Fractional Engineering Lead

Short, fixed-scope engineering leadership improves execution reliability and technical decisions.

Led by Stefan Kroscen, a former Director of Software Engineering at Disney, working alongside existing engineering leadership.

Former Director of Software Engineering, Disney Fixed-scope engagements 1–2 days per week
What Changes After 90 Days
  • Decisions move faster with clear ownership and criteria.
  • Production is more predictable, with fewer late surprises and less recovery work.
  • The team agrees on what matters now and what can wait.

When Teams Bring Me In

This works best when the team wants to improve how work gets done.

Decisions Drift

Decisions drift without clear ownership, criteria, or risk tolerance.

Production Is Unpredictable

Incidents repeat. Fixes treat symptoms, not causes. Systems are hard to observe.

Releases Take Coordination

Validation effort grows, but confidence does not. Releases rely on manual steps.

Common Signals
• Changes cause regressions or side effects
• The SDLC no longer fits how the team works
• Incidents repeat
• AI is in the product or workflow, and failures are hard to detect or recover from

How a Sample 90-Day Engagement Works

I work one to two days a week for three months. We choose one execution issue and fix it, without changing ownership.

1
Understand How Work Gets Done

I talk with the team, review artifacts, and look at how work flows through development, testing, releases, and production.

2
Choose the Change

We look at the options and choose one that balances impact and risk.

3
Make the Change and Step Back

We make the change together and collect metrics to evaluate it.

Engagement Style

This work strengthens execution without changing ownership or adding overhead.

Bounded

Engagements are fixed-scope. New work begins only when a new scope is set.

Alongside Leadership

I work alongside existing leadership. I do not add delivery capacity or replace managers.

Framework-Agnostic

Scrum or Kanban when useful. The team uses a process that fits the work.

Next Step

If a fixed-scope engagement makes sense, let’s talk. We’ll review your situation and outline how the work would run.