Retained engineering
From $3,500 / month
One month minimum · 14 days notice
A standing share of my week on your system. Best when the work is ongoing and the context is expensive to rebuild — which, for embedded and systems work, it usually is.
Work
Always the people, then the software, sometimes all the way down to the hardware.
If what you need is not below, I will say so and, where I can, point you at someone better placed.
01
Teams
Leading engineering teams
Where I am strongest is with engineers. I keep the overview of who coordinates with whom and what the strength profile of each engineer is, and I work out how to help each of them work better, which usually comes down to what makes them happy. I then analyze the team and recommend changes toward whatever you want more of: quality, speed, team happiness. The rhythm is weekly 1:1s and a team that always knows where it stands.
I am a certified Professional Scrum Master and have run Scrum teams, but I fit the process to the team rather than the reverse.
- Weekly 1:1s
- Strength profiles
- Team analysis
- Team-change recommendations
- Scrum and agile (PSM-I)
02
Embedded
Embedded sensing and control
Sensor integration and the software that makes it trustworthy: Linux device drivers, the IIO subsystem, i²c and SPI, calibration and compensation, on-chip firmware. I have written this code in production at a sensor manufacturer and contributed it upstream to the Linux kernel, where it is maintained by people who never had to accept it.
- Linux device drivers
- IIO subsystem
- i²c
- SPI
- Calibration and compensation
- On-chip firmware
03
Systems
Systems, packaging and portability
Getting code to run where it actually has to run, and keeping a fleet of Linux machines coherent once it does. Distributed Linux systems, dependency resolution and secure package distribution, and the portability work most teams postpone:
- Python C or C++
- Modern C ANSI C89
- Floating point Fixed point
- Qt5 Qt6
At RUAG this meant a package manager with dependency resolution and secure distribution for fielded defense infrastructure, and a development workflow built to pass an ISO-90003 audit.
04
Documentation
Documentation, and explaining tech to decision-makers
A system nobody outside the team can understand is a system with one point of failure. I write the documentation that survives the engineer leaving, and I am comfortable being the person in the room who explains the technical stakes to the people holding the budget. That was my job at Sensirion with mobile OEM customers, and it is most of what I do for clients now.
Terms
How engagements work
Published rates, agreed scope, short notice.
Rates are published because I would rather you self-select than sit through a discovery call designed to find your budget. If the number works, the conversation can be about the actual problem.
Fixed-scope project
Quoted per project
Scope, price and completion criteria agreed before work starts
A defined piece of work with an end: a driver, a port, an integration, a pipeline. You get a written scope and a fixed number, and I absorb the estimation risk.
Technical review
From $4,000
One week · Written report · Credited if we continue
I read the system and tell you the truth about it. Architecture, portability, supply chain, the parts that will hurt later. Useful before a build decision, a hire, or a diligence process.
Also available
Fractional engineering management
Interim technical leadership for teams between managers, or founders who need one for the first time.
The flat monthly fee reserves a defined share of my availability for your team. You are paying for reliable access and continuity, not a bundle of billable hours: I hold that capacity for you whether the month is quiet or busy, with no timesheets or variable invoice.
Start a conversation
Tell me what you are building and where it is stuck.
I usually reply within a day or two.