Technology Leadership

Fractional CTO Services

Get experienced CTO leadership without the full-time commitment. Technology strategy, architecture, team building, and digital transformation with a senior technology leader working 1-3 days per week.

Find a Fractional CTO How to Hire

£900-£1,400

Day Rate Range

1-3 days

Per Week

40-60%

Cost Savings vs FT

Technical

Due Diligence Ready

Industry Resources

What We Deliver

Fractional CTO Service Areas

🎯

Technology Strategy

Define technology roadmap, platform decisions, and technical architecture aligned with business goals

👥

Team Building

Hire and develop engineering talent, define team structure, implement engineering culture

🏗️

Architecture & Platform

Design scalable systems, evaluate build vs buy decisions, manage technical debt

🤝

Vendor & Partner Management

Select technology vendors, negotiate contracts, manage agency relationships

🔒

Security & Compliance

Implement security best practices, GDPR compliance, SOC 2 preparation, risk management

📊

Technical Due Diligence

Support for fundraising, M&A, or investor technical assessments

Pricing

Engagement Models

Flexible options to match your technology maturity and growth stage

Advisory

1 day/week

£3,600-£5,600/month

Strategic oversight, architecture reviews, board reporting

Best for:

Post-MVP with dev team

Part-Time CTO

2 days/week

£7,200-£11,200/month

Active leadership, team management, platform decisions

Best for:

Series A/B, scaling tech

Intensive CTO

3 days/week

£10,800-£16,800/month

Deep involvement, major builds, transformations

Best for:

Platform rebuilds, due diligence

Browse Opportunities

Current Fractional CTO Jobs

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Department

Location

Work Type

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When to Use Fractional CTO Services

A fractional CTO provides senior technology leadership without the cost and commitment of a full-time hire. This model is particularly valuable for companies that need strategic technical direction but aren't yet at the scale to justify a full-time CTO.

Virtual CTO vs Fractional CTO - What's the Difference?

Virtual CTO and fractional CTO are essentially interchangeable terms - both refer to a part-time Chief Technology Officer who provides strategic tech leadership on a retained basis. The "virtual" term emphasises the ability to work effectively in distributed/remote models, while "fractional" highlights the time commitment (typically 1-3 days/week). Whether you search for virtual CTO services or fractional CTO services, you're looking for the same solution: experienced technology leadership without full-time cost.

Ideal Situations for Fractional CTO Services

Building first tech team - Hiring engineers, setting up processes
Scaling from MVP - Architecture for growth, technical debt management
Pre-fundraise - Technical due diligence preparation
Platform rebuild - Major technology transformations
Digital transformation - Moving from legacy to modern systems
Interim cover - Bridging gap while recruiting permanent CTO

UK Locations We Serve

Our fractional CTOs operate across the UK, with particular strength in:

London

Shoreditch, Tech City, Canary Wharf fintech

Manchester

MediaCityUK, Northern tech hub

Cambridge

Deep tech, AI, biotech

Fractional CTO vs Dev Agency vs Consultant

Aspect	Fractional CTO	Dev Agency	Consultant
Focus	Strategy + execution	Building products	Advice
Accountability	Owns tech outcomes	Delivers to spec	Recommendations
Team building	Yes - hires, leads	No	Sometimes advises
Board presence	Yes	No	Rarely

Related Services

Find Fractional CTOs

Browse available fractional CTOs

How to Hire

Guide to hiring a fractional CTO

CTO Salary Guide

Day rates and benchmarks

What is a Fractional CTO?

Understanding the role

Results

Success Stories

Real examples of how fractional CTO services have transformed businesses

FinTech

FinTech Scale-up

Challenge:

MVP built by agency with mounting technical debt, no CTO, and Series A approaching

Solution:

Fractional CTO 3 days/week for 9 months

Results:

✓Passed technical due diligence
✓Raised £6M Series A
✓Built 8-person engineering team
✓Reduced platform incidents by 80%

HealthTech

Healthcare Platform

Challenge:

Needed HIPAA-equivalent compliance, security overhaul, and SOC 2 certification

Solution:

Fractional CTO 2 days/week for 12 months

Results:

✓Achieved SOC 2 Type II
✓Implemented security framework
✓Passed NHS Digital assessment
✓Won 3 enterprise contracts

E-commerce

E-commerce Marketplace

Challenge:

Monolith struggling at scale, 4-hour deploys, and losing customers to downtime

Solution:

Fractional CTO 2 days/week for 15 months

Results:

✓Migrated to microservices
✓Deploy time reduced to 15 mins
✓99.9% uptime achieved
✓Engineering velocity doubled

Professional Resources

💻

BCS

British Computer Society - Chartered Institute for IT

🚀

Tech Nation

UK tech ecosystem builder and supporter

⚙️

IET

Institution of Engineering and Technology

🎯

CTO Craft

CTO community and development

🇬🇧

TechUK

UK technology trade association

📰

InfoQ

Software development news and insights

FAQ

Common Questions About Fractional CTO Services

Fractional CTO services typically include: technology strategy and roadmap, architecture design and review, engineering team leadership and hiring, vendor and technology selection, technical due diligence, security and compliance oversight, and board-level technology reporting.

Most engagements are 1-3 days per week on a retained basis. Your fractional CTO joins leadership meetings, directs technology strategy, manages engineering teams, and ensures technical decisions align with business goals. Engagements typically start with a technical assessment and roadmap.

Development agencies build products. Fractional CTOs provide strategic technology leadership - they set technical direction, hire and manage teams, choose vendors, and are accountable for technology outcomes. Think of them as your technology leader who directs development work.

Fractional CTO day rates in the UK range from £900-£1,400. A typical 2-day per week engagement costs £7,200-£11,200 per month (£86,400-£134,400 annually). This is 40-60% less than a full-time CTO with benefits, bonus, and equity.

Ideal situations: building technical team for the first time, scaling from MVP to enterprise, preparing for technical due diligence (fundraising/exit), implementing major platform changes, managing complex integrations, or bridging gap while hiring full-time CTO.

Our fractional CTOs are based across the UK, with strong presence in London (our largest market, especially Shoreditch/Tech City), Manchester (MediaCityUK, Northern tech hub), Cambridge (deep tech, AI), Bristol (games, fintech), and Edinburgh (fintech, data). Most work hybrid arrangements.

Most have 15-20+ years in software development, including senior engineering and leadership roles. Common backgrounds: ex-startup CTOs, engineering directors from scale-ups, technical founders, or Big Tech engineering managers. Look for hands-on coding experience combined with leadership and strategic thinking.

Absolutely - this is a core fractional CTO service. They prepare your codebase and architecture for investor scrutiny, address technical debt, document systems, and can represent your company during due diligence calls. Many fractional CTOs have been through 10-20+ due diligence processes.

Your fractional CTO provides leadership and direction to your engineering team. They run architecture reviews, set coding standards, conduct 1-on-1s with senior engineers, define hiring criteria, and ensure technical decisions align with business goals. They mentor rather than replace your developers.

Quick wins in 30 days (technical audit, architecture review, immediate security fixes). Meaningful impact by 90 days (roadmap defined, team structure improved, processes implemented). Significant ROI by 6 months (platform improvements live, team scaled, technical debt reduced).

Meet the Expert

Written by a Practicing Fractional Executive

Dan Keegan

Founder & Fractional GTM Expert

With over 15 years of experience in executive leadership, go-to-market strategy, and business development, Dan brings real-world fractional expertise to help professionals navigate the executive job market.

Dan founded Fractional Quest after working as a fractional executive himself, understanding firsthand the challenges of finding quality opportunities and the value fractional leaders bring to growing businesses.

15+ Years Executive ExperienceFractional GTMStrategy & Growth

Connect on LinkedIn

Prior executive experience includes

SONY

Sony

Orange

H3G

Hutchison

Current fractional client

OneUp Productions

Gaming & Esports Production

Fractional GTM Lead

New Markets Entered

GTM

Strategy Delivered

2-3

Days Per Week

The Challenge

OneUp Productions needed to expand into new international markets but lacked the in-house expertise for go-to-market strategy. They needed senior GTM leadership without the commitment of a full-time hire.

Our Approach

Engaged as Fractional GTM Lead to develop and execute market expansion strategy, working 2-3 days per week alongside the existing leadership team.

Cost Effective

Senior GTM expertise at a fraction of full-time hire cost

Immediate Impact

Hit the ground running with proven playbooks

Flexible Scale

Adjusted involvement as needs evolved

Fractional GTMMarket ExpansionGaming IndustryInternational Growth

Read Full Case Study

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