Surge capacity for the one project that cannot slip
Applications Pro at $4,500 a month. Senior engineer on 2-4 day cycles. Integrates with the existing team. Work Made for Hire. bolttech-scale experience.
Who this is for
Series B+ engineering director needing surge capacity on a sensitive platform project.
The pain today
- Pulling internal staff blocks the product roadmap.
- Hiring a permanent senior engineer takes 90-120 days.
- Agencies want 6-month minimums for surge work that should finish in 8 weeks.
- The sensitive project needs a specific senior profile the team does not have.
The outcome you get
- A senior engineer ramped in and shipping in two weeks.
- Integration with a 50+ engineer team via code review and standups.
- Documentation and handover discipline baked in from day one.
- Clean cancellation when the internal team catches up.
Surge capacity without the recruiter fee
Series B engineering directors know the surge capacity problem. A critical platform project lands on the quarter plan. Internal senior engineers are already running the core roadmap. Pulling one off breaks momentum on everything else. Hiring a new permanent senior engineer takes 90-120 days by the time the offer closes. Agencies want 6-month minimums for surge work that should take 8-10 weeks. The monthly retainer at $4,500 solves it: one senior engineer, 2-4 day cycles, cancel when the project ships. Over 10 weeks the retainer lands at about $11,000, versus $25,000+ for a comparable agency engagement.
Trust-building with a 50+ engineer team
A 50+ engineer team has opinions. New contractors often bounce off the existing culture. I earn trust the same way on every engagement: follow the code conventions, write small PRs that are easy to review, attend the standup, respect the existing architecture before suggesting changes. The goal is for the team to feel like the contractor is a peer by week three, not an outsider. I have done this at bolttech (1B+ unicorn, 40+ payment providers), Cuez, and larger enterprise teams. The pattern works.
Doc and handover discipline
Series B surge projects live and die by documentation. The project ships in 10 weeks. The internal team inherits it for the next 2 years. A badly documented project is a future tax. I write architecture docs, ADRs (architecture decision records), integration notes, and a runbook for the on-call team. The handover is a 2-hour call plus a written packet. The internal team picks it up without dropping a beat.
Cancellation when the internal team catches up
The cleanest Series B engagements end when the internal team catches up and absorbs the project. Cancel end of month, no penalty. Work Made for Hire covers the code. The retainer does not renew unless a new surge project lands. Some Series B clients call me back for the next one 2-3 quarters later. The door stays open.
Recent proof
A comparable engagement, delivered and documented.
Unified payment orchestration across Asia and Europe
Delivered the payment orchestration platform at bolttech, a $1B+ unicorn, with 40+ integrations across multiple regions.
Frequently asked questions
The questions prospects ask before they book.
- Can you work under our security and access posture?
- Yes. I work under NDA, use your issued hardware or VDI if required, respect your SSO, and complete your vendor onboarding. Standard at Series B+.
- What's your experience with platform-scale work?
- bolttech: led payment service integration across 40+ providers, 15+ markets, 99.9 percent uptime. Cuez: API 3s to 300ms. Real platform-scale shipping.
- Can you work across multiple teams?
- For one project at a time. I am not a consultant who floats across teams. I own one project end to end.
- What about Sarbanes-Oxley or audit controls?
- I work inside your change management and approval process. No exceptions. Clean audit trail on every PR.
- Do you train junior engineers?
- Yes. I pair and review with junior engineers on the team during surge engagements. It accelerates their growth and doubles as knowledge transfer.
Ready to start?
Tell me what you need in 60 seconds. Tailored proposal in your inbox within 6 hours.