Fractional design engineer
Fractional design engineer
Senior product design and full-stack engineering from one person, two to three days a week.
Fractional design engineer
Who this is for
Most early teams do not need a fractional CTO and a designer and a front-end contractor. They need one senior person who can design the product, build it and make the technical decisions, for the days a week the stage justifies. That is the role I take.
Teams that need both skills but not forty hours of each.
Funded founders between pre-seed and Series A who need the product to move every week
Companies with developers but no product design, or designers but no one to ship
Teams that want technical leadership without a full-time executive hire
Agencies and consultancies that need a senior design-and-build partner on client work
What I cover
Product design
Flows, high-fidelity UI, design systems and prototypes for users and investors.
Front-end and full-stack engineering
React, Next.js, TypeScript, Firebase and Supabase, shipped to production.
Technical direction
Stack choices, architecture, vendor decisions, hiring briefs and code review.
Roadmap and release planning
What ships this month, what waits, and why.
Investor and stakeholder material
Demos and decks that match the product.
Handover to a full-time team
Documentation and onboarding when it is time to hire.
Products built this way
How it runs
01
Scope workshop
A one to two hour session to map users, data and the first release. You get a written scope with the price and the timeline.
02
Design in the open
Clickable designs of the core flows within the first two weeks, reviewed with the people who will use them.
03
Build in releases
Working software every one to two weeks on a staging URL, with your feedback folded into the next release.
04
Launch and hand over
Production deployment, documentation, training and a support window. You own the code and the accounts.
Questions I get asked
What is a fractional design engineer?
A senior person who covers product design and front-end or full-stack engineering for a company part time, usually two to three days a week, instead of a full-time hire. It suits teams that need both skills but not forty hours of each.
How is this different from a fractional CTO?
A fractional CTO advises and manages; a fractional design engineer designs and builds, and makes the technical calls along the way. For teams under ten people that is usually the more useful shape.
What are your fractional rates?
Engagements are priced per day or per month for a fixed number of days, agreed in writing before we start. Hourly work is available for backlogs and fixes.
How many days a week?
Two to three days a week is typical. One day a week works for advisory and review. Five is a full-time hire, which this is not.
How long are engagements?
A three month minimum, then month to month. Most run six to twelve months and end with a handover to a full-time hire I helped recruit.
Do you work remotely?
Yes, from San Diego, with clients across US time zones and in Europe. On-site workshops are possible, as with the Cayman Islands Government.