Fractional and interim leadership
Senior leadership, by the hour or by the month.
A fractional COO or CIO at $300 an hour, on a retainer that fits the work, until you’re ready to hire. When you are, we help you hire.
Three roles
Owned by someone senior.
Retainers
Reserved hours, at one published rate.
Advisory
$2,400/month
8 hours a month
A weekly hour with the owner, a monthly operating review, decisions in between
Part-time
$4,800/month
16 hours a month
Half a day a week: owns priorities, the numbers and one or two projects
Embedded
$9,600/month
32 hours a month
A day a week: runs the operating cadence and leads the team through a change
Interim
$300/hour
Quoted per week
Covering a vacant role through a transition
- Billed monthly in advance.
- A 90-day first term, because senior roles need a quarter to show results. Then month to month, with 30 days’ notice and no fee to leave.
- About 10% less with a 12-month commitment.
- Up to 25% of unused hours roll into the next month, then expire.
- Extra hours at $300, in 15-minute increments, agreed with you before they’re worked.
- Help hiring the permanent person is included.
Fractional or full-time
Run the numbers before you hire.
A year, side by side
Fractional stops being cheaper at about 7 hours a week.
When the hours you need would cost more than a hire, hire one. For most businesses that point falls between one and two days a week, depending on the salary the role would command. We’ll help you do it.
Your numbers. An estimate, not a quote.
≈ ½
A senior operator half a day a week, for about half of one manager’s salary.
16 hours a month at $300 is $57,600 a year. The national median wage for a general and operations manager is $105,770, before benefits.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, May 2025 medians.
The fractional curve
IllustrativeIllustrative. The band is where $300 an hour adds up to a senior salary: about 7 hours a week at the operations-manager median, about 14 at the chief-executive median (BLS, May 2025).
Who it is
One of two principals, matched to the work.
Usually Mark for technology leadership and Jennifer for operations and people. You work with the person you met in the review, not a junior who has to be brought up to speed.
Principal
Mark Champion, MCSE
Infrastructure, security and technology architecture, at institutional and enterprise scale. Nothing fails in isolation.
- MCSE
- Security+
- Network+
- A+
- Project+
Principal
Jennifer Bailey, MS
Industrial-organizational psychology, applied in regulated care, finance and public institutions. Broken systems are a people problem first.
- M.S. Psychology
- QuickBooks Certified
- Intuit Bookkeeping
- Intuit Tax Level 1
Questions
Questions people ask.
What’s the difference between fractional and interim?
Fractional is part of the week for as long as it helps. Interim covers a vacant role through a transition.
How many hours does a fractional COO need?
It depends on the work. Retainers start at 8 hours a month, and the calculator shows the cost at any number of hours.
Can we start hourly and move to a retainer?
Yes. A few hours first, then a retainer once the shape of the work is clear. There’s no penalty either way.
Can you help us hire our permanent COO or CIO?
Yes, and it’s included in a fractional retainer.
Talk to us
Tell us what isn’t working.
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1‑855‑OPSWORQ855‑677‑9677 · Mon–Fri, 8am–5pm ET
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