Remote / Hybrid • MSK Timezone

Fractional CTO in Moscow

Expert technical leadership for Moscow startups and tech companies. Work in the same MSK timezone — maximum availability and responsiveness. Build, scale, and transform your product without full-time CTO costs.

Why Moscow Tech Companies Choose Fractional CTO

Moscow is the largest tech hub in Eastern Europe and CIS. The city is home to leading IT companies (Yandex, VK, Sber), thousands of startups, and a developed venture capital ecosystem. It concentrates the region's best engineering talent, strong technical universities, and research centers. Key industries: FinTech, E-commerce, EdTech, Enterprise SaaS, AI/ML, and cybersecurity.

However, the Moscow market has its specifics: high competition for senior developers with major corporations (Yandex, Sber, VK offer salaries of ₽3-6 million/year for CTO-level), specific regulatory requirements (152-FZ, Central Bank requirements for fintech), need to understand local market and business culture. Many startups find that hiring a full-time CTO at ₽3-6 million/year plus options is impractical at early stages.

Challenge

Common Challenges

Competition for senior engineers with Yandex, Sber, VK
High CTO-level salaries (₽3-6 million/year)
Specific 152-FZ personal data requirements
Central Bank regulatory requirements for fintech projects

Need for rapid scaling after funding rounds
Competition for senior engineers with Yandex, Sber, VK
High CTO-level salaries (₽3-6 million/year)

Specific 152-FZ personal data requirements
Central Bank regulatory requirements for fintech projects
Need for rapid scaling after funding rounds

How Fractional CTO Solves Them

Access to experienced CTO without competing with corporations (₽2-4 million/year savings)
Start in 1 week — without 3-6 month hiring process
Expertise in Russian regulatory requirements and compliance
Scale engagement up/down as you progress through funding rounds
Experience with Russian and international investors

What I do

Build MVP

Turn your idea into a working product

Tech stack selection considering Moscow talent market
Launch in 3-4 months with scalable foundation
Architecture with 152-FZ requirements in mind

Scale Product

Grow from seed stage to Series A and beyond

Handle 10x growth without failures
Technical debt management and refactoring
Prepare for Russian and international VC due diligence

AI Transformation

Integrate AI/ML into your product

LLM integrations (GPT, YandexGPT, GigaChat)
ML systems for competitive advantage
Strategy, implementation, and MLOps

Technology Audit

Technical assessment before fundraising

Code quality and architecture review
Compliance checks (152-FZ, Central Bank requirements)
Risk map and recommendations

Technical Due Diligence for Investors

For investors evaluating startups

Comprehensive technical risk assessment
Team and product scalability analysis
Reports for investment committees

Team Building

Hire your first 5-10 engineers

Navigate Moscow talent market
Compete with major company offers
Implement engineering culture

Pricing

Packages for Moscow Companies

Currency:

Advisor CTO

$3,600per month

~6 hours per week of dedicated time

For early-stage startups with an MVP or an idea that need oversight and support without full-time involvement.

How we work:

Bi-weekly strategy session with founders (90 min)
Technical stack and architecture review - are you building on the right foundation?
Code review of critical decisions and risky PRs
Candidate screening: resume review, interview structure, hire/no-hire recommendations
Infrastructure and tooling spend review - are you overpaying for cloud and third-party services?
Async access via Slack (48-hour response time)

What you walk away with:

Technical assessment report - honest evaluation of your codebase, infrastructure, and risks
Technology roadmap - prioritized recommendations for the next 6 months
Hiring scorecard - what to look for in your first 3-5 engineers

Outcome

Confidence that your technical decisions are sound and a clear plan to build on - without costly mistakes.

Month-to-month, cancel anytime

Growth CTO

Scale CTO

$11,000per month

~20 hours per week of dedicated time

For Series A+ startups with 15-20+ engineers preparing for the next funding round.

How we work:

Everything from Growth CTO package
Daily involvement in engineering operations - standups, planning, escalations
Executive team participation - board prep, investor meetings, due diligence support
Engineering management development - coaching team leads into engineering managers
Organizational design - team topology, processes, rituals, communication structures
Vendor strategy - cloud cost optimization, service negotiations, contractor management
Technical debt strategy - refactoring roadmap balanced against product delivery

What you walk away with:

Engineering handbook - culture, standards, processes, expectations
Leveling and compensation framework - career ladders and salary bands
Engineering metrics dashboard - DORA metrics, velocity trends, code quality
Incident management playbook - on-call rotation, severity definitions, postmortem process
Technical due diligence package - investor-ready architecture and security documentation
Security and compliance assessment - SOC2, GDPR, HIPAA readiness evaluation
Engineering headcount plan and infrastructure budget forecast

Outcome

A mature engineering organization ready for due diligence and the next funding round.

3-month minimum commitment

Benefits of Working in the Same Timezone

MSK timezone: Full working hours overlap. Availability throughout the workday 9:00-19:00 MSK. Quick response to urgent issues. Ability for ad-hoc calls without planning.
Communication rhythm: Weekly strategic call with founders. Bi-weekly team sync. Daily communication via Slack and Telegram. Emergency availability for critical issues.
In-person meetings: Regular in-person meetings in Moscow for Scale CTO and above packages. Participation in board meetings, investor presentations, strategic sessions. Office visits as needed.