Senior technical leadership without the full-time hire.
Growing businesses need strategic technology leadership before they can justify a full-time CTO. Slink's fractional CTO service gives you the experience and authority of a senior technical leader, at the commitment level that matches where you are.
When a fractional CTO makes sense
The CEO is making every technology decision
The business needs a technical leader to own those decisions and free the CEO to focus on growth.
The engineering team has no senior leadership structure
Engineers without technical leadership lose direction, accumulate debt and struggle to scale delivery.
The board wants technology credibility before the next raise
A fractional CTO provides the strategic narrative and due diligence support investors expect.
A major technology decision needs to be made correctly
Platform selection, architecture redesign and vendor strategy need someone who has made these calls before.
What a fractional CTO covers
Technology Roadmap
Define and maintain a technology roadmap aligned to where the business is going. Prioritise initiatives, manage technical debt and give the board a clear view of technology investment.
Engineering Leadership
Lead and develop your engineering team. Set standards, run architecture reviews, establish delivery practices and give technical staff the leadership structure they need to grow.
Vendor and Platform Selection
Evaluate, select and negotiate with technology vendors. Make the build-vs-buy decisions and choose platforms based on technical rigour rather than sales pressure.
Security and Compliance
Own the security posture at a strategic level. Ensure the engineering function is building securely, managing risk appropriately and meeting relevant compliance requirements.
Technical Due Diligence
Support fundraising and M&A processes with technical due diligence. Represent the engineering function to investors and provide credible technical narrative for the board.
Performance and Scalability
Assess architecture for scalability constraints before they become production incidents. Plan infrastructure and platform evolution to keep pace with business growth.
Structured around your needs
Fixed days per month
Agree a commitment level — typically 2–5 days per month — and adjust it as the role evolves.
Board and leadership access
The fractional CTO attends leadership and board meetings, providing technical credibility where it matters.
Backed by Slink
You're not hiring a single freelancer. The fractional CTO is backed by the wider Slink team, platform and delivery capability.
What fractional CTO support gives you
- Senior technology leadership without a £150,000+ full-time salary commitment
- A technology roadmap that the board can read and trust
- Engineering decisions made with strategic and commercial context, not just technical preference
- Technical due diligence support for fundraising and M&A
- A structured path toward building the in-house leadership capability you'll eventually need