Fractional Technical Lead

This position is posted by Jobgether on behalf of a partner company. We are currently looking for a Fractional Technical Lead in United States.

This role sits at the intersection of engineering leadership, product experimentation, and applied AI innovation within an education-focused technology lab. You will guide a small but high-impact engineering team building an AI-powered simulated classroom used to train future educators through realistic practice environments. Acting as both technical leader and hands-on contributor, you will shape architecture, review code, and ensure execution quality across internal engineers and external partners. The environment is fast-moving, prototype-driven, and deeply collaborative, with a strong emphasis on iteration and real-world educational impact. You will translate product vision into clear engineering execution while helping define the next stage of platform scaling. This is a highly strategic player-coach role suited for someone who thrives in ambiguity and enjoys building from early-stage systems toward scalable products.

In this role, you will combine technical leadership, hands-on engineering oversight, and strategic planning to guide the evolution of an AI-powered learning platform.

• Manage and mentor a small engineering team, including task scoping, code review, and removing technical blockers to ensure consistent delivery quality.
• Translate product priorities into structured engineering work and ensure junior engineers can execute effectively against well-defined specifications.
• Serve as the technical point of contact for external development partners, reviewing deliverables, evaluating quality, and integrating contributions into the broader system.
• Oversee the balance between internal and outsourced development efforts, deciding when to build, delegate, or directly implement solutions.
• Contribute to system architecture decisions and prototype evaluations to guide the evolution of the platform and future technical direction.
• Collaborate with leadership on strategic planning, including tech stack considerations and long-term engineering organization design.

Requirements:

The ideal candidate brings strong technical depth, leadership experience, and the ability to operate across both code and strategy in a dynamic environment.

• 7+ years of software engineering experience, including prior tech lead or engineering leadership responsibilities in production environments.
• Proven experience in a player-coach role, combining hands-on coding, code review, and mentoring with architectural decision-making.
• Strong proficiency in modern web technologies such as TypeScript, React, and Node.js.
• Experience working with AI-assisted development tools and workflows, including LLM-based coding environments and automation pipelines.
• Demonstrated ability to manage external engineering partners, including evaluating code quality and defining clear technical scopes.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders.
• Experience in AI-integrated or real-time interactive systems is a strong plus, along with familiarity with educational technology or simulation-based products.

Benefits:

• Competitive independent contractor compensation ranging from $150–$200 per hour, based on experience
• Flexible part-time engagement (approximately 15–20 hours per week)
• Fully remote role within the United States
• Opportunity to work on an innovative AI-driven education product with real-world impact
• Potential for contract extension or conversion to full-time employment based on strategic needs
• High autonomy in shaping technical direction and engineering structure
• Exposure to cutting-edge AI, simulation, and interactive learning technologies