Show HN: Fractional jobs – part-time roles for engineers

[tbird24]

I'm Taylor, I spent about a year as a Fractional Head of Product. It was my first time not in a full-time W2 role, and I quickly learned that the hardest part of the job wasn't doing the Product work (I was a PM for 10+ years), it was finding good clients to work with.

So I built Fractional Jobs.

The goal is to help more people break out of W2 life and into their own independent careers by helping them find great clients to work with.

We find and vet the clients, and then engineers can request intros to any that seem like a good fit. We'll make the intro assuming the client opts in after seeing your profile.

We have 9 open engineering roles right now: - 2x Fractional CTO - 2x AI engineers - 3x full-stack - 1x staff frontend - 1x mobile

[tbird24]

I realize I should probably comment links to some of the better engineering roles we're currently featuring right now. BTW I should also note we don't take a % commission like Upwork, Toptal, etc. So if you get hired you'd work with the company directly and get paid by them direct.

Fractional CTO @ A Consumer Healthtech Marketplace 20 - 40 hrs | $175 - $200 / hr | Remote (USA only) https://www.fractionaljobs.io/jobs/chief-technology-officer-...

Senior AI Engineer @ A European Insurtech Startup 20 - 40 hrs / week | €85 - €100 / hr | Remote (CET +/- 6hrs) https://www.fractionaljobs.io/jobs/senior-ai-engineer-at-a-e...

Senior Full-stack Engineer @ A Consumer Social Startup 20 - 40 hrs / week | $125 - $150 / hr | Remote (EST +/- 5 hrs) https://www.fractionaljobs.io/jobs/senior-full-stack-enginee...

Staff Frontend Engineer @ An HR-tech Analytics Platform 20 - 40 hrs / week | $120 - $180 / hr | Remote (USA / Canada only) https://www.fractionaljobs.io/jobs/staff-frontend-engineer-a...

AI Engineer @ A Creator-focused AI Startup 10 - 15 hrs / week | $100 - $125 / hr | Remote (USA / Canada / Europe only) https://www.fractionaljobs.io/jobs/ai-engineer-at-a-creator-...

[raggi]

These prices seem very low.

[jwilber]

20-40 will certainly round up to a full time role, just with less pay and benefits than a regular job.

[physix]

I'm curious to know the business model. I assume you charge the companies, but I couldn't find the pricing model on the website.

Are you able say something about this?

[jcims]

May want to look into finding fractional security roles as well. Lots of smaller companies don’t need full time security staff but *do* need help.

[tbird24]

Totally agree! We've featured a number of Fractional CISO roles.

[VirusNewbie]

I think there's an interesting market here. I know a couple moms who were exceptional FAANG level engineers who were willing to take huge pay cuts to go part time. They wanted to keep working but have enough time for their family.

I'm also aware of someone who made a lot of money in tech and doesn't really need to work but wants to stay in the game. They have told me they'd take a lot less money than they were making for a low salary and some equity if there weren't crazy high expectations for hours worked.

I don't think you could build a team of only part timers, but it really could be a solid way to round out a less experienced team without breaking the bank.

[kgilpin]

Yes. For someone who’s already financially comfortable, it’s nice to be able to stay in the game, keep working with great people, and make some money without having to deal with burnout.

Lots of people in tech like their jobs; they just like other things too. Personally I don’t know why I would want to stop working completely. It sounds boring. I love to build. Why ever stop?

[tbird24]

Yup, I see these examples all the time. You're spot on.

[TexanFeller]

There’s definitely a need for this! I’ve been thinking hard recently about how I could go part time without leaving the industry. Almost all of the good SWE work situations I’ve heard of require full time. Even the contractors I’ve worked with in my career have been full time.

[chilldsgn]

Same. I hate the 9-5. It's soul-crushing for me. This is right up my alley!

[Gualdrapo]

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42425473

[shooker435]

How does this compare to https://www.hirefraction.com/about ?

I've noticed they market 'overemployment' as a benefit, is this platform similar?

[tbird24]

I'm personally not a huge fan of the over-employment trend, although I do see some arguments for it. A lot of the companies that are looking to hire on fractional jobs are quite explicit that they don't want folks that have full-time jobs (aka are over-employed) because of the negative connotations and consequences.

I'm familiar with Higher Fraction. I believe that the core difference is just that they're an agency that takes a percent markup on your hourly rate, so typically it's 20%.

I think the best software engineers don't need to do this, though, and they can find clients directly through their network or even through places like Fractional Jobs where we connect you directly with clients, and it's your relationship to own.

[the-alchemist]

They don't pay much. $5k-$6k/mo for half time.

[hinkley]

One of the things I always found a bit dumb about contracting houses is that the sales contact and the manager might work multiple projects but nobody else did.

Why shouldn’t I as a client get 10 hours a week from an architect and 5 hours a week from a security expert instead of paying for a whole one? We should be comparing notes with our consulting house colleagues on design problems and interpersonal dynamics, but we never have. Only when they project is going badly does anything like this happen, and then it’s done begrudgingly.

[icelancer]

This is great. I currently work a fractional role on top of being a founder. Wish it was more commonly available.

[giantg2]

Screw part time. The whole economy is moving towards part time, gig work, etc and it's terrible for most employees who need good wages and benefits.

[tbird24]

Fair, but I find, and I think this thread is evident, that a lot of folks are actually proactively seeking part-time work for one reason or another. If done correctly, you can actually make more money than an equivalent full-time role.

[Trasmatta]

I see way more full-time engineering jobs than part time

I'd love the opportunity to work 10-15 hours per week for a couple years as a sort of "semi-sabbatical". That could give me enough to pay for enough of my expenses to keep my savings going for long enough to make it worth it.

[thot_experiment]

Screw full time, I have a life and I want to enjoy more than 30% of it.

[h2zizzle]

The problem isn't part-time hours, which are ideal and actually more in-line with workers' actual labor time. The problem is that companies refuse (and workers refuse to make them) pay high-enough wages.

[ViscountPenguin]

Part time work is a godsend for those of us with kids, it might not fit in with your life situation, but for lots of us it does.

[jameslk]

Maybe times are different now (I’m not freelancing anymore) but I was the happiest when I was a freelancer. I made more than I could have as a full time employee, because I could ask more often for more (vs jumping jobs every 2-4 years). I could write off a ton of expenses. I could put away more for retirement (self-employment gives you higher limits). I didn’t have to do stupid whiteboard interviews. I could work whenever and wherever I wanted. And I could ultimately choose when I took time off and for however long.

It’s not ideal for everyone, especially if you need the security of a predictable salary and good benefits

[parineum]

You may not and I don't really but I'm tired of people telling other people they don't really want what they ask for.

How hard is it to believe that some people like gig work, even if they have to pay for their own insurance.

[hinkley]

I’m probably never going to retire, unless I cannot find part time work in my dotage. We are the only first world country where benefits are as big an issue as you’re making it. That’s an “us problem”.

[philipallstar]

> Screw part time. The whole economy is moving towards part time, gig work, etc and it's terrible for most employees who need good wages and benefits.

People want different things. And you normally get either good wages or benefits. This is erring on the side of wages.

[kovac]

The wages listed there are pretty reasonable. Someone who wants more could work more hours/jobs. Life a little more on your own terms.

[jbirer]

There are simply no more jobs available for the massive population we have right now. Part time economy increases employment.

[alberth]

I’ve only skimmed the FAQ articles but haven’t seen anything about how exactly you get paid (1099, does that platform facilitate fractional pay, etc).

[rr808]

The idea of fractional jobs implying you need to work on multiple jobs at a time probably makes sense.

I like the idea of part time but feel like just keeping up with technology is already such a lot of work you can't ever be useful working 2 or 3 days per week for the rest of your career.

[hinkley]

You could use a better string interpolation tool that replaces, “0 days ago” with “today”.

[jaggederest]

ActiveSupport still has a wonderfully readable implementation:

https://github.com/rails/rails/blob/b0c813bc7b61c71dd21ee3a6...

Though I don't really use Rails that often any more, I still miss some of the niceties.

[ralferoo]

If something was less than 24 hours ago, there's a good chance that it was actually be "yesterday" rather than "today".

The peer post linking to someone else's solution that uses size appropriate scales seems better.

[hcwilk]

Genuinely curious: do you all think that a fractional position would work for a sales / sales engineering type role? Considering pursuing a PhD but would love to be able to continue to utilize this skillset

[AbstractH24]

Fractional sales and GTM is huge right now

[eikenberry]

Any thoughts on a reputation system for talent/clients? A way to streamline hiring for talent and clients who have received good feedback from past work through your service?

[tbird24]

Here's the thing, and I'm open to thoughts here. But I've found that candidate A can be a great fit for company B, but a terrible fit for company C. I think a match is way more subjective than folks tend to give it credit for, and a rating system (like Uber) makes it seem more objective than it actually is. It works for things like Uber, where you can have hundreds of ratings very quickly, and so it converges on a natural truth. But with fractional clients, I think the N is so small that there's might just be too much noise.

Thoughts?

[philip1209]

That’s cool- I worked on a similar website a few years ago.

Do your jobs tend to be for technical or non-technical customers? What are the characteristics of developers who succeed on your site?

[tbird24]

Thanks! Most of the clients hiring engineers tend to be non-technical, especially those hiring Fractional CTOs of course. But sometimes we'll work with CTOs to hire a contractor for their team too.

I think the devs that have the most success have the following qualities: - They can clearly show their work history (Linkedin, Resume, Github, custom site, etc.) - They have some baseline level of knowledge/experience in relationship management, i.e. they can talk the talk. You do have to do a bit of "selling", especially when looking for contract work.

[rubyfan]

I use an ad-blocker which seems to break the “Function(s)” multi-select drop-down on the sign up form.

[tbird24]

Which ad blocker? I will test this.

[namuol]

What sort of legal protections and guarantees do you provide talent that apply through your service?

[petesergeant]

Does any job board do this?

[iainctduncan]

This is a great idea. I have (deliberately) been working between 50-75% time for most of my 20 years in development. Finding places that are ok with part time is a pain in the ass on normal job boards. While I'm not looking now, I would absolutely have used this.

[chloeho0513]

Hi Taylor, we have a pool of talent connections open to work, could possibly help you find the right people. Please reach me at [e-mail]

[neuroelectron]

So like, gig economy but for people who should know better than to accept gig economy jobs. Sounds exactly like the next YC project.

[em-bee]

huh? that's what freelancing always has been. what's wrong with that?

[nl]

What does W2 mean?

[shawn_w]

It's the form USA employers report employee earnings on for calculating income tax.

I think OP is using it to mean "regular full time employee".

[karakot]

race to the bottom.

[freecodyx]

[flagged]

[dang]

"Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work. A good critical comment teaches us something."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

[tbird24]

Are you trying to insult my design skills or my Webflow skills?

[philip1209]

view-source says Webflow

[tomhow]

> Fuck you very deeply.

You can't comment like this on Hacker News, no matter what you're replying to. Criticism is fine, but personal attacks like this are not. Please make an effort to observe the guidelines if you want to participate here.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

[tamimio]

I will just reiterate what I posted before about using the term "engineering."

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44855157#44860128

It's about time that there should be a distinguished difference between an engineer who went through engineering school and another who went to a bootcamp/computer science/etc. Not only is it confusing for people like me whenever I see the word engineering - the first thing that comes to my mind are engineering topics, only to find it's just full stack, JavaScript, prompt "engineering" jobs- but it also disturbs the market for both seekers and employers. When an employer posts a "systems engineering" job and gets bombarded with people who had some JS and DevOps work, meanwhile the employer is after systems with hardware and the like, you are making it worse for both sides. And this kind of "relaxed" approach is only in engineering professions for some reason; even as a plumber you need an apprenticeship, let alone being a lawyer, nurse, or doctor.

[SolubleSnake]

I agree that the term 'Engineer' has lost all meaning in the software/IT world. I studied CS at a UK uni which was a subject in the engineering school. I then worked with engineers on multidisciplinary projects (mechanical, electrical, chemical) and am a qualified CAD engineer.

When people start advertising for roles my 'mobile engineer' for someone who makes iphone apps it just makes me feel a bit sad. It genuinely cheapens the term.

I imagine 'architects' also get p1ssed off for the same reason tbh. There's probably loads of real architects who see an 'architect' and say 'he's not a bloody architect! I went to architecture school for SEVEN YEARS!!! He's an idiot with a 1 month AWS certificate!'

Why is IT so bad at trying to steal others' glory!?

[8note]

I expect an employer can escape that by asking for a professional engineer whow can sign and stamp for their work, and has some malpractice insurance.