Logo of Craig Skelton Consulting featuring a stylized circuit board design with the company name.

With over a decade of experience in leading engineering teams and driving innovation, I specialize in helping startups and tech companies scale through strategic leadership. As a fractional CTO or Director of Engineering, I provide hands-on expertise to navigate complex technical challenges, optimize engineering operations, and deliver impactful results.

Whether you're building a new product, refining your technology stack, or enhancing team efficiency, I bring the experience and vision necessary to help you succeed. My goal is to align technology strategies with your business objectives, ensuring sustainable growth and long-term success.

Let's work together to take your tech team to the next level.

Areas of Expertise

  1. Fractional CTO & Engineering Leadership

    • Providing strategic leadership for startups, overseeing technology vision, execution, and scaling efforts.

    • Acting as a trusted advisor to executive teams on technology decision-making and business alignment.

  2. Software Development & System Architecture

    • Expertise in designing and developing scalable, high-performance systems.

    • Proficient in cloud infrastructure (AWS, Azure), distributed systems, and microservices architecture.

  3. Site Reliability Engineering (SRE) & DevOps

    • Implementing best practices in site reliability engineering to ensure system uptime, reliability, and performance.

    • Proficient in DevOps practices, continuous integration, and infrastructure as code (IAC).

  4. Cloud Infrastructure & Architecture

    • Design and implementation of secure, scalable, and cost-efficient cloud-based infrastructures.

    • Proficient in managing cloud environments, optimizing cloud usage, and driving migration strategies.

  5. Tech Team Leadership & Mentorship

    • Building, leading, and mentoring high-performing engineering teams.

    • Cultivating a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.

  6. Agile Methodologies & Project Management

    • Leading agile teams and driving successful product development cycles.

    • Implementing Scrum, Kanban, and other agile frameworks to improve development efficiency and adaptability.

  7. Startup Scaling & Technology Strategy

    • Helping startups scale their technical infrastructure and operations for growth.

    • Aligning technology strategy with business objectives to deliver measurable impact.

  8. Full Stack Development

    • Proficient in both front-end and back-end development.

    • Expertise in modern technologies and frameworks (React, Node.js, TypeScript, etc.)

  9. Data-Driven Decision Making & Analytics

    • Leveraging data to drive product and business decisions.

    • Building robust data pipelines and analytics infrastructure for actionable insights.

  10. Security & Compliance

    • Implementing robust security practices in cloud infrastructure and applications.

    • Ensuring compliance with industry standards and regulations (SOC2, GDPR, HIPAA, CJIS, HIGHTRUST).


Recent Projects

Maternal Healthcare Technology Transformation

  • Role: Director of Engineering (Babyscripts)

  • Objective: Led the development and scaling of a maternal remote monitoring platform, revolutionizing prenatal care through data-driven solutions and personalized patient monitoring.

  • Key Accomplishments:

    • Oversaw the complete technical vision and execution for a product impacting healthcare providers and expectant mothers.

    • Implemented scalable cloud infrastructure for real-time data processing and user interactions.

  1. Cloud Infrastructure & Site Reliability Engineering for PowerDMS

    • Role: Cloud Engineering Manager (PowerDMS)

    • Objective: Led the DevOps and cloud infrastructure teams to maintain high-availability SaaS systems and ensure compliance with security standards.

    • Key Accomplishments:

      • Enhanced operational reliability by driving infrastructure-as-code initiatives, significantly improving system uptime.

      • Managed and scaled cloud infrastructure on AWS, reducing operational costs while optimizing resource usage.

  2. Platform Scalability & Reliability for Electronic Arts (EA)

    • Role: SRE Lead (EA Sports)

    • Objective: Managed the backend infrastructure for some of EA’s most popular games, including Battlefield, The Sims, and FIFA.

    • Key Accomplishments:

      • Led the transition from traditional infrastructure to Infrastructure-as-Code, automating deployment pipelines and ensuring system reliability.

      • Improved system performance and uptime during major game releases, optimizing for millions of concurrent users.

  3. End-to-End Solution for Healthcare Integration at Babyscripts

    • Role: Director of Engineering (Babyscripts)

    • Objective: Integrated external healthcare systems and EHR solutions into the Babyscripts platform, improving data synchronization and communication with healthcare providers.

    • Key Accomplishments:

      • Designed and deployed seamless integrations with third-party platforms (e.g., Dorsata, Athena), improving patient care and workflow efficiency.

      • Managed end-to-end project delivery, ensuring compliance with healthcare data standards (HIPAA, GDPR).

  4. Tech Leadership for Product Development at Various Startups

    • Role: Fractional CTO (Various Startups)

    • Objective: Provided part-time CTO services to early-stage startups, assisting with technology strategy, team building, and product development.

    • Key Accomplishments:

      • Advised on building and scaling tech stacks for startups in industries ranging from healthcare to e-commerce.

      • Led product roadmaps, technical architecture design, and mentoring of development teams to execute against company vision.

  5. Building Scalable Data Pipelines for Insights-Driven Decisions

    • Role: Lead Engineer (Freelance Project)

    • Objective: Developed data pipelines and analytics platforms to help businesses make data-driven decisions, enhancing reporting and operational visibility.

    • Key Accomplishments:

      • Built cloud-native data pipelines for ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes, empowering decision-makers with real-time insights.

      • Enabled data democratization across the organization by streamlining access to important analytics and reports.

  6. Engineering Process Improvements at Babyscripts

    • Role: Director of Engineering (Babyscripts)

    • Objective: Enhanced engineering workflows and project management processes within the company to improve development cycles and cross-team collaboration.

    • Key Accomplishments:

      • Introduced Agile methodologies to streamline development cycles, increasing product release frequency and reducing time-to-market.

      • Improved internal processes, leading to better project visibility, performance, and team morale.