Available for new work

Built to be handed over.

You own everything, from day one.

I take on contract work for founders and small teams. What I build is meant to outlive the engagement: it runs in your accounts, on a stack any engineer knows, and it is documented well enough that you never need to call me back.

Start a contract enquiry

Three ways to start.

Build
A new product or a defined feature, from empty repo to production.
For
Founders with a scoped idea and no engineering team yet, or a team that needs a fixed piece of work done.
You get
Working software, deployed in your own accounts, with the tests, CI, and docs the next engineer needs to carry on.
It ends with
A walkthrough of the codebase and how to ship a change to it.
Rescue
An audit of an existing codebase, then the work to make it handover-ready.
For
Teams running code nobody fully understands, or whose last contractor left with the knowledge.
You get
A plain list of what is risky and why, then the fixes in priority order: docs, tests, CI, and the worst of the tech debt.
It ends with
A codebase a new hire can open on their first day, and a list of what's left.
“Thomas demonstrated remarkable abilities in managing tech debt and optimizing applications.”
Vitor Oliveira, Startup Engineering Leader. Managed Thomas directly, 2023.
Infrastructure
Environments, deploys, and CI, defined in code.
For
Products that work, but are deployed by hand, by one person, from memory.
You get
Infrastructure as code, a CI pipeline, separate staging and production, and written steps for the routine jobs.
It ends with
Anyone with access can rebuild or redeploy without me.

Every engagement ends the same way.

Whichever way we start, these hold. They run in order, from the first day to the last.

You create the accounts.
Repos, cloud, domains, and secrets are in your name from day one. I'm invited in as a guest.
The stack is mainstream.
Tools most engineers already know, picked partly because they are easy to hire for. No in-house frameworks.
The docs live with the code.
Every repo has a README covering how to run, test, and deploy it. Short decision records explain the non-obvious choices, so nobody has to ask me why.
Tests and CI run without me.
Every change is checked automatically on your CI, not on my laptop.
Infrastructure is code.
Servers, databases, and environments are defined in files in your repo, and can be rebuilt from them.
We do a proper handover.
A live session or recorded walkthrough of the system, and how to change it safely.
I remove my own access.
At the end of the engagement I revoke my keys and accounts.

After that, nothing depends on me.

The practical bits.

Clients: One at a time.
Hours: Around 20 a week, evenings and weekends, UK time.
Where: Remote, worldwide. UK evenings overlap US working hours.
Replies: Within 24 hours.
Pricing: Scoped and quoted after a first call.

Contact

[email protected]

Working on something? Send a short message below, or email the address above. I read everything and reply within ~24 hours.

Built to be handed over.

Three ways to start.

Build

Rescue

Infrastructure

Every engagement ends the same way.

You create the accounts.

The stack is mainstream.

The docs live with the code.

Tests and CI run without me.

Infrastructure is code.

We do a proper handover.

I remove my own access.

The practical bits.

[email protected]