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Decision governance
Establish or improve review paths, design expectations, and escalation discipline so major initiatives do not rely on personality and luck.
Retained architecture leadership
Architecture leadership on a retained basis.
For companies that have outgrown ad hoc architecture but are not yet ready for a full-time executive hire. This is a defined monthly retainer focused on decision quality, platform investment, design review, and higher-leverage architectural judgment.
2
enterprise architecture functions built from zero
$2.5M+
documented savings tied to architecture and platform decisions
PCI / IL5 / SOC
regulated-environment experience without losing technical depth
Hands-on
judgment informed by real engineering, cloud, and security work
Retainer scope
What the role is designed to do.
This is a bounded advisory role with defined boundaries. The value comes from better decisions, clearer governance, and timely intervention on consequential work — not open-ended access.
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Senior technical judgment
Support platform investment, roadmap sequencing, design tradeoffs, and vendor decisions where experienced architectural judgment changes outcomes.
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Security-aware oversight
Align delivery decisions with security, compliance, and risk expectations without converting governance into a slow ritual.
Included in the retainer
Typical monthly cadence
- scheduled weekly leadership sync with CTO, VP Engineering, or platform leaders
- design review for major initiatives and higher-risk architectural decisions
- bounded async review of priority documents and higher-stakes decisions
- architecture review board facilitation or redesign
- roadmap and investment guidance for platform modernization
- vendor and tooling assessment when the stakes justify senior review
Designed as a defined advisory cadence, not open-ended access. Expanded involvement can be scoped separately.
Starting at $8,000/month
Fit
Where it tends to work well
- Good fit: growing SaaS, regulated B2B, gov-adjacent, or platform-heavy teams
- Good fit: companies between “strong engineering management” and “permanent architecture executive”
- Good fit: leadership teams that want pragmatic governance rather than performative process
- Not fit: organizations seeking daily architectural availability across many concurrent streams
- Not fit: teams expecting open-ended access between meetings or unlimited Slack support
- Not fit: companies that need an interim CTO / VP Engineering rather than architecture leadership
Typical scope
What the starting retainer usually covers.
The floor retainer is meant for a defined leadership cadence around higher-leverage decisions. It is not intended to function as broad day-to-day availability.
Usually included at the floor
What buyers should expect
- one scheduled leadership sync each week
- review of one or two major initiative or decision streams at a time
- bounded async feedback on priority architecture documents
- selective intervention where senior technical judgment matters most
- governance guidance where leverage is highest
Usually not included at the floor
What gets scoped separately
- daily Slack or chat availability
- standing participation in all engineering rituals
- simultaneous coverage across many active teams
- hands-on delivery ownership for implementation work
- interim executive coverage beyond the retainer cadence
Retainer options
Three ways to structure ongoing involvement.
The right level depends less on company size than on cadence, review volume, and how many active decision streams need senior coverage at the same time.
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Core
Light monthly cadence for leadership alignment, priority reviews, and architecture decision support on the most consequential work.
Starting at $8,000/month
published floor
bounded cadence
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Expanded
More review volume, broader initiative coverage, and a stronger operating role across architecture governance and sequencing.
Most clients land here
most common fit
broader coverage
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Embedded
Higher-touch involvement for periods where broader cross-team coverage, denser cadence, or temporary executive intensity is needed.
Scoped based on intensity and coverage
custom scope
temporary intensity
Initial month
What the first 30 days usually look like.
The objective is not prolonged discovery. It is a cleaner operating picture and improved decision flow within the first month.
Week 1
Read the system
Review architecture documents, active initiatives, organizational structure, roadmap tensions, and where decision churn is most costly.
Week 2–3
Improve decision flow
Establish review mechanisms, sharpen design expectations, and intervene directly where architectural judgment matters most.
Week 4
Set the operating model
Deliver an executive view of risk, opportunity, and next priorities so the engagement shifts from assessment to leverage.
Relevant background
Experience across architecture, security, and platform leadership.
I have led architecture, security, platform, and modernization work from multiple seats, including Chief Architect, Information Security Officer, and Director of Security Architecture.
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Business leverage
Architecture decisions with financial consequence
The right platform and governance decisions can remove seven figures of waste, shrink operating drag, and improve how quickly teams can deliver change safely.
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Credible proximity to the work
Still close enough to engineering to be useful
My background spans development, DevOps, security, cloud architecture, and AI-governed delivery, which makes it easier to help leaders and practitioners trust the same decision process.
Next step
If retained architecture leadership may be useful, start with a short conversation.
If there is a fit, I will recommend either a defined retainer, a lighter advisory cadence, or a more bounded diagnostic first.