Fractional CTO / Technical Lead OR Boutique Development Agency

Fractional CTO / Technical Lead OR Boutique Development Agency (React Native • AI • Marketplace • African Diaspora Startup) About UloIle UloIle is an AI-powered collaboration platform connecting professionals, founders, entrepreneurs, creatives, and community builders across Africa and the global African diaspora. Our mission is simple: Your collaborative soulmate may not be located in your city… your country… or even your continent. We’re building the infrastructure that helps talented people discover one another, build businesses together, and create opportunities across borders. Think: • AI-powered collaboration • Intelligent networking • Community • Messaging • Marketplace • Video collaboration • Culture-first design This is not another social media app. It is a relationship engine built specifically for Africa and the global African diaspora. ⸻ Who We’re Looking For I’m looking for either: • An exceptional Fractional CTO / Technical Lead OR • A highly experienced boutique software agency with a proven track record of building high-quality startup products. This is NOT simply a development project. I’m looking for a long-term technical partner who can help me bring this company to market. You should be comfortable making technical decisions, auditing an existing codebase, coordinating engineering efforts, and helping build a scalable company—not just writing code. ⸻ Current Project Status The project is approximately 50% complete. A previous development company completed the initial architecture, authentication, onboarding, backend foundation, AI matching foundation, and portions of the mobile application before development was paused. I now need an experienced technical leader (or agency) to: • Audit the existing code • Verify its quality • Determine what should be kept • Identify what should be rebuilt • Finish the MVP • Help prepare the product for beta launch ⸻ Agency Applicants Welcome If you’re applying as an agency, I prefer smaller, senior-led agencies rather than large outsourcing firms. Your team should ideally include: • Technical Lead / CTO • React Native Developer(s) • Backend Developer(s) • AI Engineer • DevOps Engineer • QA Engineer • UI/UX Designer • Product Manager (optional) The technical lead should remain my primary point of contact throughout the project. ⸻ Preferred Applicants Because this platform is being built specifically for Africa and the global African diaspora, I strongly prefer candidates who personally understand this community. Preference will be given to professionals who identify with or have deep lived experience in one or more of the following communities: • African-American • African • Afro-Caribbean • Afro-European • Africans currently living on the continent • Members of the African diaspora worldwide This preference is based on the mission of the platform and the value of cultural understanding when building products for this audience. Candidates from all backgrounds are welcome if they have demonstrated experience building products for African or diaspora communities. ⸻ Responsibilities You (or your agency) will: • Perform a full technical audit of the existing codebase • Review architecture • Review documentation • Review Git repositories • Review APIs • Review Firebase • Review cloud infrastructure • Review security • Review CI/CD • Review database design • Review AI implementation • Recommend improvements • Build remaining MVP features • Lead engineering decisions • Conduct code reviews • Help hire additional developers if needed • Build scalable engineering processes • Prepare the product for App Store and Google Play submission • Continue supporting the platform after beta launch ⸻ Required Technical Experience You should have strong experience with many of the following technologies: Mobile • React Native • TypeScript • Native iOS • Native Android ⸻ Backend • Node.js • NestJS • Express ⸻ Databases • PostgreSQL • Supabase • Firebase • MongoDB ⸻ AI • OpenAI • Claude • Gemini • Recommendation engines • Matching algorithms • Embeddings • Vector databases • Prompt engineering • Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) ⸻ Messaging • Firebase • Socket.IO • Stream • Sendbird ⸻ Video • Daily.co • Agora • Zoom SDK • Google Meet integrations ⸻ Payments Experience with one or more of the following is strongly preferred: • Stripe • PayPal • Apple Pay • Google Pay • Flutterwave • Paystack • M-Pesa • Wise • RevenueCat • Lemon Squeezy • Paddle The product will eventually support subscriptions, marketplace payments, premium memberships, and potentially cross-border transactions, so experience with modern payment infrastructure is highly valued. ⸻ Infrastructure • AWS • Google Cloud • Docker • GitHub Actions • CI/CD • Monitoring • Sentry • Firebase Analytics • Mixpanel • PostHog ⸻ Ideal Background Experience building one or more of the following: • Startup products • Marketplace platforms • AI applications • Networking platforms • Community platforms • Creator economy products • SaaS platforms • Consumer mobile applications • Fintech products • International products ⸻ Communication You should be comfortable: • Working directly with founders • Explaining technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders • Leading architecture discussions • Giving honest recommendations • Challenging technical decisions when necessary • Running weekly planning meetings • Managing engineering timelines ⸻ What Success Looks Like Within the first 30 days I expect you to: • Complete a technical audit • Identify technical debt • Review architecture • Provide a roadmap • Estimate remaining work • Recommend improvements • Begin shipping production-ready features ⸻ To Apply Please answer all of the following: 1. Tell me about yourself (or your agency). 2. Why does this project interest you? 3. Have you ever inherited another company’s codebase? 4. What would your first 30 days look like? 5. Have you rescued an existing project before? 6. Have you launched mobile apps currently available in the App Store or Google Play? 7. Have you built AI-powered recommendation or matching systems? 8. Have you implemented Stripe, PayPal, Flutterwave, Paystack, M-Pesa, Apple Pay, Google Pay, RevenueCat, or similar payment systems? 9. What would you improve about our current architecture? 10. Share links to at least three relevant projects you’ve built. 11. Describe the biggest engineering challenge you’ve solved. 12. What AI tools do you currently use in production? 13. If you’re an agency, who would be assigned to this project and what are their roles? 14. Why should I choose you over other applicants? ⸻ PLEASE READ!!!!! Please do not apply if you are a junior developer or a general outsourcing firm. I am looking for senior-level technical leadership or a boutique agency with experience shipping AI-powered startup products from MVP to launch.