Fractional Head of Delivery
Fractional Head of Delivery
vs an agency or outsourced team
Agencies and outsourced teams build things for you. Fractional leaders build your capability to build things yourselves. An agency is the right choice when you need extra hands. Fractional leadership is the right choice when you need better direction, processes, and decision-making.
Why fractional works
Builds internal capability
We don't create dependency. We build your team's ability to ship well, prioritise effectively, and operate independently. An agency creates output; fractional leadership creates capability.
Strategic direction, not just execution
An agency builds what you spec. We help you figure out what to spec — and whether you should build it at all. The highest-value decisions happen before any code is written.
Aligned with your business outcomes
We're invested in your company's success, not in maximising billable hours or expanding scope. Our incentive is to make your team self-sufficient, not to keep you dependent on external delivery.
Deep context and continuity
We embed in your team and build deep understanding of your product, market, and people. Agencies rotate staff and maintain arm's-length relationships.
When a agency might be better
- —Additional delivery capacity. Agencies can scale up quickly with designers, developers, and QA resources when you need more hands than your team can provide.
- —Specialist skills on demand. Need a mobile app or a complex integration? Agencies bring specialist capabilities that might not justify a permanent hire.
- —Defined deliverables and timelines. Agency engagements typically come with clear scoping, fixed timelines, and contractual deliverables.
Choose fractional when
When your problem is direction, not capacity. When your team could ship well if they knew what to build and had the right processes. When you want to build internal capability rather than outsource delivery.
Choose a agency when
When you have clear product direction and delivery leadership, but need additional development capacity for a specific project or to handle a temporary surge in work.