Fractional CTO & technical advisory

Senior technical leadership — without the full-time cost

For founders and SMEs who need an experienced technical voice in the room. Architecture, hiring, due diligence, and the difficult decisions — on a monthly retainer that fits your stage.

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Ex-AWS · Ex-Reach plc · Ex-Ticketmaster · 100+ interview panels · 5,000+ engineers in community founded

What I do

Strategic technical leadership across the business

Architecture & Roadmap

Set the technical direction. Pick the right stack, design for scale from the start, and avoid the rebuilds that kill 18 months of momentum.

Hiring & Team Building

Define roles, screen candidates, sit on interview panels, and shape engineering culture. I've sat on 100+ interview panels at AWS.

Technical Due Diligence

Investor-ready technical audits, security reviews, and documentation. Pass diligence on Series A and beyond with confidence.

Scaling & Performance

Database optimisation, caching, cost control, and infrastructure decisions that hold up as you grow from 100 to 100,000 users.

Who this is for

If any of these sound familiar, we should talk

  • You're a non-technical founder making technical decisions you're not sure about
  • Your engineering team is shipping but lacks senior technical leadership
  • You're raising and need someone investor-ready for technical diligence
  • You're scaling and the architecture decisions are getting expensive
  • You want a senior engineering voice on call — without hiring full-time
Engagements

Three ways to work together

All engagements run as monthly retainers. Exact scope and pricing depend on your stage, team, and needs — these are starting points.

Advisory
from £2,000/mo

Strategic input for founders making technical decisions

  • 1–2 days per month
  • Monthly strategy session
  • Architecture & stack reviews
  • Async support on Slack / email
  • Hiring guidance & interview help
  • Best for pre-seed and seed teams
Request a call
Most popular
Embedded
from £5,000/mo

Ongoing senior engineering presence inside your team

  • Around 1 day per week
  • Weekly leadership cadence
  • Code review, architecture, mentoring
  • Hiring panels & onboarding
  • Roadmap planning with founders
  • Best for seed to Series A teams
Request a call
Lead
from £8,000/mo

Deeper involvement — interim CTO or technical lead

  • 2–3 days per week
  • Acting head of engineering
  • Hands-on architecture & delivery
  • Team leadership & 1:1s
  • Investor-ready technical voice
  • Best while hiring a full-time CTO
Let's talk

Also available: one-off technical audits and investor-ready due diligence reports — typically £4,000–£10,000 depending on scope.

Track record

Selected technical work

The projects I've led, architected, or shipped — across AWS, Reach plc, ChargedUp and freelance.

See all case studies
FAQ

Common questions

What does a typical engagement look like?
Most engagements run on a monthly retainer with a defined number of days per month. I work directly with founders or the most senior engineering hire — strategy sessions, architecture reviews, hiring help, and time on tools when needed.
How is this different from hiring a CTO full-time?
You get senior strategic input without the £130k+ salary, equity dilution, and 6-month hiring runway. Best fit when you don't yet need a full-time CTO but the technical decisions are already non-trivial.
Do you write code, or only advise?
Both — depends on the engagement. Pure advisory works for strategic input. If you also need hands-on architecture work or to unblock a critical project, I can roll my sleeves up. Some clients also separately commission application builds.
How quickly can you start?
Usually within 1–2 weeks of agreeing scope. The first month often includes a deeper audit so I'm useful from session one.
Will you do technical due diligence for a fundraise?
Yes — one of the most common one-off engagements. I'll audit the codebase, infrastructure, team, and process; produce an investor-ready report; and help prepare for diligence calls.
Can I just have a one-off call to sense-check something?
Absolutely. The 30-minute introductory call is free. Beyond that, ad-hoc strategy sessions and one-off audits are available.
Get in touch

Let's have a 30-minute call.

Free, no obligation. Tell me where your business is, what you're wrestling with, and I'll tell you whether and how I can help.

Or book directly: cal.com/jameslevine