A COO manages the day-to-day operations of a company to align with overall business goals. Learn more about what a COO does and how to hire a COO.
Hire a Fractional COO
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Unlock executive level operational leadership without the overhead. Transform your team with pre-vetted, industry leading Chief Operating Officers in as little as 3 days.
Hire a Fractional COO
Hire a fractional COO to provide strategic operational leadership at a fraction of the cost of a full-time Chief Operating Officer.
Explore by category
Andrew Winter Uc Berkeley
ClassPass
Bantee
Experienced Fractional COO & Product Leader with expertise in startups, venture capital, and dynamic pricing at ClassPass.
Hire Andrew WinterJosh Raine comcat business
Google
Peace Corps
Ex-Google executive and startup founder with vast experience in operations and strategy, excelling as a fractional COO.
Hire Josh RaineEric Rodriguez Facebook
Dropbox
Unstoppable Domains
Experienced Operations Executive and Salesforce consultant with a track record at Facebook & Dropbox, specializing in fractional roles.
Hire Eric RodriguezCrystal Bray Uber
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)
- PTO Partners
Fractional COO expert in Product & Technology Operations. Ex-Uber and Tailored Brands, excelling in process improvement, strategy and tech.
Hire Crystal BrayCraig Nestler Nomad
Zeelo
Smarsh
Experienced founder/GM skilled in startups, leadership, and fractional COO roles. Expert in Google Sheets, Excel, Asana.
Hire Craig NestlerTim Ryan Nextdoor
Karrot
Clearco
Experienced Fractional COO with a focus on team building and strategy. Proven expertise at Google, Nextdoor, and Clearco.
Hire Tim RyanGarrett Bishop Patterson & Sheridan
Wayfair
Curated
Experienced Fractional COO with skills in eCommerce, AdTech & AI/ML. Specializes in growth product and advanced analytics.
Hire Garrett BishopMichael Gallucci SportsMemorabilia.com
Fanatics Inc
Stealth Venture Labs
Experienced Fractional CMO/COO with expertise in digital commerce, content strategy & execution from startups to Fanatics.
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What is a Fractional COO?
Operational challenges can emerge at any time—whether you’re a burgeoning startup or an established enterprise. To help you meet a range of operational needs, there is a flexible and accessible solution: the fractional COO (chief operating officer). A fractional COO is a seasoned executive who provides operational leadership and guidance on a part-time or contract basis. Just like full-time COOs, fractional COOs are trained to oversee an organization’s daily operations and align them to overall business goals.What does a Fractional COO do?
Fractional COOs use their vast and varied experience to help companies streamline workflows and maximize efficiency. As on-demand executives, they are ready to assist with everything from navigating organizational changes to spotting and mitigating major risks.
Diving deeper, fractional COOs can help businesses with these essential services:
Strategic planning and execution
Collaborate with leadership to develop strategies for growth and make sure operations align with business goals.
Operational optimization
Identify and eliminate inefficiencies by recommending new tools and streamlining processes across departments.
Team development
Implement training and mentorship programs, and identify skill gaps to improve productivity.
Financial management
Handle budgeting and financial planning to optimize operational expenses and fuel long-term growth.
Risk management
Help companies prepare for potential disruptions by developing contingency plans and putting risk mitigation strategies in place.
The benefits of hiring a Fractional COO
A fractional COO can be a company’s secret weapon, providing operational insights and leadership to help navigate specific changes and business initiatives.
If you’re considering this flexible, on-demand solution, it’s important to understand the biggest benefits of hiring a fractional COO. These include:
If you’re considering this flexible, on-demand solution, it’s important to understand the biggest benefits of hiring a fractional COO. These include:
Cost Savings
Gain executive-level leadership without having to pay annual salaries, benefits, bonuses, stock options, and relocation fees. Instead, redirect those savings to other major business growth areas.
Diverse Experience
Fractional COOs bring their diverse industry experience and best practices to growing companies across verticals.
An unbiased perspective
As external hires, fractional COOs can spot roadblocks and opportunities that internal teams might miss, bringing a fresh perspective to help solve strategic issues.
Accessibility
Quickly tap into high-level expertise for specific projects or hire fractional COOs to provide ongoing support without the full-time commitment.
Low risk
Not the right fit or no longer needed? Let your fractional COO move onto another project and revisit your operational strategy for next steps.
How to hire a Fractional COO
Stop posting across job boards and hoping to find the right fit, especially when it comes to sourcing your next COO. No matter your current or future operational needs, this role is just too important for a “spray and pray” approach.
That’s why Go Fractional provides a curated hiring process—with access to an exclusive pool of experienced leaders—to make finding the right COO not just easy but incredibly efficient.
Define your needs
Clarify exactly what you’re looking for in a candidate, like their industry background, specific skill set, and time commitment requirements.
Browse top talent
Search our exclusive network of vetted operational executives. Don’t worry, we’ve already ensured each COO meets exceptional standards, saving you valuable time.
Evaluate Candidates
Schedule conversations with potential matches to hash out the details and make sure it’s a mutually good fit.
Review your custom plan
Let us handle the paperwork here. We’ll develop a comprehensive proposal outlining the specifics of your fractional COO arrangement.
Launch your partnership
Simply approve the finalized proposal, sign the agreements, and start working with your new COO right away.
We’ve helped hundreds of organizations Go Fractional
I worked with a Fractional Engineer to bring my MAD landscape project to life - we were able to brainstorm, design, and ultimately ship something great. To work with a trusted engineer brought confidence to the project, and positioned FirstMark to be able to scale this project in the future and into other verticals. I would highly recommend working with them if you need fractional talent.
Matt Turck
PartnerFirstMarkGo Fractional provided Mockingbird with a founder-level engineering leader that helped us out of a huge amount of tech debt, streamlining and modernizing our entire e-commerce stack
Ross Berger
VP of OperationsMockingbirdWorking with Go Fractional has been an absolute pleasure. They connected us with high-quality engineering leaders and filled the role within just 12 days of our first call. After six weeks of fractional work, he joined as our permanent VP of Engineering. Go Fractional’s speed and partnership significantly boosted our team’s productivity, and we are thrilled to have filled the position seamlessly without any gaps.
Victoria Ashton
Vice President of PeopleLobGo Fractional provided a detailed audit of our tech stack with a prioritized list of recommendations while redesigning and launching our app to a new single codebase across all platforms
Nick Kenner
CEO & FounderJust SaladHiring a fractional Head of Data Science has been transformative for our company. At just 50% of the cost of a full-time data scientist, we secured a seasoned data leader with over 12 years of experience in top startups. This strategic move has significantly enhanced our data strategy and execution. The expert leadership has instilled confidence in our data capabilities, driving measurable results for our business.
Khadija Ali
Head of Product#paidWorking with a Fractional COO was a great way to level up our operations, guide our existing team, and overall run things in a more streamlined way. We were lucky to work with someone who had seen and built the things we needed to do before, and brought a wealth of knowledge to where we wanted to go.
David Booth
CEOOnDeckPartnering with Go Fractional allowed Enertiv to bring on Nate Wylie as a fractional Head of Talent streamlining the recruitment process - saving us time and cost. Nate implemented a state-of-the-art ATS, developed customized interview kits and scorecards, and reduced the time-to-fill our roles. This swift process successfully placed top-tier talent, including a Solutions Engineer, a Growth Marketer, and an Onboarding Manager. If you’re a business looking to scale rapidly with elite talent - I strongly recommend you check out Go Fractional.
Connell McGill
Founder & CEOEnertivHiring an executive team is critical to get right. Eric as a Fractional Operator played a key role in helping me screen, interview, and generally think through building out our executive team at ChartHop. He brought an outside perspective from someone that has done it before, and I benefited from the additional horsepower.
Ian White
Founder & CEOChartHopIn just 5 months, working only 1 to 2 days a week, Matt Spangler made a significant impact at the Uniswap Foundation. He led customer research and crafted the foundation’s first-ever brand and marketing strategy. He designed the initial 2024 marketing budget, conducted a successful Marketing Director hiring search sourced from his network. Matt also launched an email marketing campaign strategy that achieved outstanding results, producing open and click rates +15% over the standard in our industry.
Raffi Sapire
COOUniswap FoundationWe had a never-ending backlog of tickets and engineers to hire. We were able to go Fractional and started knocking out tickets immediately
Chris Polk
VP of EngineeringPolyworkI worked with a Fractional Engineer to bring my MAD landscape project to life - we were able to brainstorm, design, and ultimately ship something great. To work with a trusted engineer brought confidence to the project, and positioned FirstMark to be able to scale this project in the future and into other verticals. I would highly recommend working with them if you need fractional talent.
Matt Turck
PartnerFirstMarkGo Fractional provided Mockingbird with a founder-level engineering leader that helped us out of a huge amount of tech debt, streamlining and modernizing our entire e-commerce stack
Ross Berger
VP of OperationsMockingbirdWorking with Go Fractional has been an absolute pleasure. They connected us with high-quality engineering leaders and filled the role within just 12 days of our first call. After six weeks of fractional work, he joined as our permanent VP of Engineering. Go Fractional’s speed and partnership significantly boosted our team’s productivity, and we are thrilled to have filled the position seamlessly without any gaps.
Victoria Ashton
Vice President of PeopleLobGo Fractional provided a detailed audit of our tech stack with a prioritized list of recommendations while redesigning and launching our app to a new single codebase across all platforms
Nick Kenner
CEO & FounderJust SaladHiring a fractional Head of Data Science has been transformative for our company. At just 50% of the cost of a full-time data scientist, we secured a seasoned data leader with over 12 years of experience in top startups. This strategic move has significantly enhanced our data strategy and execution. The expert leadership has instilled confidence in our data capabilities, driving measurable results for our business.
Khadija Ali
Head of Product#paidWorking with a Fractional COO was a great way to level up our operations, guide our existing team, and overall run things in a more streamlined way. We were lucky to work with someone who had seen and built the things we needed to do before, and brought a wealth of knowledge to where we wanted to go.
David Booth
CEOOnDeckPartnering with Go Fractional allowed Enertiv to bring on Nate Wylie as a fractional Head of Talent streamlining the recruitment process - saving us time and cost. Nate implemented a state-of-the-art ATS, developed customized interview kits and scorecards, and reduced the time-to-fill our roles. This swift process successfully placed top-tier talent, including a Solutions Engineer, a Growth Marketer, and an Onboarding Manager. If you’re a business looking to scale rapidly with elite talent - I strongly recommend you check out Go Fractional.
Connell McGill
Founder & CEOEnertivHiring an executive team is critical to get right. Eric as a Fractional Operator played a key role in helping me screen, interview, and generally think through building out our executive team at ChartHop. He brought an outside perspective from someone that has done it before, and I benefited from the additional horsepower.
Ian White
Founder & CEOChartHopIn just 5 months, working only 1 to 2 days a week, Matt Spangler made a significant impact at the Uniswap Foundation. He led customer research and crafted the foundation’s first-ever brand and marketing strategy. He designed the initial 2024 marketing budget, conducted a successful Marketing Director hiring search sourced from his network. Matt also launched an email marketing campaign strategy that achieved outstanding results, producing open and click rates +15% over the standard in our industry.
Raffi Sapire
COOUniswap FoundationWe had a never-ending backlog of tickets and engineers to hire. We were able to go Fractional and started knocking out tickets immediately
Chris Polk
VP of EngineeringPolyworkWhat’s the difference between a fractional COO vs. full-time COO?
Fractional COOs and full-time COOs may provide similar services, but they often come with different costs and commitments.
More specifically, here are the biggest factors differentiating fractional COOs from full-time COOs:
Go Fractional
Agency
Schedules
Fractional COOs operate on a part-time or contract-based schedule, dividing their time between multiple clients.
Meanwhile full-time COOs dedicate themselves exclusively to a single organization as in-house executives.
Expenses
Fractional COOs provide their services at a fraction of the cost based on your company's needs.
Full-time COOs receive comprehensive compensation packages including salary, benefits, and performance bonuses.
Hiring Process
It’s often faster and easier to hire a fractional COO than to source, interview, train, and onboard a full-time COO for an internal position.
Recruiting a traditional full-time COO typically requires a lengthy search and screening process, often spanning months.
Flexibility
Fractional COOs can scale their involvement according to each organization’s needs.
Full-time COOs are hired to provide constant oversight and management, even when it may not be needed.
When to hire a Fractional COO
It can be tough to tell if it’s the right time to go fractional with your operational leadership. But trust us, there will be signs.
Task Management
You need help managing day-to-day tasks so you can focus on the bigger picture.
Budget Limitations
You need to access COO expertise but don’t have the budget for a full-time hire.
Interim Leadership
You need to bridge the gap while preparing to hire a permanent COO in the next 6-12 months.
Operational Fixes
Your brand voice and messaging are inconsistent, and you need an experienced leader to create cohesion
Process Optimization
You want to streamline operations to support your business goals.
Leadership Coaching
You want to provide leadership coaching and guidance to your C-suite and leadership teams.
Scalable Growth
You have to scale and develop business processes for sustainable growth.
Tech Implementation
You want to implement new technologies to fuel transformation and remain competitive in your industry.
Fractional COO Hiring Guide
Coming Soon
Fractional COO Salary
Further Reading
What is a COO? How to Hire a COO That Elevates Your Business (+6 Red Flags) Discover how to hire a COO in 8 steps to drive your business forward. Learn key hiring strategies and red flags to avoid to ensure a perfect fit.
What Is a Fractional COO? 7 Valuable Benefits + Hiring Tips What is a fractional COO and how much does hiring one cost? Where can you find the right fractional COO and what's the best way to hire them? Read on.
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