Shiraz Karmaz

I've spent the last decade taking engineering organizations from zero to scale. At Nue, I built the engineering function from the ground up to 40+ engineers, achieved SOC 2 Type I and II in six weeks instead of six months, and operated as the technical executive partner to the CTO. At ForthBridge, I lead engineering for a healthcare SaaS platform serving 100,000+ members as the primary technical executive to the flagship customer's CEO and C-suite. Before that: IT and infrastructure leadership at Trove Recommerce through 3.5x headcount growth, healthcare platform modernization at UpHealth across four California counties, and HIPAA-compliant CI/CD at Thrasys. SOC 2 Type I and II delivered several times across these engagements.

In a fractional engagement, you get the same operating posture I bring to full-time roles: hands-on where it matters, advisory where it doesn't. I'm best deployed when an organization needs senior leadership for a specific outcome—getting your security posture audit-ready, designing the engineering org you'll need 18 months from now, replacing or covering a departing technical executive, or stitching engineering into the rest of the business so it's tied to revenue and customer outcomes. I default to clear written communication, board-level reporting when needed, and embedding into your existing rhythm rather than adding meetings to it.

I do this work for mission-driven organizations specifically because the constraints make the leadership harder, not easier. A 25-person nonprofit with a HIPAA-adjacent data footprint and a board chair who reads every line of the budget needs the same caliber of technical executive that a 250-person Series C company gets—just sized differently. That's the gap I fill.