Retainer · Ongoing, 3-month minimum
Embedded iOS lead
Three days a week, 3-month minimum, for scale-ups without iOS leadership. Standing iOS leadership for scale-ups that don't have it and aren't going to hire it soon. Three days a week, on predictable days.
- Cadence
- 3 days/week
- Investment
- €12k/month
- Commitment
- 3-month minimum
You have a four-person iOS team. None of them is the lead. You came up through web and backend. Reading an iOS roadmap costs you capacity you don't have. The team works. You don't always know how. When iOS is the topic in the engineering leadership meeting, the conversation gets vague.
You're not going to hire a full-time iOS lead in the next twelve months as the team isn't quite there yet, the compensation doesn't line up, or the named candidate you'd want isn't on the market. You need iOS leadership without a full-time iOS commitment.
This is the engagement.
Who this is for
A scale-up with a two- to eight-person iOS team and no iOS leadership. The team usually reports to a CTO whose background is backend, an EM who came up through Android, or directly to product. The app is material to the business and the team isn't getting senior iOS judgment in the rhythm of the week.
What I do
Three days a week, on predictable days you can plan around. Within that:
- Running the iOS team's operating cadence: planning, technical review, release management, 1:1s with seniors where useful
- Architecture and code review authority. The team has someone to escalate to.
- The interface role: standing translation between iOS and CTO, PM, backend, Android, design
- Roadmap input alongside CTO and product, with iOS-shaped reality built in
- A quarterly written iOS health summary: bus factor, dependencies, hiring posture, what's eating velocity. Short enough for the board. Specific enough to be useful.
- Hiring input when the team grows. Not the hiring manager: that's still you.
Not included
- Full-time IC contribution
- Sole hiring authority
- On-call rotation
- Becoming your permanent iOS lead: when you're ready to hire one, I'll help you scope it and step out cleanly
Shape
Three days, predictable
Three days a week, 3-month minimum, then rolling 30-day notice. Designed to end cleanly when the team is ready for permanent leadership.
Investment
€12k/month
Billed monthly. No retainer of unused capacity, no day-rate creep.
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