About

I started as a full-stack engineer. The work expanded into leading two-team environments, multi-application architecture, production recovery, release governance, and accountable product decisions.

Portrait of Malek Smida

How the role evolved

At Clevertech, I led two teams totaling eight engineers while remaining hands-on in web and mobile delivery. At Sopra Steria, I led two developer teams across two connected applications, supported project-management work, and expanded into architect-level responsibilities without changing my historical Tech Lead title.

I now work with founders on live software that has become difficult to ship, operate, modernize, or trust. As a Fractional Product Engineering Leader, I make ownership, risks, and dependencies explicit; help the team choose the smallest responsible path; and stay close to implementation, verification, and release. A bounded Fractional CTO mandate applies only when there is no incumbent CTO, genuine company-level CTO ownership is required, and the authority fits.

I also co-founded Sehla, a software-delivery product in development.

Experience

  1. Independent consulting

    Fractional Product Engineering & Delivery Lead · 2025—present

    Directly owns product and technology work for a lean founder engagement, from recovery and prioritization through implementation, production, partner coordination, release, and evidence-led iteration.

  2. Sehla

    Co-Founder · CTO · March 2026—present

    A software-delivery product in development.

  3. Sopra Steria

    Senior Full-Stack Engineer · Tech Lead · 2023—2024

    Led two developer teams across two connected public-sector applications, combining hands-on modernization with mentoring, project-manager support, release governance, stakeholder coordination, and architect-level responsibilities.

  4. Clevertech France

    Senior Full-Stack Engineer · Head of Frontend · 2022—2023

    Led two teams totaling eight engineers while remaining hands-on, using coaching, 1:1s, training, delegation, capacity planning, and release governance to improve inherited web/mobile SaaS and commerce products.

  5. Freelance

    Full-Stack Developer · UX Designer · 2020—2022

    Owned requirements, UX, full-stack implementation, real-time communication, payments, deployment, and maintenance for web and mobile products.

How I work

  • Recover and modernize live software before prescribing a rewrite.
  • Make product, architecture, ownership, and delivery constraints explicit.
  • Give engineering teams clear priorities, delegated ownership, and credible release gates.
  • Keep implementation, testing, stabilization, production, and release in the plan.
  • Measure the result and state what the evidence does—and does not—show.