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Fractional CTO for fintech and regulated platforms
CTO-level judgement without the full-time package: architecture direction, build-vs-buy, hiring and board-level translation between commercial and engineering. Based in London, engaging UK-wide through Trustflux Ltd, outside IR35.
What a fractional CTO actually does
The job is judgement, not hours: which architecture bets to make, which to unwind, who to hire next, what the board should actually worry about, and how to keep delivery honest. Most recently I held full technical authority as VP of Technology at a FinTech electronifying off-market block trading - FIX connectivity into tier-1 banks and Eurex, an ISO 27001 programme, and a failure profile where a single failed execution would have been existential. Before that, principal architect on the platform behind $330M of assets under management.
Engagement models
- Advisory days: architecture and technology decisions on demand - a day when you need one
- Short intensive: due diligence, architecture review, cost review or a delivery reset, typically one to two weeks
- Retainer: ongoing fractional CTO engagement, one to three days per week, reviewed quarterly
Pricing, plainly
One rate, published, for everything: £600 per day. UK guides put fractional CTO day rates at £800 to £2,000; mine is deliberately below that band because there is no consultancy overhead to fund - you pay for the practitioner you get.
Same rate whether it is one day of architecture review or a two-week diligence sprint.
Continuous technology leadership at a fraction of a full-time hire.
Against a full-time London CTO package that commonly clears £250k once equity and on-costs are counted.
Outside IR35, by design
Engagements run business-to-business through Trustflux Ltd and are structured for an outside-IR35 determination: defined deliverables, own equipment and methods, no mutuality of obligation. If your finance team wants to review the working practices before a status determination, that conversation is welcome - it is easier before the engagement than after.
When to bring one in
- You are raising, and investors are asking technology questions the team cannot answer crisply
- Delivery has slowed and nobody can say whether the problem is architecture, process or people
- You need to make a platform bet - rebuild vs refactor, cloud move, AI capability - and the cost of guessing wrong is measured in years
- A regulated launch needs someone who has carried compliance and engineering at the same time
Describe the decision you are facing and I will suggest the smallest engagement that answers it.