Fractional
Data Lead
for startups.
I help seed and Series A startups build their data foundation from scratch, the stack, the pipelines, and the alignment between data and product that makes everything else work.
6+
Years of experience
Seed & A
Startup focus
4–8 wks
Foundation sprint
Remote
Based in Europe
// what I do
Services
Most early-stage companies don't need a full-time Head of Data. They need someone who can design the right stack, ship it fast, and make sure the data team and product team are speaking the same language. That's what I do as a fractional data lead, embedded part-time in your team.
Fractional Data Lead
I embed part-time as your data lead, from zero to first working stack (4–8 week foundation sprint), then ongoing 1–2 days/week to keep it healthy as you grow. Strategy and hands-on delivery, without the full-time hire.
Data Platform Architecture
Design and build cloud-native data platforms from scratch, ingestion, transformation, storage, and serving layers that scale with your business.
Data Warehouse Design
Dimensional modeling, data vault, and star/snowflake schemas that power your BI and analytics. Built for performance, clarity, and maintainability.
ELT/ETL Pipeline Engineering
End-to-end pipeline development, from raw source ingestion to curated, analytics-ready datasets. Orchestrated, tested, monitored, and SLA-driven.
DataOps & CI/CD for Data
Bring software engineering best practices to your data workflows, automated testing, data quality checks, CI/CD pipelines, and monitoring & alerting.
Infrastructure as Code
Reproducible, version-controlled cloud infrastructure for your data platform. No more snowflake environments, every deployment is consistent and auditable.
// how it works
Three steps to a working data stack
No lengthy proposals or months of discovery. A focused process designed to get early-stage teams from zero to a production data stack they can trust.
01
Discovery Call
We jump on a 30-minute call to understand where you are today, your product, your data sources, and what decisions you need data to support. No pitch deck, just honest conversation.
Free · 30 min · No commitment
02
Foundation Sprint
I embed in your team for 4–8 weeks and build your data stack from scratch, cloud infrastructure, pipelines, warehouse, and the first dashboards your team actually needs.
4–8 weeks · Full build · Hands-on delivery
03
Ongoing Support
Once the foundation is solid, I stay on 1–2 days a week. I keep the stack healthy, ship new data models as your product evolves, and make sure your team can own it all.
1–2 days/week · Fractional · Scale with you
// proof of work
Results
Measurable impact from real engagements, not estimates.
40%
Pipeline runtime reduction
Zero-to-production pipeline rebuild, Carpe Data
30%
Processing performance gain
Architectural overhaul on a mid-scale ingestion system
25%
Data accuracy improvement
Data quality layer introduced from scratch
30%
Data load time reduction
Query and batch tuning on a live warehouse
What you get when we work together
- A working data stack your team can own — not a black box only I understand
- Data models and dashboards aligned to the decisions your product and business teams actually make
- Reproducible, version-controlled infrastructure so every environment is consistent from day one
- CI/CD and testing baked into your data workflows before they become a problem
- A clear data roadmap tied to your product priorities, not a backlog of technical debt
// tools of the trade
Tech Stack
The platforms and tools I use day-to-day to build production data systems.
Cloud & Warehouses
Orchestration & Pipelines
Languages
DataOps & Infrastructure
Modeling & Analytics
// career history
Experience
- – Designed and deployed end-to-end ELT pipelines transforming unstructured invoice data into curated analytics datasets
- – Built automated ingestion, validation, and enrichment workflows with orchestration, testing, and monitoring
- – Implemented CI/CD for data pipelines, improving release frequency and reliability
- – Architected scalable cloud data pipelines, 30% performance gain, 40% runtime reduction
- – Designed dimensional data models powering BI dashboards and product analytics
- – Standardised infrastructure with Terraform for reproducible, automated deployments
- – Implemented CI/CD for data workflows enabling automated testing and faster releases
- – Mentored data engineers and led DataOps and agile delivery best practices
- – Built a cloud-based data warehouse and analytical layer for BI and self-service analytics
- – Developed optimised ETL pipelines, 25% accuracy improvement, 30% load time reduction
- – Implemented data quality validation and performance tuning for large-scale datasets
- – Supported enterprise customers running production platforms on Databricks, Cosmos DB, and Azure Data Explorer
- – Resolved performance, scalability, and reliability issues for mission-critical data workloads
- – Advised on architecture, data partitioning strategies, and query optimisation
- – Implemented distributed data processing pipelines using Spark and Azure Data Factory
// who I am
About
I help early-stage startups go from "we should probably do something with our data" to a production stack their team can own. I take ownership of the data strategy, make the architecture calls, and build it myself, so founders get a data leader and a builder in one fractional hire.
Over 7+ years I've worked across enterprise platforms (Microsoft), consulting, and fast-moving startups, which means I know how to scope what matters now and skip the rest. I've led data functions from zero, hired and mentored engineers, and aligned data roadmaps with product priorities, not just shipped pipelines.
My MSc in Data Science (NOVA IMS) gives me depth on the analytical side, and a BSc in Business Management (University of Turin) keeps me grounded in the questions your investors and operators actually care about.
Education
MSc — Data Science & Advanced Analytics
NOVA IMS · Lisbon
BSc — Business Management
University of Turin · Turin
// let's work together
Book a free call
Got a data challenge you're not sure how to solve? Building something new and need a senior engineer? Let's talk — 30 minutes, no commitment, just a conversation about what you're trying to build.
Prefer email? piero@pieromaggi.dev
Fast response
I reply within 24 hours
No fluff
Just a straight conversation about your problem
Remote-ready
EU timezone, async-friendly