Fractional/Interim Head of Data Platform

When data platform decisions need an owner, not another opinion.

I step into vacant or under-led data-platform functions, fragmented technical organisations and stalled transformations within industrial companies in metals, energy, utilities and manufacturing. I take ownership of the senior technical decisions, restore a coherent direction across teams, and hand the mandate to a permanent organisation that can run without me.

Tell me the situation. I'll tell you whether I think I can materially help.

Book a call View selected case studies

30+data engineers, architects and data specialists hired & technically led

2.5 monthsto production for an AI product written off after 18 months of failed attempts

50%platform run-cost reduction (a six-figure annual saving)

$10Mrecurring annual saving from a data product personally led - Hydro Performance Award 2023

About

Independent challenge. Enterprise context. Clean handovers.

My work sits where commercial goals, industrial operations and data architecture meet. I help leaders establish what is viable, simplify what has grown too complex, and build delivery systems their own teams can sustain.

Where needed, I step into troubled industrial data organisations and programmes, establish what is actually failing, make the critical architecture and operating decisions, restore delivery and build the permanent team that takes over.

I work through explicitly agreed decision rights, technical authority and credibility. Engineering Managers retain people leadership; I own the agreed technical mandate.

Fractional mandates concentrate my time on decisions requiring senior technical ownership; implementation remains with the teams that need to own the system after I leave.

I structure engagements to preserve independent challenge and transfer ownership rather than becoming part of the permanent organisation.

Based in the Czech Republic, working remotely across Europe and the Nordics with planned on-site workshops. EU citizen; I work in English, Slovak and Czech.

Download engagement profile Experience

What I take ownership of

Technical strategy, roadmap and target architecture
Cross-team technical decisions
Reliability / security / governance-by-design
Platform economics and technical risk
Senior technical escalation and mentoring

What stays with your organisation

Line management
Performance management
Staffing and capacity
Formal Security / Risk / Finance accountability

Recommendations

What people who worked with me say

Testimonies of previous clients

“It has been a pleasure working with Maros over the last years in Hydro. Maros is very knowledgeable when it comes to Snowflake and Data platform architecture in general and he was one of the driving forces behind the implementation in Hydro Extrusions. He is very committed to deliver and also hands-on if needed. Thanks for you contribution Maros!”

Erik van DrunenIT Director · Norsk Hydro Extrusions

“Maros owned the technical direction of our central data platform through the period when it had to be built and scaled. He took ownership of the data platform and our ML products, set the architecture and standards for both, took the cross-team decisions nobody else was positioned to take, and went to code level when it mattered. I can confirm he cut the platform’s run cost by 40% while its scope grew, and he left us a clear plan to reduce it further.”

Tamas VeresManager, Extruded Digital Portfolio · Norsk Hydro Extrusion

Ways to engage

Clear formats for urgent and strategic needs

Engagement models for different needs

What	Why	When	Price
Diagnostic & recovery assessment (20 workdays)	We know something is wrong, but disagree about what.	A programme or AI initiative has consumed substantial time or money without a convincing path to value. Teams, vendors or leaders give different explanations for the same problem. You are being asked to approve another major investment, migration or re-platforming and want an independent view first.	Fixed fee - €35,000 + VAT
Fractional Head of Data Platform (typically 2-3 days / week)	You need senior data leadership without a permanent hire - or a nine-month search.	You have capable engineering teams but lack senior technical leadership across them. Architecture, platform strategy, standards or investment decisions are becoming fragmented across teams. Your CTO / CIO is carrying too much of the Data & AI agenda personally.	€16,000/m (2d/w) - €22,000/m (3d/w) + VAT
Recovery mandate (typically 8-12 weeks)	A critical data, platform or AI programme is materially behind, over budget or losing stakeholder confidence.	Teams are blocked by unresolved architecture decisions or competing technical directions. Vendors, internal teams and management disagree about the path forward and someone senior needs authority to resolve it. The programme is strategically important enough that failure or continued drift is no longer acceptable.	Day rate €1,600-€2,000 or fixed price to limit your risk
Interim Data Leadership (full-time)	When a critical leadership seat is vacant and cannot remain unowned.	You cannot afford to leave important architecture, investment, hiring or delivery decisions unresolved while recruiting. You need someone who can represent the data function credibly.	€35,000 per month + VAT

Working principles

Make the mandate safe to start and easy to exit

Commitments, handover principles and risk controls

Easy to start & exit

B2B engagement via my trade licence - no employment relationship, no recruiter fees; start within 2–3 weeks of signature.
Any engagement can begin with the fixed-price diagnostic; the Kill/Continue recommendation explicitly includes "don't continue with me".
2-week break clause: if either side calls it off early, you pay only for days delivered.
Handover is a scoped deliverable in every mandate, not a courtesy at the end.
If the exit is a permanent hire, I'll help you recruit and onboard them.

Challenge, engineered to be survivable

Decision criteria and the decision owner agreed before any recommendation lands.
Every option priced - including "do nothing" - so arguments become decidable instead of tribal.
Incumbent teams and platforms keep their legitimate mission; challenge targets decisions, not people.
Recommendations anchored inside your standards and architecture governance, not around them.
No reseller margins, referral fees or vendor commissions - when I challenge your vendor and cloud choices, nobody is paying me to.

Don't hire me if...

…you need extra hands. I'm not staff augmentation - I'm useful where there is ambiguity, weak ownership, difficult trade-offs, or a delivery problem that needs senior intervention.
…you want validation, not challenge. If the important decisions are already made and you only need someone to bless them, I'm the wrong hire. If the evidence says stop, reduce scope or change direction, that will be one of the options I put in front of you.

Book a conversation

Reserve a 30-minute discovery call

Choose a time that works for you.

A useful first conversation

Bring a platform decision, a stalled initiative, or an architecture question. The short form gives us enough context to spend the call on the substance.

30-minute discovery call
Minimum 24-hour notice
Calendar invitation by email
Cancellation link included

Download engagement profile

Loading current availability...

Start a conversation

Send me a message, I will get back to you in 24 hours.

Share the situation, what has already been tried and the decision you need to make. I'll respond with a practical next step - including "this isn't a fit" when it isn't.

[email protected]+420 727 939 636 LinkedIn profile ↗