ClearLoops

Fractional Leadership

A senior technology leader, embedded with your team.

When you don't yet need a full-time CTO or CIO — or your current leader needs a co-pilot — we step in to set direction, raise the engineering bar, and unblock the business. Quietly, and on your timeline.

  • Strategy, roadmap, and operating cadence
  • Architecture reviews and platform decisions
  • Hiring, leveling, and org design
  • Board and investor communications
  • Vendor and SaaS portfolio rationalization
  • Security, compliance, and IT foundations
2–4 wks
Time to embedded
0.2–0.6
FTE engagement
30/60/90
Plan in week one
NDA
Discreet by default

01

When fractional leadership is the right call

You're scaling and the technical decisions are getting expensive. A founder is wearing the CTO hat and needs to step out. A new CEO inherited a team and wants an honest read. A PE-backed business needs IT and security maturity before the next audit. We've sat in each of those chairs.

02

What you get

Engagements are tailored, but most include a consistent core.

Operating system

Planning rhythms, OKRs or equivalents, weekly business reviews, and a shared definition of done.

Architecture clarity

A current-state map, a target-state direction, and a sequenced plan to get there without halting delivery.

Talent strategy

Org design, leveling, scorecards, and active participation in interviews for senior roles.

Executive partnership

A trusted peer for the CEO and exec team. Board prep, investor updates, and hard conversations.

03

How we engage

Most clients start at one to two days per week, with a clear 90-day plan and named deliverables. We're transparent about what an engagement should and shouldn't be — and when it's time for a full-time leader, we help you hire them and hand off cleanly.

Engagement

A clear, repeatable process

  1. 01
    Listen

    Two weeks of interviews, code, and metrics. No conclusions yet.

  2. 02
    Frame

    A written read-out: what's working, what's at risk, what to do.

  3. 03
    Lead

    We embed and execute against the plan with your team.

  4. 04
    Hand off

    Documented systems, hired leaders, and a clean exit.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from an advisor?
Advisors meet monthly and offer opinions. We're operators — we own outcomes, attend standups, write docs, run interviews, and sit on the exec team while we're engaged.
Can you work alongside an existing CTO?
Yes. Many of our best engagements are as a thought partner to a first-time or scaling CTO who wants senior pattern recognition without adding a peer to their org chart.
What does it cost?
Engagements are scoped monthly based on days per week and duration. We share a written scope and pricing before any work begins.