The engagement and the pay.
Senior, high-trust work, scoped tightly, paid as a fixed fee, with a clear definition of done and a real handover at the end. Here is the whole picture before you apply.
The shape
An engagement is one production system, typically six to twelve weeks. CM scopes it with the client and sets the definition of done before you start, so you are never billing into an open-ended brief. You build inside the client's environment; the load is heaviest in the build and verification weeks and tapers as the transfer takes over.
| Where the time goes | When | Rough shape |
|---|---|---|
| Scoping with CM and the client | Week 0 | A few days, mostly feasibility and data reality |
| Building inside the client's environment | Weeks 1 to 6 | The bulk of the engagement |
| Verification and governance | Throughout | Built in as you go, not a phase at the end |
| Transfer with the Lead Mentor | Last weeks | Runbooks, monitoring, operator handover |
The pay
You are paid a fixed fee per engagement, or against milestones on a larger build, set when the scope is. The client buys an outcome, not your hours, so shipping efficiently is never punished. Every FDE works as an independent contractor and invoices in their own name. There are no full-time positions. The schedule and invoicing mechanics live in the runbook once your access is granted.
The number depends on the engagement: its scope and stakes, your seniority and track record, and the client. We agree it in writing before you start, at senior market rates for your region, and we hold to it. No day-rate haggling once the work is underway. A tighter, riskier build inside a regulated environment is priced accordingly.
The definition of done
Every engagement ends on a written definition of done, agreed up front. It is not "the demo worked." It is the system running in the client's environment, verified to abstain when it should, with monitoring in place and their operators able to run and extend it. The handover is part of the deliverable, not a favour after it.
What you get beyond the fee
- The reference. Shipping a production system into a serious place, named where the client allows it, is a real proof point for your own profile.
- The method. You work with the same verification and governance discipline Cohorte teaches and researches. You leave sharper than you arrived.
- A standing relationship with CM and the Lead Mentors. The build roster is small, and the engineers who hold the bar are the first call for the next engagement.
On recurrence. This is per engagement, not a salary or a retainer. Build is deliberately scarce, so there is no promise of a constant pipeline. But the roster is small and hand-picked, and FDEs who ship clean and transfer well are the people we come back to first.