Fractional COO & operations leadership
The operating plan
needs someone to own it.
Work directly with Keith to turn priorities into execution, build accountability across the team, and bring clarity to how the business is performing.
When the need is ongoing
You can't be the answer
to every question.
The business has grown, but too much still routes through the owner. Priorities compete. Managers need clearer direction. Problems return because nobody owns the process that causes them.
Fractional COO work adds operating leadership with a defined remit and level of involvement, scoped to the business.
Discuss fractional leadership- Important work slips between departments
- Meetings report activity without resolving blockers
- Managers lack clear measures and decision rights
- Growth exposes capacity and handoff problems
- The owner is carrying too much daily coordination
What the role can cover
Leadership inside
the operating work.
The exact remit is agreed for your engagement. It can include:
Priorities & operating plans
Translate business goals into a manageable plan, with accountable owners, dependencies, and decisions that need to be made.
Recruiting & team accountability
Lead full-cycle recruiting, from role definition and sourcing through screening, interviews, offer coordination, and onboarding.
Clarify responsibilities and decision rights. Establish a review cadence that helps managers resolve issues and follow through.
Cross-functional operations
Coordinate handoffs, capacity, and improvement work across sales, delivery, administration, and finance.
Performance & financial insight
Connect the operating measures to the decisions. Bring attention to margin, cash timing, delivery performance, and recurring constraints.
Inside the weekly review
See what needs
a decision.
Revenue can be on plan while delivery, margin, or cash needs attention. A weekly operating review connects those numbers to the work the team needs to own.
Explore the sample reviewWhat this number includes
- Accountable owner
- Due
The measures, decision rights, and meeting cadence are agreed for your engagement.
Working relationship
What working together
looks like.
Work directly with Keith through a weekly leadership meeting and hands-on work with department leads between meetings.
How the work starts.
An illustrative first month. The sequence and pace depend on the agreed scope, access, and the team.
Understand the operation.
Keith meets with you and the people responsible for the work, reviews the relevant numbers and systems, and follows the handoffs that need attention.
Agree on the priorities.
Decide what needs to change first, who owns each priority, and which decisions Keith can make. Set a manageable plan around the business needs.
Put the rhythm in place.
Start the leadership review and the work with department leads. Address blockers, check progress, and adjust the plan as the work develops.
The ongoing work
Leadership meeting
Review performance, resolve issues that need a decision, and agree on next actions with accountable owners.
Direct work with department leads
Keith works alongside the people responsible for delivery, helps resolve problems between departments, and follows through on the agreed priorities.
Responsibilities, decision authority, and the level of involvement are agreed before work begins.
Engagement fit
Scope the role
around the responsibility.
How much time will you spend with our business?
The cadence and level of involvement are agreed based on the remit and needs of the team. We establish that scope together before work begins.
Does this include implementation?
It can. Some improvements are part of the ongoing remit; larger system builds may need a separate scope. That distinction is made explicit at the start.
What does fractional leadership cost?
Pricing is engagement-specific. Responsibilities, involvement, and operating complexity determine the scope. Project build prices do not describe fractional COO pricing.
What stays with the owner?
The owner retains the business decisions and authority not explicitly delegated. Clear decision rights are part of the engagement, so the role supports leadership without creating ambiguity.
For project ranges and how ongoing engagements are scoped, read our RevOps pricing guide.
Selected experience
The work in practice.
Operating career / Roofing
Leadership through growth and change
COO, CFO, and president responsibilities across expansion, a change in sales model, and preparation for a private equity sale.
Read the case studyCo-founder / Healthcare
Built from zero
Keith built the business operations of a diagnostic center, supporting roughly $1M in annual revenue in approximately two years.
Read the case studyGive execution
the attention it needs.
Talk through the operating responsibilities you want help carrying.