A fractional CTO owns the technical calls, without a permanent hire

A consultant hands over a report and leaves the decision with you. A fractional CTO makes the decision with you, writes it down with the options that lost, and is still there while the team builds it. The advice has to survive the roadmap, the budget and the people who carry it out, and the CTO answers for it when it does not.

It is agreed before the start, written into the proposal, and changes with the stage. The audit and the first decisions take more of the time than a running review and reporting rhythm does, so the proposal also says when the hours step down and what the CTO still owns after that. Reporting to your founders follows the same agreed cadence.

Audit notes, a ranked list of risks, decision records for the calls made, a costed roadmap, a hiring plan, and the review and release rules the team now follows. All of it lives in your repository and your documents from the day it is written, not in ours, so a permanent lead inherits documents rather than a briefing.

Yes, as an interim CTO rather than an advisor. The CTO then runs hiring, reviews and the release process, and holds each vendor to what its contract says it delivers, including what it must hand over at the end. Your founders keep the final say on budget and on which vendors stay.

When the decisions are already made and what is missing is people to build. Hire senior engineers or a team instead. It is also the wrong hire once the company needs a CTO every day: part-time cannot hold that, and by then the fractional CTO's job is to help you hire a permanent one and hand over.

No. The hiring plan names roles, not suppliers, and says which of them should be permanent hires on your own payroll. If you want our engineers for some of those roles, that is a separate proposal, and you interview them like any other candidate before anyone is contracted.

You decide, and the record shows it. The CTO writes the recommendation with the options that lost and what each would cost, and your founders choose. If you pick another option, the decision record says so and why, and the CTO plans around it rather than reopening it every month.

Usually, because you pay for the time agreed rather than a full salary, equity and a long search. The rate depends on the depth, advisor or interim CTO, the time each week and how long the engagement runs, and you receive it in writing before committing. The comparison stops holding once the company needs a CTO every day.

Yes. Many clients start with one senior engineer to cover a specific capability or capacity gap, then add specialists only when the roadmap requires them.

Yes. Adding an engineer follows the same route as the first, and you interview them. Reducing the team follows the notice period agreed in the contract, and the work is handed over in your repository before anyone leaves.

Yes. You manage priorities and day-to-day work directly, in your own channels and delivery process.

Yes. You interview every candidate using your own process and make the final decision about who joins the team.

Our engineers are ImproveIT employees and long-term contractors working through our teams in Poland and Ukraine. We are not a freelance marketplace and do not resell developers from other vendors.

Replacement terms are defined in the contract upfront, so it does not become a negotiation.

You do. IP assignment is included in the contract, and we can sign an NDA before discussing the project.

We sign an NDA before discussing the project, and confidentiality and IP assignment are part of the contract. Engineers work in your repositories, cloud accounts and tools with the access your team grants, so you can narrow or revoke it at any time.

Yes. Our engineers work with teams across Europe and the US. We agree the required working-hour overlap before matching candidates.

Our developers work in English with international product and engineering teams every day. English level is included in the candidate information you receive before the interview.

Rates depend on the role, seniority, experience, and engagement model. You receive the rate, availability, and candidate profile in writing before making any commitment.

Both are agreed before the engagement starts and included in the proposal and contract. We are flexible in that and usually agree on the terms suitable for a client.