through it, I'd welcome a conversation.