Sometimes an organisation needs experienced technical leadership but doesn't need - or can't yet justify - a permanent hire. An engineering team without clear direction drifts. Standards erode, technical debt accumulates, delivery slows, and talented people leave. Interim leadership bridges that gap.
What we deliver
Interim CTO and VP Engineering. We step into senior technical leadership roles for defined periods - typically 6 to 18 months. We set technology direction, align engineering investment with business strategy, establish governance, and build the leadership structures that make a permanent hire successful.
Engineering organisation design. Team structures, reporting lines, career frameworks, hiring processes, and engineering culture. We design organisations that can deliver reliably at their current scale while preparing for growth. We've built and restructured engineering organisations from 10 to 150 people.
Delivery transformation. We diagnose why teams aren't shipping effectively and fix the root causes - not the symptoms. That might mean restructuring teams around value streams, introducing proper estimation and planning practices, fixing deployment pipelines, or simply creating space for engineers to do focused work.
Technology strategy. We produce technology strategies that executives can act on: current state assessment, target state architecture, migration roadmaps with business cases, build-vs-buy recommendations, vendor evaluations, and investment priorities. Grounded in reality, not aspiration.
Architecture authority. We provide senior architectural oversight across multiple teams - reviewing designs, setting standards, resolving technical disputes, and ensuring consistency without becoming a bottleneck. We establish Architecture Decision Records and lightweight governance that scales.
Board and investor reporting. We translate engineering reality into language that boards and investors understand: delivery velocity, technical risk, platform maturity, team health, and technology investment ROI. We present directly to boards when needed.
Who this is for
Organisations going through growth, transition, or transformation. Post-acquisition integration where engineering teams need consolidation. Scale-ups that have outgrown their founding engineer but aren't ready for a permanent CTO. Enterprises running major platform modernisation programmes.
Track record
We've delivered interim leadership at organisations including Toyota Connected Europe, Kingfisher PLC (B&Q, Screwfix), and multiple mid-market technology companies. Our founder has over 25 years of engineering experience, from hands-on development through to board-level technology strategy.
How it works
Engagements start with a 2-week diagnostic: understanding the organisation, the team, the technology, and the business context. We produce an action plan within the first month and execute against it with regular stakeholder check-ins. We plan for our own departure from day one - building the capability and structures that outlast the engagement.