Fractional Data Architect Information

I design data systems that actually get built. Fast-growing companies build their data stack for where they are, not where they're headed. So every growth stage means ripping it out and rebuilding. You pay for the same platform two or three times, and each rebuild burns months of engineering on plumbing instead of product. The wrong foundation gets more expensive to replace every quarter you leave it. A Fractional Data Architect is the senior, embedded alternative to a full-time Head of Data. You get senior architecture, hands-on engineering, and a clear roadmap for a data platform that scales, paid for only when you need it. Come in when: • dashboards are slow and reporting can't be trusted • pipelines keep breaking and the team is firefighting • disconnected sources and tools have no clear owner • nobody's sure the current stack survives the next funding round • you're about to make your first data hire and want the foundation set right How I work, three ways in: 1. Platform Review: a fixed-scope, fixed-price diagnostic (current-state assessment, risk report, a 90-day action plan). The low-risk first step. 2. Fractional Data Architect, the core engagement. Your fractional Head of Data: owning architecture and standards, building hands-on, guiding the team, running the technical roadmap. 2-3 days a week. 3. Architecture Advisory: lighter ongoing senior input. Architecture decisions, second opinions, migration and tool calls, a sounding board after a build stabilizes. Why fractional beats a hire: you get the senior, not a junior with a senior price tag. Direction and build in one head. I ask whether it's the right thing to build before I build it. No PowerPoint architecture: you walk away with a working platform and a roadmap, and a team that can run it without me. 10+ years building and rescuing data platforms across Azure, GCP, AWS, Databricks and Snowflake. Belgium-based, working across the EU (and UK/ US Remote). Book a discovery call: https://app.cal.eu