For companies hiring a head of engineering

Interim Head, Director or VP of Engineering while you hire

Keep your search going. Until your hire starts, I run the engineering team day to day and keep the key work shipping on its dates.

Email rick@datasaa.com

Rick WongHead of Product Engineering — AI data products

What I do

The problem

The engineering leadership seat is empty. The founder or a peer is still running the org while the search runs. Dates slip, and the team is not getting set up to work AI-native.

Cover the Head, Director or VP of Engineering seat while you hire.
Run the engineering team day to day and keep the key work shipping on its dates.
Set the team up to work AI-native, so your new leader inherits a faster team, not just a stable one.
Help you interview candidates, then hand everything over.

Who this is for

Small companies and startups hiring a Head, Director or VP of Engineering — or a Head of Platform or AI Engineering — while the work still has to ship.
Service companies putting more AI into how they deliver, when the empty seat is engineering leadership.
The owner, founder, VP or head with the budget.

Who this isn’t for

Companies that only want another full-time employee and have no appetite for coverage.
Buyers looking for a CTO title. I cover Head, Director or VP of Engineering. I do not claim the CTO title.

How AI fits

AI-native is how I run every org I lead. I lean hard on AI in how the work gets done. AI does drafting and synthesis. I own judgment, people, and the outcome. A person signs off on anything that goes out.

Where I’ve sat

I've held IC seats in product and engineering, up through the executive seat. I work across engineering, product and program at once. What people I've worked with say is on LinkedIn.

What people I’ve worked with say

Notes

Along the way I set the team up to work AI-native. It’s how I run every org I lead, so your new leader inherits a faster team, not just a stable one.

I help you interview candidates, then hand everything over.

These seats overlap. If the gap is a single team, see interim Engineering Manager. If the posted seat is Head or VP of Product Engineering, see interim Head / VP of Product Engineering.

At a glance

Seat: Head, Director or VP of Engineering, Head of Platform, or Head of AI Engineering. Buyers also search fractional VP of engineering.
Who it is for: Small companies and startups hiring a Head, Director or VP of Engineering. Buyer is an owner, founder, VP or head with the budget.
Engagement: Conversation, then a time-boxed covering trial with one success check, then coverage while you search and a clean handoff. Coverage runs month-to-month while you search.
Availability: Open now for new engagements, as of October 2026.
Location: Irvine, CA, working with US startups remotely. Core hours 1–9pm PT (Pacific).
Cost: We work it out in the first conversation, scoped to the seat.
Contact: rick@datasaa.com

Questions

Is this a fractional VP of engineering?

Yes, in buyer terms. The seats I cover here are Head, Director and VP of Engineering. You keep your search for the permanent hire.

Are you a fractional CTO?

No. I do not claim the CTO title. If that is the search term you used, this seat is usually the closer fit: engineering leadership on a live team.

Do we stop hiring?

No. You keep searching. I cover the seat in the meantime.

What does it cost?

We work it out in the first conversation, scoped to the seat.

Start with an email.

Posted a Head, Director or VP of Engineering seat you can't afford to leave empty? Let's talk about covering it while you hire.