Services / Mandate specification, not a price list

Three mandates. One standard of evidence.

Not packages. Each mandate below states the problem, the system that needs to exist, what the engagement includes, and, this is the part that matters, exactly what the organisation owns once the work is done.

Mandate 01 · Digital Communications & Editorial Systems

Status: Active · Discovery: paid, fixed scope · Retainer: not required

The problem

The organisation publishes, but the system is one person's memory.

Standards for style, ethics, and review live in a single editor's head. Contributors learn the rules one conversation at a time. If that editor is unavailable for a week, the desk doesn't just slow down, it stops.

The specification

A governed publishing platform that runs without the founder in the room.

Style guide, ethics policy, contributor agreements, and a review pipeline, written before the platform scales its contributor base, plus bilingual workflow templates and SEO foundations that survive staff turnover.

What the engagement includes

Editorial governance auditStyle guide & ethics policyReview pipeline designBilingual workflow templatesSEO & performance foundationsContributor onboarding kitCMS/Studio configurationTwo-week training sprint

What you own after handoff

Documented governance & CMS schemasDeploy pipeline with preview environmentsContributor onboarding kitTeam publishing independently within two weeks

Mandate 02 · Web Design & Development

Status: Active · Stack: Astro + Cloudflare Workers · Retainer: not required

The problem

Most clients don't need a website. They need a system they can operate.

Agency builds often leave behind dependency hell, zero documentation, and a maintenance bill the client can't afford. The site works on launch day and starts rotting by month three.

The specification

Static-first, mobile-first, performance-obsessed, and fully documented.

Astro and Cloudflare Workers only, with every dependency justified. Full documentation, a working deploy pipeline, and a team training session, so the client owns the system after handoff, no retainer required.

What the engagement includes

Discovery & architectureDesign system, tokens & componentsAstro build on Cloudflare WorkersCMS or Content Collections setupWCAG 2.1 AA accessibilityPerformance budget, LCP under 2sTeam training sessionThirty days of post-launch support

What you own after handoff

Complete source code, MIT licensedWorking deploy pipelineDocumented component library & tokensTeam publishing, editing, and deploying independently

Mandate 03 · Digital Safety Training & Mentorship

Status: Active · Basis: 12+ years field practice · Model: mentorship, not a deck

The problem

Generic security training doesn't survive contact with a real threat.

Journalists and at-risk staff face surveillance, device compromise, and communication interception. Most digital security training is either too academic to use or too tool-focused to matter: install Signal, call it done.

The specification

Threat-modelled training built on more than a decade in the field.

Context-specific threat modelling, device hardening, communications security, and operational security, plus an incident response plan the team actually rehearses, not just files away.

What the engagement includes

Threat modelling workshopDevice hardening, phone & laptopComms security: Signal, VPN, PGPOperational security & metadata hygieneIncident response planOngoing mentorship channelTrain-the-trainer option

What you own after handoff

Written, rehearsed incident response planHardened device configurationsVerified comms security setupAccess to an ongoing mentorship channel

Appendix A · How the work actually happens

  1. 01

    DISCOVERY

    Paid, one week. We define the problem, scope the system, and agree on what done looks like. Output: a fixed-scope proposal.

  2. 02

    BUILD

    Fixed price, four to twelve weeks. Weekly check-ins, staging deployments, documented decisions. Changes need a written change order.

  3. 03

    HANDOFF

    One week. Documentation delivery, team training, production deploy, and a thirty-day support window.

  4. 04

    POST-LAUNCH

    No retainer required. Ad-hoc support at a day rate. The system is yours to operate.

Appendix B · Applicability

Who this is for

Media organisations, NGOs, and civil society groups. Government comms units running a real process. Founders who want systems they own, not templates they rent. Journalists and at-risk teams who need practical protection, not theatre.

Who this is not for

Clients who want a website without a strategy behind it. Heavy custom application engineering as the primary craft. Growth hacking, link-building, or vanity metrics. Engagements without a clear problem definition.

End of specification · Rev. 2026-08

Tell me what needs to hold up.

No mandate here is a package. Pick the problem that matches yours and we will scope it together, in writing, before anything is built.

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