What is a GIL?
A GIL is a Fractional GIS Lead. Senior GIS thinking, on tap, without a full-time hire.
Senior GIS support, on a schedule that matches how often the problem actually shows up. Not five days a week because that is how a job description gets written.
Most GIS teams are stretched thinner than the org chart suggests. There's usually someone doing the day-to-day mapping and data work, but no one senior enough to sanity-check a platform decision, cover a capacity gap when someone leaves, or bring an outside view when a project goes sideways. Hiring for that gap properly means a six-figure salary, months of recruitment, and a role that might only need three days a month once it's filled.
A GIL fills that gap directly. Senior-level GIS support, built into your team on a fixed number of days each month, covering the thinking a junior or mid-level hire can't.
What a GIL actually does
- Sanity-checks platform and architecture decisions before they get expensive to unwind
- Covers a senior capacity gap during a leave, a hire search, or a busy quarter
- Brings outside perspective from other sectors and platforms your team doesn't see day to day
- Sits in your meetings, your Slack, your sprint planning — embedded, not on the outside looking in
How it's structured
- GIL Starter 3 days/month Occasional senior sign-off
- GIL Growth 6 days/month Regular embedded support
- GIL Embedded 10+ days/month Near-full senior cover
Scope is agreed upfront and reviewed quarterly. No fixed-term lock-in — a GIL scales with what your team actually needs, not a contract written six months before anyone knew.
Why fractional, not full-time
A full-time Head of GIS costs the salary, the recruitment time, and the risk of hiring for a role that doesn't need five days a week yet. A GIL costs what the work actually takes, starts within weeks rather than months, and comes with a track record already built, not a probation period.
See how embedded support works
The full package detail, case studies, and how we work day to day.