A four-phase delivery program — Phase 0 discovery, Pilot, Launch, and Expansion — engineered end-to-end by Astera Nova: architecture, integrations, product, compliance, and operations, built for an online-only bank from day one.
Each phase compounds on the last — Phase 0 de-risks the architecture, Pilot proves the model end-to-end with real users, Launch hardens and scales it across all nine product components, and Expansion grows the catalog.
De-risks the build: reference architecture, integration & data model design, compliance/regulatory scoping, environments and DevOps setup.
One deposit + one unsecured-loan product built end-to-end — origination, servicing, scoring, integrations, RBAC — live with real users.
Hardening and full coverage across all 9 product components — production-grade infrastructure, security testing, regulatory reporting, go-live.
First scale-out increment — additional deposit/loan products, promo mechanics, payment rails, and an optional ML scoring uplift.
Every phase costed at each role's own hourly rate — rates are role-specific, never a flat figure. Roles are ordered by hours within each phase.
Architecture, integration and data-model design, compliance/regulatory scoping, and environment/DevOps foundations — the groundwork the rest of the program builds on.
| Role | Hours | Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solution Architect | 724 h | $130/h | $94,120 |
| Business Analyst | 500 h | $75/h | $37,500 |
| Compliance | 280 h | $80/h | $22,400 |
| DevOps Engineer | 112 h | $95/h | $10,640 |
| Data Engineer | 96 h | $90/h | $8,640 |
| Program Manager | 88 h | $90/h | $7,920 |
| Security Engineer | 64 h | $110/h | $7,040 |
| QA Engineer | 56 h | $65/h | $3,640 |
| ML Engineer | 32 h | $100/h | $3,200 |
| Phase 0 Subtotal | 1,952 h | — | $195,100 |
One deposit and one unsecured-loan product taken end-to-end — origination, servicing, scoring, core/GL/wallet/bureau integrations, RBAC, and a live pilot with real users.
| Role | Hours | Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backend Engineer | 1,568 h | $90/h | $141,120 |
| DevOps Engineer | 352 h | $95/h | $33,440 |
| Frontend Engineer | 340 h | $85/h | $28,900 |
| QA Engineer | 320 h | $65/h | $20,800 |
| Program Manager | 200 h | $90/h | $18,000 |
| Data Engineer | 180 h | $90/h | $16,200 |
| Solution Architect | 176 h | $130/h | $22,880 |
| Business Analyst | 168 h | $75/h | $12,600 |
| ML Engineer | 144 h | $100/h | $14,400 |
| Security Engineer | 136 h | $110/h | $14,960 |
| Compliance | 48 h | $80/h | $3,840 |
| Pilot Subtotal | 3,632 h | — | $327,140 |
Hardening and extending the pilot to full coverage across all nine product components — production infrastructure, penetration testing, regulatory reporting, and go-live.
| Role | Hours | Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backend Engineer | 888 h | $90/h | $79,920 |
| QA Engineer | 536 h | $65/h | $34,840 |
| DevOps Engineer | 416 h | $95/h | $39,520 |
| Business Analyst | 328 h | $75/h | $24,600 |
| Security Engineer | 304 h | $110/h | $33,440 |
| Program Manager | 288 h | $90/h | $25,920 |
| Data Engineer | 244 h | $90/h | $21,960 |
| Frontend Engineer | 224 h | $85/h | $19,040 |
| Solution Architect | 168 h | $130/h | $21,840 |
| Compliance | 144 h | $80/h | $11,520 |
| ML Engineer | 120 h | $100/h | $12,000 |
| Launch Subtotal | 3,660 h | — | $324,600 |
First scale-out increment — additional deposit/loan products, promo mechanics, extra bureau/payment integrations, and an optional ML-assisted scoring uplift layered on the rules engine.
| Role | Hours | Rate | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Backend Engineer | 612 h | $90/h | $55,080 |
| Business Analyst | 168 h | $75/h | $12,600 |
| Data Engineer | 144 h | $90/h | $12,960 |
| ML Engineer | 144 h | $100/h | $14,400 |
| Frontend Engineer | 96 h | $85/h | $8,160 |
| QA Engineer | 88 h | $65/h | $5,720 |
| DevOps Engineer | 80 h | $95/h | $7,600 |
| Solution Architect | 64 h | $130/h | $8,320 |
| Compliance | 60 h | $80/h | $4,800 |
| Program Manager | 56 h | $90/h | $5,040 |
| Security Engineer | 32 h | $110/h | $3,520 |
| Expansion Subtotal | 1,544 h | — | $138,200 |
The full 16-month program, all four phases combined, and every delivery role's total contribution across the build.
| Role | Total Hours | Rate | Total Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
Backend Engineer | 3,068 h | $90/h | $276,120 |
Business Analyst | 1,164 h | $75/h | $87,300 |
Solution Architect | 1,132 h | $130/h | $147,160 |
QA Engineer | 1,000 h | $65/h | $65,000 |
DevOps Engineer | 960 h | $95/h | $91,200 |
Data Engineer | 664 h | $90/h | $59,760 |
Frontend Engineer | 660 h | $85/h | $56,100 |
Program Manager | 632 h | $90/h | $56,880 |
Security Engineer | 536 h | $110/h | $58,960 |
Compliance | 532 h | $80/h | $42,560 |
ML Engineer | 440 h | $100/h | $44,000 |
| Program Total | 10,788 h | — | $985,040 |
| Phase | Hours | Cost | % of Hours | % of Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 0 — Discovery & Foundation | 1,952 h | $195,100 | 19.8% | |
| Pilot | 3,632 h | $327,140 | 33.2% | |
| Launch | 3,660 h | $324,600 | 33.0% | |
| Expansion | 1,544 h | $138,200 | 14.0% | |
| Program Total | 10,788 h | $985,040 | 100% |
Concrete artifacts and a working bank, phase by phase.