Fractional CTO

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Silpa Companies, LLC is a national IT consulting and staffing firm empowering organizations across multiple industries through a blend of AI adoption, Master Data Management, Data and Analytics, Cybersecurity, Cloud Engineering, DevSecOps/GitOps, Fractional C-Suite leadership, Digital Transformation, and M&A advisory for private equity and software ventures.

Role Description

Silpa Companies is seeking a hands-on, versatile CTO for contract, project-based engagements serving clients across our technology and data portfolio. This is not a title-holding role. You will be expected to lead technology strategy at the executive level while remaining an active contributor in architecture decisions, code reviews, cloud infrastructure design, and platform delivery. You will be deployed to client organizations that need a senior technology leader who can build and execute a roadmap, align engineering and data teams around a shared technical vision, and personally contribute where the work demands it. You are equally comfortable in a boardroom presenting a multi-year technology strategy and in a working session debugging a cloud deployment or reviewing a data pipeline architecture. This role is built for a proven technology executive who leads by doing.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and own client technology strategy, architecture roadmap, and platform evolution plans aligned to business objectives.
• Present technology vision, investment priorities, and delivery progress to C-suite and board-level stakeholders.
• Evaluate and advise on build vs. buy decisions, vendor selection, and technology stack modernization.
• Lead technical due diligence for M&A, private equity, and software venture engagements as needed.
• Align cross-functional engineering, data, security, and product teams around shared delivery goals.
• Personally design and review cloud-native architectures across Azure, AWS, and GCP environments.
• Contribute directly to solution design, system architecture diagrams, proof-of-concept builds, and platform evaluations.
• Review and guide code quality, engineering standards, CI/CD pipelines, and deployment practices across client teams.
• Lead or contribute to API design, microservices architecture, data platform builds, and integration patterns.
• Evaluate DevSecOps maturity and drive improvements in automation, observability, and release velocity.
• Advise and contribute to data platform strategy including data lakehouse, warehousing, and analytics architecture decisions.
• Guide AI and ML integration strategies including responsible AI adoption and model operationalization.
• Oversee and contribute to Master Data Management, data governance, and data quality program design.
• Define and own client AI strategy including LLM adoption, generative AI integration, and intelligent application development roadmaps.
• Evaluate and advise on LLM platform selection across OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, and open-source models.
• Lead responsible AI governance practices including model risk management, bias evaluation, data privacy controls, and AI security frameworks.
• Architect LLM-powered application patterns including RAG pipelines, agent frameworks, fine-tuning workflows, and prompt engineering standards.
• Identify and mitigate AI-specific security risks including prompt injection, model inversion, data poisoning, and LLM supply chain vulnerabilities.

What We Are Looking For

• 10 or more years of progressive technology experience including time in both hands-on engineering and technology leadership roles.
• Proven ability to design and personally contribute to cloud-native solutions across Azure, AWS, and GCP.
• Strong full-stack engineering background with proficiency across modern languages, frameworks, and data tools.
• Experience leading technology organizations or engineering teams in a consulting, fractional, or client-facing CTO capacity.
• Deep familiarity with DevSecOps practices, CI/CD toolchains, containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), and IaC (Terraform, Bicep, Pulumi).
• Hands-on experience building or deploying LLM-powered applications using frameworks such as LangChain, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel, or equivalent.
• Working knowledge of AI security risks and mitigation strategies including OWASP LLM Top 10, prompt injection defenses, and responsible AI practices.
• Comfortable translating complex technology concepts into clear business language for executive and non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience with data platform architecture, AI/ML operationalization, and modern analytics stack design.
• Strong documentation and communication skills with the ability to produce client-ready architecture artifacts, roadmaps, and executive briefings.

Eligibility Requirements

• Authorized to work in the U.S.
• Candidates located in the Houston, Texas area will be given preference; however, remote practitioners will also be considered.
• Reliable, secure internet connection and ability to travel to client sites as required by engagement scope.
• Available to mobilize within a standard engagement window and maintain consistent availability throughout project duration.

Why Join Us?

Silpa Companies deploys fractional CTOs into client organizations that are navigating technology transformation, platform modernization, and scaling challenges. Our clients engage us at the executive level because they need a technology leader who can both set direction and personally deliver. As part of the Silpa CTO network, you will lead diverse, high-impact engagements across industries while retaining the autonomy and variety that a traditional full-time role cannot offer. Practitioners who deliver quality work become the first call for expanded scope, long-term retainers, and multi-client relationships across the Silpa portfolio.