The questions buyers actually ask.

A fractional COO is an experienced chief operating officer who works with a company part-time — typically one to three days a week — instead of as a full-time hire. You get senior operating leadership embedded in the business, sized and priced for a company that needs the capability but not yet the full-time seat.

A consultant studies the problem and hands you a recommendation. A fractional COO owns the operating outcome alongside your team — installing the cadence, building the systems, and being accountable for whether they actually work. The deliverable is a better-running business, not a deck.

An interim COO is a full-time placeholder filling a vacancy until you hire permanently. A fractional COO is part-time by design and there to build operating systems and capability — not to occupy the seat. You use a fraction of their time, focused on the highest-leverage work, and they hand it back.

Usually when growth has outpaced the operating model: the founder has become the bottleneck, quality depends on a few key people, and every new client or market exposes a seam. The company needs operating discipline but cannot yet justify — or find — a full-time COO.

I take ownership of the operating outcomes we agree on. That means building and running the cadence, the quality systems and the governance — not just recommending them. The work is designed to be transferred to your team, but while the engagement runs, I am accountable for results.

Process improvement fixes a process. Business Excellence builds the system that keeps every process good as the company scales — a defined standard, honest measurement against it, and the governance that holds the gain. It is the difference between a one-off clean-up and quality that survives growth.

Depth in Business Excellence, at real scale. Nineteen years of operations — most recently as Senior Director, Business Excellence at Publicis Groupe across 500+ clients and USD 750M+ in media spend — means quality, governance and measurement aren’t add-ons; they’re how I build an operating model. The result is improvement that’s measured and that holds.

The focus is fractional — embedded, part-time, building systems and handing them back. That’s where the model creates the most value for companies in the in-between stage. If what you actually need is a full-time or interim COO, I’ll tell you, and often help you scope and find the right person.

I don’t set company strategy or vision — that’s the founder’s and CEO’s. I don’t replace your leaders or do their jobs. And I’m not a pair of hands for day-to-day execution. The work is to design and install how the business operates, then transfer it — leadership of the operating model, not management of every task.

Engagements are monthly retainers scaled to scope and cadence — never billed by the hour. A fixed-fee diagnostic gives a low-commitment way to start. Pricing reflects senior operating leadership, and is set against the cost of the problem it removes rather than days worked.

For most companies at this stage, yes — meaningfully. You pay for a fraction of a senior operator’s time rather than a full executive salary, equity and overhead, and only for as long as you need the capability. The point of "fractional" is senior leadership at a fraction of the full-time cost.

We agree the metrics up front — decision latency, throughput, quality, cycle time, the cost of the specific problem we are removing — and review them on a cadence. Because the work installs measurement, the return becomes visible in the numbers you steer by, not just in how things feel.

Primarily a monthly retainer, which keeps incentives aligned with running your business well over time. A scoped fixed-fee project (such as a quality audit or a single transformation) is available where that fits better. Equity arrangements are considered case by case for the right long-term fit.

The fixed-fee diagnostic. It is a defined, low-commitment engagement that gives you an evidenced read on your operating model and a clear view of what a fuller engagement would address — with no obligation to continue. Many engagements begin exactly there.

If operations are large, complex and constant enough to justify a full-time seat — and you can define and fill it — hire full-time. If you need senior operating leadership now but can’t yet justify that cost, fractional is usually the bridge. A diagnostic settles it quickly; there’s also a plain comparison on the site.

Yes. The initial call to understand where your operating model is under strain is free and no-obligation. The paid work begins with the fixed-fee diagnostic — and only if it makes sense for both of us.

Most start with a short, fixed-fee diagnostic, then move into an embedded retainer of one to three days a week over six to twelve months. It begins by mapping the operating model, installs cadence and ownership, builds the quality and governance layer, and ends by handing a documented system to your team.

Typically one to three days a week, set by the scope and the cadence the business needs. The aim is enough presence to own the outcome and stay close to how the work really moves — not so much that the engagement quietly becomes a full-time cost.

Weeks one to four: diagnose — sit in the meetings, read the numbers, map how work really moves. Weeks four to eight: install the operating cadence and unambiguous ownership. Weeks eight to twelve: stand up the quality and governance layer and the few metrics leadership steers by. You should feel decisions speed up within the first month.

The diagnostic can usually begin within a couple of weeks of a first conversation. I take on a deliberately small number of engagements at a time so each gets real attention, so exact timing depends on current commitments — but the first step is quick to arrange.

The diagnostic delivers clarity within weeks. Operating improvements — faster decisions, visible metrics, fewer escalations — typically show within the first one to two months. The deeper quality and governance gains compound over the engagement, which is why most run six to twelve months.

The engagement is designed to end well. The operating model, cadence, quality systems and playbooks are documented and transferred to your team — or to the full-time COO the company is now ready to hire. The improvement should outlast my involvement.

Yes. Retainers run month to month with a short notice period, not a long lock-in — the alignment comes from results, not contracts. If the fit or value isn’t there, you can stop, and the documented work done so far stays with you.

A short conversation, then almost always the fixed-fee diagnostic — two to four weeks that map how your operation really runs and what to fix first. It’s low-commitment, and it gives both of us the evidence to decide what (if anything) should follow.

Deliberately few. Fractional only works if each engagement gets real attention and presence — so I run a small number at a time rather than spreading thin. It’s why timing depends on current commitments, and why the diagnostic is the right first step to claim a place.

The work centres on operations-heavy businesses — media, advertising and agencies, delivery operations, BPO and shared services, and scaling companies with complex throughput. The methods are sector-agnostic, but the deepest experience is where quality, volume and governance intersect.

Best fit is usually companies that have outgrown improvisation but aren’t yet large enough for a full executive bench — often roughly 50 to 500 people, or scaling fast with complex operations. Very early-stage teams rarely need this yet; the diagnostic is a good way to find out where you stand.

Always. A fractional COO works through your leaders, not around them — clarifying ownership, sharpening decisions and building capability that stays after the engagement. The goal is a stronger team, not a dependency on me.

No. Lean and Six Sigma are tools I use to engineer and prove improvements — not a programme to be imposed or a certificate count to chase. Methodology serves the result. If a problem is better solved another way, that is the way we solve it.

Routinely. Operating inside a business means seeing sensitive data, so an NDA is standard before any real work begins, and most client work is held in confidence. The case studies on this site are shared either with permission or with the client identity withheld.

Both. Engagements are run remote-first with on-site presence where the work genuinely benefits — diagnostics, operating reviews and the early weeks often warrant being in the room. Cadence matters more than location, and global teams across time zones are familiar territory.

Access and a mandate. Access to the meetings, the numbers and the people doing the work; and a clear mandate from leadership to change how things run, not just to observe. With those two, the rest follows quickly.

Start with a conversation. We discuss where the operating model is under strain and whether a diagnostic is the right first step. From there, the diagnostic gives both of us the evidence to decide whether — and how — a fuller engagement makes sense.

Yes. Engagements are remote-first and global teams across time zones are familiar territory — much of my work has spanned international clients and delivery hubs. On-site time is added where a diagnostic or operating review genuinely benefits from being in the room.

Very early-stage teams that haven’t yet hit operating complexity rarely need this. Nor do companies looking for a pair of hands to maintain the status quo — the work is about changing how operations run, which needs a real mandate from leadership. If you only want a report, a consultant is a better fit.

Deepest in media and newsrooms, advertising and agencies, BPO and shared services, and multi-entity enterprise operations — anywhere quality, volume and governance intersect. There are sector pages on the site, but the methods carry across operations-heavy businesses generally.

Often, yes. Because the engagement builds and documents the operating model, it also defines exactly what a permanent COO would own — which makes the eventual hire easier, safer and faster. I’m happy to help scope the role and assess candidates against the seat we’ve built.