Three phases
Discovery
I read the system, talk to the people who run it, and write down the real problem, the options and a plan. You keep the document whether or not we continue.
Build
Fixed scope when the problem is well understood, a weekly rate while it is still being explored. In both cases you get working software in production early and a written progress note every week.
Retainer or handover
A set number of hours a month for incidents, reviews and the next feature, or a clean handover with runbooks so your team runs it without me.
Who this works best for
Companies with a system in production, or about to be, that need a senior engineer who takes ownership. I can build it myself or join the team you already have. Most are funded startups, product teams and regulated businesses.
It is not a fit for brochure websites, or for short fixes without access to the real system.
How I've helped clients
- Visa services platformAn AI agent fills visa applications from the applicant's documents, and a browser extension carries them into official portals that have no API.
- Multiple US health plansEvery claim file traced from SFTP drop to payer acknowledgement, across several US health plans with their own rules.
- Retail bank, European banking groupOne customer identity kept consistent across four banking systems, with half-finished changes undone automatically.
The terms
- You own everything
- Code, infrastructure, documentation and accounts are yours from the first commit, with no lock-in and nothing held back as leverage.
- NDA by default
- I'm happy to sign yours before the first call. Client names never appear in my portfolio without written permission.
- Contracts and invoicing
- A simple services agreement, invoiced monthly in USD or EUR. If you work through a procurement or contractor platform, that works too.
Common questions
What usually comes up before a first engagement.
- You're in Montenegro. How does that work with a team in another time zone?
- My working hours overlap with Europe and the US East Coast, so meetings, reviews and incident calls fit into your day. A written update every week means nobody has to catch me live to know where things stand.
- Can you work with PHI, financial or other sensitive data?
- Yes. The claims and banking work both ran under strict data handling. I work inside your environment and accounts, follow your access policies, sign your NDA and data processing terms, and keep production data off personal machines.
- Do you use AI tools?
- Yes, to write and test code faster. The architecture, the data model and every decision about what happens when something fails stay with me, and every line is reviewed before it ships. Your code and data go into an AI tool only with your approval.
- Who owns the code?
- You do, from the first commit. It lives in your repositories and runs in your cloud accounts.
- What if you're unavailable?
- Everything is written down as it's built: decisions, runbooks, how to deploy. The system never depends on what's in my head, and a planned absence is announced weeks ahead.
- Can you work with our team?
- Yes, and I enjoy it. I can take a build from start to finish, or join your engineers as one of them: architecture, code reviews, pairing on the hard parts. Either way, you talk directly to the person writing the code. If a project needs someone I can't cover, like a designer, I'll tell you early and you contract them directly.
- How does an engagement end?
- Either with a handover your team can run from, including documentation, runbooks and a walkthrough, or by moving to a small retainer. You decide, and both work well.
The first step is a 30‑minute call.
We look at the problem together, and you leave with an honest view of what it would take.