Backfilling technical leadership roles

When a technical leader leaves your organisation — whether through parental leave, promotion, departure, or lateral move — you face a critical gap that can't wait. Your team needs leadership continuity while you find the right permanent solution. That's where we come in.

We provide experienced technical leaders who step into your vacant role, maintain momentum, and keep your team shipping — giving you the time and space to make the right long-term hire.

What does it mean to backfill a position?

Backfilling means replacing someone who has left an existing role to maintain continuity in your organisational structure. You're filling the vacancy left behind ("filling back") so work doesn't grind to a halt.

When a technical leadership position goes empty, the impact ripples immediately: decisions stall, team members lose direction, stakeholders lose confidence, and projects drift. You need someone who can step in and lead — not in six months, but now.

The challenge: you can't afford to wait

When a technical leader leaves, you face impossible pressure:

• Your team needs direction and decisions now
• Stakeholders are asking questions you can't answer
• Projects are stalling without clear leadership
• You're being pushed to hire quickly—but rushing leads to bad hires
• Your remaining leaders are stretched thin covering the gap
• Quality candidates take months to identify, interview, and close

You're stuck between moving too fast and leaving your team leaderless for too long.

Our solution: experienced leaders, immediate impact

We provide seasoned technical leaders who step into your vacant role and deliver what your team needs:

What we do

• Immediate leadership presence
  We start leading from day one. Your team gets clear direction, decisions get made, and work keeps moving forward.
• Maintain team momentum
  We keep your engineers shipping, ensure projects stay on track, and preserve the progress you've worked hard to build.
• Stakeholder management
  We handle communication with leadership, product partners, and other teams — so they stay confident and informed.
• Support your hiring process
  We understand the role from the inside, can help evaluate candidates, and ensure smooth handoff when your permanent hire arrives.
• Build, don't just maintain
  We're not caretakers. We actively strengthen team practices, improve processes, and develop your people while we're there.
• Knowledge transfer
  When we transition out, we ensure your new permanent leader has everything they need to succeed.

Why we work

• We've been in your shoes
  We're not consultants — we're technical leaders who've built and scaled teams. We understand the pressures, the tradeoffs, and what actually works.
• We integrate, we don't advise
  We don't show up with slide decks. We show up as part of your team, in your systems, making real decisions and delivering real outcomes.
• We're coaching while we're leading
  While we backfill, we're also developing your team's capabilities. We leave your organisation stronger than we found it.
• Flexible engagement
  Whether you need us for six weeks or six months, we adapt to your timeline and transition out smoothly when you're ready.

When you need a backfill

Backfilling makes sense when:

• A technical leader has left suddenly and you can't afford the gap
• You're promoting someone internally but they need time to transition
• You're conducting a thorough search and won't compromise on quality
• Your remaining leaders are overwhelmed covering the vacant role
• Projects are at risk without clear technical leadership
• Stakeholders are losing confidence in team direction
• You need someone effective immediately, not after months of onboarding

Beyond backfilling: building your team's capability

Here's what makes our backfills different: we're not just filling a gap, we're building your internal leadership capability.

While we're in the role, we're also:

• Coaching the leaders around us to strengthen their skills
• Developing your team members who might step up in the future
• Creating frameworks and practices that outlast our engagement
• Transferring knowledge so you're more resilient next time

When we transition out, you don't just get a vacant role filled — you get a stronger team that's better equipped to handle leadership transitions in the future.

Stop scrambling, start leading

You shouldn't have to choose between a hasty hire and months of leadership vacuum. You shouldn't have to burn out your remaining leaders trying to cover the gap.

We step in, lead effectively, and give you the time to make the right permanent decision.

Let us backfill your technical leadership role so your team keeps shipping, your stakeholders stay confident, and you can find the right long-term leader without compromise.