Available for remote contracts · EU & US

Senior Full-Stack Engineer Your product needs to move forward. I help remove what’s holding it back.

Senior engineering for founders and product teams whose product has become slow to change, fragile or hard to coordinate. I find the bottleneck and fix it with your team, in the code. Author of The Architect Protocol My book · January 2026 The Architect Protocol Busy every minute but not moving? How tech leaders escape burnout, reclaim focus and build systems that last. Available on Amazon .

  • Free 30-minute call
  • Reply within one business day
  • Mutual NDA before the call
  • React · Node · DevOps
  • RAG · AI / LLM
  • Hands-on, not just advice
  • Remote · EU & US
Cosmina Palade, Senior Full-Stack Engineer
3 products live Published author

Meet your senior engineer

Hi, I’m Cosmina. I get stuck products moving again.

Most products I see are not broken. They are slow to change: every release is a risk, the infrastructure is held together by habit and the roadmap waits on technical debt.

I find the real bottleneck, then fix it with your team, in the code: architecture, delivery pipeline, security and the features themselves. Decisions are written down, you see a demo every week and your team can run the result without me.

  • One senior ownerNo juniors, no hand-offs
  • A demo every weekProgress you can see
  • Your team keeps itClean handover, documented
See services

01Case studies

Real problems, measurable results

The starting pain, the mechanism I used, and the outcome you can verify. No vanity metrics, no hand-wavy “strategic impact”.

Case 01Enterprise banking

Enterprise banking: 90% vulnerability reduction

3 years · 2021–2024

90%

fewer critical vulnerabilities in 6 months

Security maintenance per week

Before40 h
After5 h

Challenge

200+ critical vulnerabilities across 50+ microservices. Manual remediation consuming 40 hours/week. Blocking production deploys and threatening compliance certifications.

What I did

  • Built an automated security remediation pipeline
  • Integrated SAST/DAST into the CI/CD workflow
  • Created a security-as-code framework
  • Implemented continuous monitoring

Results

  • 90% reduction in vulnerabilities (6 months)
  • 40 hours → 5 hours/week security maintenance
  • Zero production security incidents
  • Became SME for 50+ developers

Case 02Cloud migration

Cloud migration: zero-downtime Kubernetes transition

6 months

16×

faster deploys, with zero downtime during the move

Deploy time

Before4 h
After15 min

Challenge

Legacy infrastructure on bare metal. Manual scaling consuming ops resources. Deployment was a 4-hour process with frequent rollbacks. Business growth blocked by infrastructure limitations.

What I did

  • Designed and implemented the Kubernetes cluster architecture
  • Built a Terraform infrastructure-as-code foundation
  • Automated the CI/CD pipeline end to end
  • Trained the team and wrote comprehensive documentation

Results

  • Zero downtime during migration
  • Deploys: 4 hours → 15 minutes
  • 30% cost savings through auto-scaling
  • Team velocity increased 3×

Case 03Systems integration

Systems integration: breaking team silos

18 months · ongoing

80%

fewer cross-team conflicts

Time to ship a feature

Before3–6 mo
After4–8 wks

Challenge

Frontend, backend, security and DevOps teams operating in separate silos. Constant conflicts and miscommunication. Features taking 3–6 months to ship. Developer frustration at an all-time high.

What I did

  • Created unified API standards and design patterns
  • Integrated security directly into the development workflow
  • Built a cross-team documentation and knowledge system
  • Established weekly architecture review sessions

Results

  • Feature delivery: 3–6 months → 4–8 weeks
  • 80% reduction in cross-team conflicts
  • Developer satisfaction scores improved significantly
  • Promoted to Subject Matter Expert

Facing something similar? Tell me where it hurts and I’ll tell you honestly whether I can fix it.

Discuss your product

02Where I help

If one of these sounds familiar, we should talk

Most teams call me when the product still works, but moving it forward has become slow, risky or expensive.

  • Releases are slow and risky

    Deploys take hours, rollbacks are routine and features wait months. I rebuild the delivery pipeline so shipping becomes routine again.

  • Infrastructure is fragile

    Manual scaling, surprise outages and a platform that blocks growth. I move it to infrastructure as code your team can trust.

  • Security debt blocks the roadmap

    Vulnerabilities and audits stall every release. I automate remediation inside CI/CD, so security stops being the bottleneck.

  • Teams pull in different directions

    Frontend, backend, security and DevOps work in silos. I set shared standards and a review rhythm that gets them shipping together.

  • You need AI in a real product

    RAG search, assistants and automations on your own data, built to the same production standards as the rest of your stack.

  • The product undersells itself

    The engineering is solid but the experience is not. A redesign built on real user flows, so the product looks as good as it works.

03Services

Three ways to work together

It starts with a free 30-minute call to see if there is a fit. If there is, we pick the format that matches where your product is today.

02

Focused delivery project

When: there is a clear priority: a migration, a delivery pipeline, a security backlog, an AI feature or a redesign.

  • Hands-on delivery with your team, with a demo every week
  • Goal, deliverables and what is out of scope written down up front
  • Clear acceptance criteria, so “done” means the same for both of us

Duration agreed in the proposal

Ask about this

03

Fractional engineering

When: your team needs recurring senior input without a full-time hire.

  • Architecture, code reviews, pair programming and hands-on code
  • A fixed weekly capacity, typically 2 days a week
  • Clear responsibilities and a weekly rhythm with your team

Usually 3–6 months, renewable

Ask about this

04Process

How a project runs

A free fit call first, a paid assessment only when the problem is not yet clear, everything scoped and priced before you commit, then weekly demos and a clean handover.

  1. Free · 30 minutes

    Fit call

    • You describe the product, the problem and any deadline
    • I ask about the architecture, the team and what has been tried
    • You leave with: a first read and the format that fits, or an honest no
  2. Paid · 1–2 weeks, when needed

    Assessment and proposal

    • Architecture and delivery review, team interviews
    • Bottlenecks ranked by impact, with a concrete plan
    • Then: scope, deliverables and fee in writing. You decide: go or no-go
  3. As agreed

    Delivery

    • Hands-on: I code, not just advise
    • Weekly demos and updates
    • Pair programming with your team
    • Result: the agreed outcome, delivered
  4. Last weeks of the engagement

    Handover

    • Documentation complete
    • Your team trained
    • Monitoring established
    • Optional: monthly retainer

05Products

My own products, live and shipping

Three products running in production: leadership diagnostics, a coaching platform and clinic coordination. Same engineering standard as my client work. Try them before we ever talk.

Live · Leadership diagnostics

Architect Dashboard

See where your energy leaks and what to do about it, in 2 minutes.

For: leaders and architects who are busy every minute but feel stuck, and teams losing momentum.

  • Quick Quiz: 2-minute diagnostic with an action plan
  • Deep Quiz: 8-minute leadership blind-spot analysis
  • TEAMS: 5-question diagnostic for up to 10 members
  • See the product

First 3 quick quizzes free · 27€ per full profile

Visit site

Live · Coaching platform

CNT Coach & CoachMind

Engineering rigor in a warm space, with a clear trajectory from first to last session.

For: coachees who want a concrete development plan, and coaches tired of handwritten notes.

  • 1:1 coaching with Cosmina, CNT-certified
  • CoachMind: roadmap builder for coaches
  • Client evolution tracker and session memory
  • See the product

Free 30-min discovery call

Visit site

Live · Clinic coordination

MedCoord

Clinics and medical practices, coordinated in one place.

For: clinics and practices juggling appointments, doctors and patients across departments.

  • Appointments: scheduling in one shared view
  • Doctors & patients: coordination without the phone tag
  • Departments: workflows that hand off cleanly
  • See the product

For clinics and medical practices

Visit site

06Reviews

What managers and teams actually wrote

Real words from managers and teammates, not testimonials written by a copywriter. Verbatim reviews from 2016–2024 across enterprise banking, fintech and SaaS, anonymized out of respect for NDAs.

Showing 8 of 26 verbatim reviews

“Cosmina is without a doubt one of the most energetic, enthusiastic members of our organization. She brings a level of commitment that is unparalleled, a real asset in any role where attention to detail, perseverance and determination are needed.”

Product ManagerPre-trade Platform · React framework

“She consistently breaks down tricky issues and gets things done efficiently. More than just her coding skills, she’s been a great teammate who’s always ready to help others. Having her on the team really boosts everyone’s productivity.”

Senior DeveloperFinancial Services · Application development

“Cosmina has been one of the best team leads it was my pleasure to work with. She always brings the right expertise to deliver great results, listens to product owners, and implements the good ideas.”

Colleague · Same teamRetail Banking Platform · 1+ year

“It is very easy communicating with her, things are so straight forward. It makes you want to push yourself more and be better at what you are doing just talking or working with her.”

Colleague · Different teamCross-team observation · 2021

“Through her curiosity and engagement, Cosmina has quickly become a key player for different projects spanning multiple teams. Any team would be lucky to have her.”

Colleague · Different teamGlobal SaaS Platform · Cross-team · 2020

“We worked together for [the bank] in 2016, a very challenging project, handled very professionally. Excellent listener, easily connecting with people, highly talented front-end developer.”

Colleague · Same teamEuropean Bank · Online banking · 2016

“You’ve been more deliberate in ensuring no unexpected issues arise from your changes: reduction in known QA issues. You’ve delivered technical presentations (SonarQube, Security, [trading portfolio projects]) to attendees outside your immediate team.”

Senior EngineerInvestment Bank · Application Security · 2023

“You improved a lot: got to know our products better, helped a lot with styling and infrastructural things like OSS, [trading portfolio projects] package updates. Good in digging into issues where it seems there is no solution; you will find it.”

Colleague · Same teamInvestment Bank · 2-year collaboration

“High determination in doing the job right, problem-solving skills, management and organization skills, demonstrated in daily tasks and in communication with others.”

Colleague · Same teamInvestment Bank · Daily collaboration · 2023

“For any non-compliance identified on SAST, Open Source, Server or Crypto, Cosmina takes ownership, prioritizes and delivers on time. She works closely with central governance, RTB, DevOps and App Security to triage and resolve.”

Senior Manager · Central GovernanceInvestment Bank · Compliance SME · 2023

“Your problem-solving and debugging skills have been outstanding. Your ability to focus on a problem, analyze it, and come up with effective solutions is truly commendable. It consistently contributes to the success of your team’s productivity.”

Manager · Different teamInvestment Bank · Cross-team · 2023

“The key improvement has been representation of [the group] for security issues: you are now the go-to person for the group, and you’re extending that reputation to other groups, helping other teams out.”

Direct ManagerInvestment Bank · Security & DevOps · Dec 2023

“You really stand out on the DevOps side. You’ve grasped a variety of knowledge that is obscure to most members of the team, and willing to share it both formally (presentations, Confluence) and informally.”

Senior EngineerInvestment Bank · DevOps SME · Dec 2023

“You have made noticeable upgrades to the team’s SDLC processes: improving UI package security compliance, investigating GitLab actions, monitoring QA migration to [the platform]. Your role: SDLC & DevOps subject matter expert.”

Direct ManagerInvestment Bank · SDLC & DevOps · Jan 2024

“Autonomous and manages tasks without much intervention. Very collaborative: works with multiple teams to reach common goals. Overall, it is a pleasure working with an individual like herself.”

Manager · Same teamInvestment Bank · Jan 2024

“You’re more open to challenges and willing to learn new things, solving more complex issues. In football terms I would describe you as ‘attacker’. You’re on the front lines in the wide meaning of this sentence.”

Colleague · Same teamInvestment Bank · Jan 2024

“You currently are the go-to person with all of our Infrastructure teams. Your role is between UI developer and DevOps person, and you can decide how to progress.”

Direct ManagerInvestment Bank · Infrastructure & DevOps · Jan 2024

“Her strength is she is on top of her issues. Always keeps everything up to date and keeps track on it. She understands what needs to be done and does it quickly.”

Colleague · Different teamInvestment Bank · Cross-team · Feb 2024

“You’ve taken ownership of the migration to [the platform] and effectively aided the team in the appcode migration ([old] → [new]) for all our applications and connected systems. Your role: DevOps & SecOps subject matter expert.”

Senior EngineerInvestment Bank · DevOps & SecOps · May 2024

“You have full control over security, what takes it off from the team. The team can always count on your help in solving various issues.”

Colleague · Same teamInvestment Bank · Security Master · May 2024

“You’ve successfully completed the first application [deployment] pipeline for DEV & QA. You continue to expand your knowledge of key tools in other areas of DevOps (e.g. CI/CD).”

Senior EngineerInvestment Bank · CI/CD & Cloud Platform · Aug 2024

“You assisted with the migration preparation of our application UIs ([trading portfolio projects]) to the cloud. You especially keep the team informed of new updates within the wider tech organization (GitHub Actions, Copilot etc.).”

Senior EngineerInvestment Bank · Cloud Migration · Nov 2024

“Open person, brave to speak out when something is unclear. A person going for their goals, when stepping out in meetings to clarify things that are ambiguous.”

Colleague · Same teamInvestment Bank · Nov 2024

“From the onset, she gave the impression of a dependable, thoughtful and knowledgeable teammate. She’s proven herself to be someone willing to take on challenges and acts as a wonderful team player.”

Senior EngineerInvestment Bank · Multi-year collaboration

07Scope & budget

How pricing works

No open-ended estimates and no surprises. You see the scope and the number before any work starts.

Technical assessment
Fixed feeAgreed after the free call.
Focused delivery project
Fixed priceFor the agreed scope, split into milestones.
Fractional engineering
Daily rateA fixed rate for an agreed weekly capacity.

What changes the price: scope and complexity, integrations and legacy constraints, and the timeline.

Not included by default: recruiting and interviewing for your team.

Discuss your product

Tell me about the product and I will tell you honestly which format fits, if any.

08FAQ

Questions, answered

The questions people ask before committing, answered in plain English. Still unsure? A 30-minute call closes the gap, with no commitment.

Discuss your product
What if you don’t know our tech stack?

My stack: React, Node and TypeScript, DevOps, and RAG / AI on LLMs, built over ten years in enterprise banking and fintech.

What matters: architecture patterns (microservices, event-driven, CQRS), security principles (OWASP, zero-trust) and infrastructure (Kubernetes, cloud, CI/CD) are universal.

Learning curve: I get productive in a new codebase within 1 week, and fluent in your patterns and frameworks in 2–3 weeks.

Do you sign NDAs?

Yes, always. A standard mutual NDA before the discovery call. Happy to review your template.

What I protect: your architecture docs, code, business logic, customer data and roadmap.

What I share: only general lessons, never anything that identifies a client.

How is this different from a consulting firm?

Consulting firms: send junior consultants (€800–1,200/day) supervised by a senior partner you never meet, and deliver PowerPoint decks, not code.

Me: you work directly with me, no juniors. I write code, not just strategy docs. Hands-on implementation, not just advice.

Also: no upselling and no “phase 2” bait-and-switch. The price and the scope are agreed up front.

Can you help us hire or manage a team?

Short answer: not my focus, but I can help indirectly.

What I do: train your existing team, document systems so they self-serve, and pair program to upskill juniors.

What I don’t do: conduct interviews, write job descriptions, manage performance reviews or act as a line manager.

If you need that: you need a fractional CTO or Head of Engineering, which is a different role. Happy to refer specialists.

What if we need more than 2 days a week?
  • 3 days a week: available for critical projects, such as a pre-funding security audit or an urgent migration.
  • Full-time sprint: 4–6 weeks for intensive buildouts, rare and scheduled months ahead.
  • Team scaling: I can bring trusted contractors for execution while I handle the architecture.

Typical pattern: start at 2 days a week, go to 3 during the critical phase, then drop to 1 day a week for maintenance.

09For recruiters & hiring teams

Hiring a senior engineer? Here’s the short version.

Everything you need to decide in 30 seconds, and three ways to reach me directly. I reply within one business day.

Role
Senior Full-Stack Engineer
Stack
React · Node · TypeScript, DevOps, RAG / AI on LLMs
Experience
10 years: enterprise banking, fintech and SaaS
Engagement
Remote contracts: assessments, delivery projects or fractional
Location
Romania (EET), working with EU & US teams
Languages
English, Romanian
Author
The Architect Protocol, 2 more books coming

10Books

Published author

The same systems thinking, applied to people: books on burnout, psychological reconstruction and the CNT coaching methodology.

Veins of Gold by Cosmina Palade, book cover

Coming October 2026

Veins of Gold

A Protocol for Conscious Reconstruction

The psychological reconstruction protocol, built on the idea that the breaks become the most valuable parts of your story.

The Narrative-Transformational Coach by Cosmina Palade, book cover

Coming January 2027

The Narrative-Transformational Coach

When You Change Who You Are, Everything Changes

The complete CNT methodology: 5 pillars, 3 original protocols, case studies and the CoachMind platform.

11Get started

Let’s talk about your product.

Book a free 30-minute call or send a short note. Either way you get an honest answer on whether, and how, I can help.

Free · 30 minutes · no commitment

What happens in the call

  1. You describe the product, the main problem and any deadline
  2. I ask about the architecture, the team and what has been tried
  3. You leave with a first read on the bottleneck and which format fits, or an honest “I am not the right fit”
Discuss your product

This is a good fit if you:

  • Have a product in production that ships slower than it should
  • Face fragile infrastructure, security debt or growing complexity
  • Need an AI feature built to production standards
  • Want a senior engineer in the code, not just slides
  • Want the scope and the number agreed before work starts
  • Value measurable outcomes over vanity metrics

Prefer writing?

Tell me what you need

The product, the main problem and any deadline. A few lines are enough. I reply within one business day.

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I read every message myself. Prefer email? contact@cpalade.com
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