---
title: Fractional CTO Nepal | Tech Lead for Hire Kathmandu | Umesh Ghimire
description: Hire a fractional CTO or tech lead in Nepal. Sprint planning, team hiring, code review and stakeholder reporting — senior engineering leadership without a full-time hire. Kathmandu-based, worldwide clients.
canonical: https://umeshghimire.com.np/fractional-cto-nepal/
---

# Fractional CTO & Tech Lead Nepal — senior engineering leadership without the full-time cost.

A full-time CTO costs USD 80,000+ per year in most markets. A founder running engineering themselves usually costs the company in shipping speed, quality and team growth. The middle path is a senior fractional CTO: 10–15 hours per week of technical leadership at a fraction of a full-time hire. That's the role I take from Kathmandu, Nepal.

## What is a fractional CTO and when do you need one?

A fractional CTO is a senior technical leader hired part-time or on retainer rather than full-time. The role covers everything a CTO covers — technical strategy, team leadership, hiring, code quality, stakeholder reporting — but on 10 to 20 hours a week instead of 40+. For most early-stage companies and SMEs, that's the right amount.

You probably need a fractional CTO when one or more of these is true: the company is past 2–3 engineers and needs technical direction; the founder is doing engineering management as a second job and it's slowing both; you're about to make significant hiring decisions and want a senior advisor in the room; or you're inheriting an unowned codebase and need someone accountable for it.

## What I do as your fractional CTO

- **Technical roadmap** — translating product strategy into a sequenced engineering plan with realistic estimates and trade-offs flagged.
- **Team hiring** — writing job descriptions that filter for the right candidates, running technical interviews, designing fair take-home tasks.
- **Sprint planning & cadence** — establishing a working rhythm: planning, retro, demo, async updates. Less ceremony, more shipping.
- **Code quality** — review standards, CI gates, test pyramid, deployment process. The boring infrastructure that makes the team faster.
- **Stakeholder reporting** — weekly written updates that translate engineering progress into language founders, boards and customers understand.
- **Architecture decisions** — when an architectural choice will define the next two years, you want a senior technologist in the room.

## Who this is for

- **Funded startups** with a small engineering team and a non-technical founder, between seed and Series A.
- **SMEs** running internal software with a 2–5 person dev team that has outgrown the original founder-developer.
- **Agencies** scaling their tech team, needing a senior advisor for architecture and hiring without the partner cost.
- **International companies with a Nepal-based dev team** needing local senior leadership in the same time zone as the engineers.

## Engagement models

- **Monthly retainer** — 10 to 20 hours per week on an ongoing basis. Three-month minimum.
- **Project-based** — a 90-day technical strategy + team build-out engagement, fixed fee.
- **One-off audit + strategy** — a 1- to 2-week deep-dive resulting in a written technical strategy document and a 12-month roadmap.

## FAQ

**What is the difference between a fractional CTO and a project manager?** A project manager runs a project; a fractional CTO sets technical direction across all of them. PMs translate decisions; CTOs make them.

**How many hours per week is a typical engagement?** Most run 8–20 hours per week, structured as a mix of weekly leadership meetings, code review, hiring support and async availability.

**Can I introduce you to my engineering team?** Yes — that is the entire point. The first two weeks are spent meeting the team, reading the codebase and building the working relationship.

**How much does a fractional CTO cost in Nepal?** Retainers from Nepal typically run USD 2,500 to USD 8,000 per month depending on scope. Project-based engagements quoted as fixed fees.

## Also offering

[WordPress plugin development](/wordpress-plugin-developer/) · [WooCommerce development](/woocommerce-developer-nepal/) · [Laravel development](/laravel-developer-nepal/) · [WordPress developer for hire](/hire-wordpress-developer-nepal/)

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**Looking for a fractional CTO in Nepal?** Send a brief at [contact](/contact/). Reply within one business day.