Fractional CTO · Head of Engineering

Make engineering delivery predictable.

I work with teams of 5-30 engineers. In 90 days, I help you ship reliably and hand over a delivery process your team can run.

Book a 30-minute call Start with the audit
  • More reliable releases
  • Clear priorities and ownership
  • Stronger internal leads
Portrait of Róbert Béres
Róbert Béres

Engineering leadership in practice

  • BlueTape

    Built a team of 15 engineers and put team leads in place.

  • Led a redesign that increased concurrent streaming capacity 10×.

Symptoms

Sound familiar?

Common signs that the team needs stronger engineering leadership.

  • Releases keep slipping

    Every week brings another hotfix. Delivery dates keep moving, and the team rarely gets ahead of the next urgent issue.

  • Tech debt keeps slowing you down

    Tech debt grows faster than the team can address it. Small changes feel risky, and delivery gradually slows.

  • Ownership is unclear

    Decisions stall or get reopened. Delivery has no clear owner, so work moves slowly and priorities drift.

  • Engineering leadership is missing

    There is no CTO, the CEO is non-technical, or a senior engineer is covering CTO responsibilities on top of their actual role.

Outcomes

What changes in 90 days

A practical operating system your team can keep using after I leave.

Predictable delivery

Clear priorities, active scope control and a release cycle the business can plan around.

Release discipline

A Definition of Done, release checklist and quality gates the team follows even under pressure.

Clear ownership

A clear decision structure, a named internal owner and 3-5 key metrics everyone trusts.

Program

The 90-day program

Three phases with one clear goal: stabilize delivery, build the system and hand it over.

  • Days 1-30

    Stabilize

    • Baseline assessment + risk list
    • Operating system v1
    • 30 / 60 / 90 focus plan
  • Days 31-60

    Implement

    • WIP & scope control, backlog order
    • Release discipline: PR / CI / test
    • One high-impact delivery bottleneck resolved
  • Days 61-90

    Hand over

    • Lead / owner appointed + coaching
    • Operating system v2
    • Handover pack + next-quarter plan

Full scope shown. Smaller packages cover less within the same three phases.

Illustrative delivery cadence firefighting predictable
day 0 day 45 day 90

Deliverables

A system your team can keep using.

The engagement leaves your team with concrete operating tools it can continue using after the handover.

Diagnose

Baseline audit + risk map

A concise view of delivery, quality, ownership and tech-debt risks, prioritized by business impact.

Operate

Engineering operating system

Decision cadence, scope control, Definition of Done, release discipline and incident routines.

Measure

3-5 trusted metrics

A simple baseline and regular reporting that makes delivery health visible without dashboards nobody reads.

Transfer

Owner + handover pack

A coached internal owner, operating system v2 and a concrete next-quarter plan.

The goal is independence. I build and run the system with your team, then hand it over.

Fit

Is this the right setup?

This setup works best when the conditions below are true.

Best fit

  • B2B or B2C SaaS, platform or fintech with 5-30 engineers
  • Releases slip or need too much coordination
  • The CTO or tech lead is overloaded
  • You need more structure, but are not ready for a full-time Head of Engineering

Probably not a fit

  • You need 24/7 on-call coverage
  • You only want staff augmentation or extra engineering capacity
  • You expect daily project management
  • You expect one external person to own execution without an internal counterpart

Start with a 2-week Delivery Audit

€2,500one-off~$2,800

Not ready to commit to 90 days? Start with two weeks inside your delivery process, at a fixed price, and decide from what you learn.

What you get

  • Baseline audit of delivery, quality, ownership and risk
  • Risk map, ranked by impact on delivery
  • 30/60/90 recommendation: what to fix first and which package fits, if any

Continue into any package within 30 days and the audit fee is credited.

Request the audit

Packages

Choose your level of fractional CTO support

Three levels of operational ownership. A 90-day program with a checkpoint at day 30: if the first month doesn't deliver what we agreed, either side can stop there.

STARTER

Set up the operating system

4hrs / week

€3,000 / month ~$3,400

Audit fee credited

For smaller teams that need a reliable delivery process without adding another management layer. 4 hours a week sets up the system and coaches an internal owner to run it; hands-on ownership of delivery starts at CORE.

Choose STARTER
  • Baseline audit + risk map
  • Operating cadence + decision discipline
  • Definition of Done + release checklist
  • Backlog triage (top 20)
  • WIP & scope control
  • Weekly decision log
  • Internal owner appointed & coached

Ideal if

  • 5-10 engineers
  • Chaos in delivery
  • A tech lead who can take over
Recommended

CORE

Stabilize engineering

8-10hrs / week

€7,000 / month ~$8,000

Audit fee credited

For teams that need active weekly leadership across delivery, ownership and release discipline.

Choose CORE

Everything in STARTER, plus

  • 1:1s with tech leads
  • One high-impact delivery bottleneck resolved
  • Tech-debt program (top 5)
  • Quality gates + incident protocol
  • Hiring process & scorecards (if hiring)

Ideal if

  • 8-15 engineers
  • Deeper problems (tech debt)
  • No strong engineering leadership

SCALE

Org & governance

12-16hrs / week

€12,000 / month ~$13,700

Audit fee credited

For multi-team organizations that need clearer coordination, governance and leadership structure.

Choose SCALE

CORE outcomes across teams, plus

  • Governance + RFC process
  • Weekly executive steering
  • Cross-team coordination
  • Leadership-layer development
  • 1-2 platform & architecture initiatives launched

Ideal if

  • 15-30 engineers
  • Multiple teams, many dependencies
  • Governance & scaling needed

Prices per month, net of VAT, invoiced in EUR (EU B2B reverse-charge); USD figures are approximate. 90-day program with a day-30 exit point for either side.

This is not advisory.

I work directly with the team: clarifying priorities, improving the release process, making ownership explicit and leading the weekly operating rhythm. I own how delivery runs - that's what makes it more predictable. At CORE and SCALE I own the weekly operating rhythm; at STARTER I set it up and coach your lead to run it.

  • ModeRemote & async-first (Slack / Teams)
  • MeetingsMostly for decisions
  • Commitment90 days, exit point at day 30
I don't deliver a strategy deck and disappear. I stay involved until the team can run the system without me.

FAQ

Common questions, clear answers.

What leaders typically want to know before bringing in fractional engineering leadership.

Something else?

Ask me directly. A quick question fits in an email; a bigger one fits in the 30-minute call.

Book a 30-minute call
What happens in the first 30 days?

I start by assessing delivery, quality, ownership and risk. We address the most urgent operational issue, and with the decision-maker and the team we agree a focused plan for the next 30, 60 and 90 days.

What if it isn't working?

Day 30 is a checkpoint. The program opens with a baseline audit, or builds on the Delivery Audit if you started there. Within the first two weeks we agree in writing what the first month has to deliver, and at day 30 we review against that. If it isn't there, either side can end the program at that point, and you pay for the first month only. From day 31 the program runs to the handover at day 90.

Can I start without committing to 90 days?

Yes. Start with the 2-week Delivery Audit at a fixed €2,500. You get a baseline audit, a risk map and a 30/60/90 recommendation, and you decide from there. If you continue into any package within 30 days, the fee is credited, and the day-30 exit still applies once the program starts.

How can part-time leadership create real change?

The role focuses on the decisions that have the greatest effect on delivery: priorities, WIP, release standards, ownership and leadership cadence. Async review keeps meeting overhead low, and meetings are reserved for decisions.

Do you replace the CTO or engineering manager?

Not permanently. I can act as fractional CTO or cover a leadership gap, or take pressure off an overloaded CTO, but the aim is to strengthen internal ownership. A named lead is coached to carry the system forward.

Is this a fractional CTO service?

Yes, in operational scope. Most fractional CTO offers are advisory: architecture opinions, hiring help, a monthly call. This is the part of the CTO role that decides whether releases ship: priorities, WIP, release standards, ownership and the leadership cadence. Architecture and hiring come up as needed, but delivery is the focus.

What do you need from us?

I need an executive sponsor who can protect priorities, access to the working systems and relevant data, and a team willing to use the agreed operating rules. The work also needs clear decision authority to stick.

What happens after 90 days?

We can hand over fully, continue with a smaller maintenance retainer, or adjust the engagement if the organization needs deeper CORE or SCALE support. The default outcome is a clean handover, not long-term dependency.

Next step

Let's talk.

In 30 minutes, we can identify the right level of support for your team. No presentation and no obligation.

  • BottleneckScope, release, quality or decisions?
  • RealityWho owns priorities and delivery today?
  • OutcomeWhat must be different in 90 days?
Calendar Book a 30-minute call Email robert@deliverycadence.com

You will speak directly with Róbert. No automated sales sequence.

Director of Engineering at BlueTape · 8 years leading HBO GO backend for HBO · 15+ years shipping software