Fractional technical lead
For companies with a website, a developer or two, a few vendors, and nobody in charge of how it all fits together. I take that job part time.
Plenty of businesses reach the same point. The site runs on a platform someone chose years ago. A freelance developer fixes things when asked. An agency handles marketing. Hosting, DNS, email, analytics, and Search Console logins are scattered across former employees' inboxes. Every problem turns into a week of emails because nobody can see the whole picture. A fractional technical lead is the one experienced person who can.
What I take responsibility for
- The inventory. What exists, where it runs, who controls each account, what it costs, and what's missing: repositories, CMS, hosting, DNS, email, analytics, Search Console, CDN, and vendors.
- Priorities. A short, ranked list of what needs doing, with the business calendar in mind. A risky change can wait until after your busy season; a security hole can't.
- Specifications. Every piece of work written up for whoever will do it, with evidence, scope, and acceptance criteria. See developer specs and implementation QA.
- Direction. Briefing your developers and vendors, answering their questions, reviewing their proposals, and keeping work moving.
- Hands-on work. The fixes I can ship myself, in the CMS, the repository, Cloudflare, DNS, or on the server, under a reviewable change history.
- Verification. Checking what shipped against what was specified, on the live site.
- Reporting. A plain-English summary for leadership, kept separate from the technical detail, so a founder can read it in two minutes and forward it.
Who it suits
Owner-led and founder-led companies, marketing teams without engineering leadership, and businesses that inherited a site from an agency or a departed employee. It also suits companies with a capable developer who needs a counterpart to set priorities and translate between the business and the code.
How it runs
- A paid onboarding diagnostic. Access gathered, the stack inventoried, the urgent problems found, and a first priority list delivered in writing.
- A monthly retainer. An agreed number of hours each month, billed in advance, with a standing status update and a running decision log in Basecamp or by email.
- Clear authority. In writing: what I can decide, what needs your approval, and who implements each kind of work. I advise and coordinate; you keep ownership of the business decisions and the accounts.
What I bring
More than thirty years of building and running websites. Twenty years of WordPress and solid working knowledge of Shopify, Magento, Umbraco, Drupal, Squarespace, Wix, Webflow, and React applications. Linux servers I provision and harden myself. Git and pull-request workflows. Cloudflare, DNS, and email authentication. Deep technical SEO, which is often how clients first find me. And the habit of writing everything down, so the project survives anyone's absence, including mine.
Common questions
How many hours a month does a fractional technical lead need?
It depends on how much is broken and how much is changing. Most engagements settle into a fixed monthly block after the first month's cleanup, and the block is reviewed each quarter.
Do you replace the in-house developer?
I work with your developer. Most of the value comes from giving a good developer clear priorities, precise specs, and someone who checks the result.
Updated October 5, 2026