I walk into stuck programs and ship outcomes in 90 days.
Senior operator for technology, security, and product leaders who need a builder who can also run the org — not another deck. I take a stuck initiative, find what is actually blocking it, and ship through.
How I work with leadership teams
Three engagement shapes. Each can be scoped to a single program or a 6-month transformation.
Trusted advisor
Monthly retainer. The person you call when a board paper needs to land or a vendor pitch needs unpacking.
- 2–4 hours / week
- Direct line for hard calls
- Quarterly board prep
- Engagement-shaped pricing
Fractional CxO
Embedded part-time. Owns a function, builds the team, sets the bar — without the full-time hire.
- 2–3 days / week
- Function ownership
- Hire and develop the perm replacement
- 3–9 month engagements
Interim operator
Full-time, fixed term. For acute situations — programme failure, security incident, exec gap, M&A.
- 4–5 days / week
- Full delegated authority
- Stabilise → ship → handover
- 3–12 month engagements
What 90 days actually looks like
A repeatable shape, not a sales line. Adjusted to your context, but the pattern holds across CISO, CPO, CTO, and CIO mandates.
Diagnosis
Sit with the team. Read the real data, not the steering deck. Find what is actually blocking the outcome — usually two or three load-bearing decisions no one has made.
Plan + first wins
Outcome agreed in writing. The first two visible wins shipped. Vendor calls had. Hard calls flagged so leadership can absorb them now, not at month two.
Execution at pace
The bulk of the outcome lands here. Vendors renegotiated, hires in seat, decisions taken, scope cut where it should be cut. Weekly written update to leadership.
Clean handover
Permanent owner identified or hired. Runbooks written. Final exec summary signed off. Out clean — no awkward retainer extension to keep the lights on.
Where this works
The kinds of mandate I take, by role. Specific outcomes shared on the call — most engagements have an NDA shape that does not survive a homepage paragraph.
Security leadership when the clock is running
- Regulatory remediation under deadline
- Stuck audit and reaccreditation programmes
- Vendor and tooling consolidation
- Security org rebuild and hire-out
- Detection-and-response coverage
Product clarity and shipping cadence
- Roadmap rescue and reframing
- Engineering–product cadence rebuilds
- Killing the wrong features, on the record
- Insertion-point and ICP focus
- NRR and activation programme repair
Platform stabilisation and team rebuilds
- Reliability and on-call reorganisation
- Stack consolidation and cost-out
- Stuck migrations and platform rewrites
- Hire, embed, and clean handover
- Investor and board credibility recovery
Programme rescue and core system change
- Failing core system migrations
- Vendor renegotiation and consolidation
- IT org redesign and operating model
- Cross-business transformation programmes
- M&A integration and TSA exit
I build the things I run
Most operators only advise. I also ship working software. The platforms below are mine — proof I can hold a roadmap, a P&L, and an oncall pager at the same time.
Is this a fit?
A fractional CxO is a sharp tool. Wrong fit and we both waste a quarter. Be honest with yourself before booking.
You probably need this if…
- A specific programme is stuck and the clock is running on a board, regulator, or customer.
- You have no internal leader for the function, or the one you have is overloaded covering it.
- You need someone who can both write the strategy and ship the work — not pick one.
- You want a defined exit. Permanent owner identified, runbook written, me out.
This is the wrong fit if…
- You actually want a permanent CTO/CISO/CPO/CIO and have not started recruiting.
- You need implementation contractors — engineers, analysts, coders. I bring leaders, not delivery teams.
- You want a 12-month deck-and-discovery engagement. I am wrong for advisory-only.
- The outcome you need cannot be defined in writing in the first 30 days.
Have a stuck programme?
Book 30 minutes — or send a brief if you’d rather think on paper first.