Víctor Sans de Amores
Available for new projects

Hi, I'm Víctor.
I lead engineering teams and modernise software that is already in production.

Fifteen years in backend development, eight of them leading engineering teams. Currently a fractional CTO and freelance developer based in Barcelona. Previously Engineering Manager at The Mind Hub, Tech Lead at Europcar Mobility Group, CTO at KA Recovering Services and developer at Atrápalo.

I work on products that are already running: the ones that have been in production for years, grew in fits and starts, and are now hard to touch without breaking something. SaaS, marketplaces, internal platforms and e-commerce.

My deepest ground is PHP and Symfony: fifteen years of it, DDD and hexagonal architecture. But the problem picks the stack, not the other way round — I also ship in TypeScript, Node and Next.js, and I automate with AI the processes that eat someone's hours every week.

Tell me about your project View LinkedIn profile
15
years in backend development
8
years leading engineering teams
11
people in the largest team I have led
9
countries served by the last platform I led
Víctor Sans de Amores

How I can help

Fractional CTO

Technical leadership without a CTO on payroll: architecture, priorities, team process and technical hiring. For companies with a product already running that need senior judgement but not a full-time hire. Here the deliverable is decisions, not code.

Monthly retainer

Technical audit

Review of a legacy codebase, in whatever language: what the risk is, where the debt that actually hurts sits, what it costs to fix and in what order. It ends in an actionable report, not a list of complaints.

1–2 weeks · fixed price

Legacy modernisation

Old software brought up to supported versions and to an architecture you can touch without fear, phased and with no production downtime. Includes the test safety net that makes a migration reversible instead of a leap in the dark. Most common case: PHP and Symfony several versions behind.

Phased · fixed scope

Custom development

An integration, a module, an API. Backend in PHP/Symfony or in TypeScript/Node, with whatever front end it needs. Fixed scope and fixed price, with the code documented and handed over so your team can keep maintaining it without me.

Fixed-scope project

Automation and applied AI

That process someone on your team does by hand every week, turned into a pipeline that runs on its own. Integrations between tools, content generation, and language models put where they earn their place — not where they look good in a press release.

Fixed-scope project or monthly

Ongoing maintenance

A monthly retainer of a few hours: security patches, dependency updates, incidents and small improvements. So the project does not decay while the team is busy elsewhere.

Monthly · agreed hours

How I work

100% remote, from Barcelona. Registered self-employed in Spain: I invoice with VAT and no intermediaries, inside and outside the European Union.

I take on fixed-scope projects or continuing part-time engagements. I am not looking for full-time work: I look for engagements where I can come in, solve it, and leave it documented so the team does not depend on me.

I use AI built into development — Claude Code and assistants running against the codebase itself — and not as a sales point: it is what lets me audit an inherited project in a week instead of a month, and why I can close a price per deliverable rather than bill open-ended hours.

PHP backend — my deepest ground

JavaScript and TypeScript

Infrastructure and delivery

Judgement, which does not change with the stack

Background

Computer Engineering (Management) at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya. Certified in hexagonal architecture and CQRS by Codely, and in Claude Code by Anthropic. Native Spanish and Catalan, professional English.

Frequently asked questions

What is a fractional CTO?

A technical director who works for several companies part time, typically at whatever level of involvement each one needs. They cover architecture, technical priorities, team process and hiring, without the cost of a CTO on payroll. It fits companies with a product already running but not enough critical mass to justify full-time technical leadership.

Do you only work with PHP and Symfony?

No. It is where my experience runs deepest — fifteen years of it, plus a certification in hexagonal architecture and CQRS — which is why it leads the list. But the problem picks the stack, not the other way round: I also work in TypeScript and Node, and this year I built and shipped a full platform to production with Next.js, NestJS, Prisma and PostgreSQL, deployed in Docker on my own infrastructure. What does not change from one language to another is the judgement: architecture, tests, deployment, and knowing what can be touched without breaking anything.

How long does it take to modernise a legacy system?

It depends on the version jump and on the test coverage the project already has. It is always planned in phases: first a one to two week diagnosis that establishes what has to be crossed and what breaks at each step, and from there it runs in deployable blocks with no production downtime. In the most common case — a Symfony two major versions behind, with tests — it usually runs in weeks; without tests, the first job is building the safety net.

What exactly do you do with artificial intelligence?

Two different things. First, assisted development: Claude Code and agents running against the codebase itself, which is what lets me audit an inherited project in a week instead of a month and quote a price per deliverable rather than bill open-ended hours. Second, automating client processes that are done by hand today: content generation pipelines, integrations between tools, and repetitive tasks that eat someone's hours every week. I do not sell AI as a category: I sell the specific process that stops being done by hand.

Do you take on engagements of only a few hours a month?

Yes, that is the main format. I work with reduced monthly retainers and fixed-scope projects precisely so I can keep several clients in parallel. I do not take full-time engagements.

Do you invoice outside Spain?

Yes. I am registered as self-employed in Spain with an intra-community VAT number, and I invoice both inside and outside the European Union, with no intermediaries or platforms.

Do you work remotely?

100% remotely from Barcelona. I have led distributed teams, including a team of seven on a platform operating in nine countries, so remote is not a concession: it is how I have worked for years.

Let's talk

If you have a legacy system nobody dares touch, an engineering team without direction, an integration nobody can find the time for, or a manual process that should be running on its own, write to me and we will take a look. I reply within one working day.

benairs3@gmail.com LinkedIn