Fractional COO and Interim Operations Leader
Hire a fractional COO or interim operations leader to install operating discipline, cadence, and execution when a company is growing faster than its systems or recovering from a shock. Senior operations ownership at the cadence the business needs.
When a fractional or interim COO is the right call
A fractional COO or interim COO takes ownership of execution when a company is growing faster than its systems, recovering from a shock, or missing the operating discipline that turns strategy into results. The mandate is to make the organisation execute: clear ownership, a real operating cadence, and the systems that hold under load. A fractional arrangement gives a smaller or founder-led company that discipline a few days a week; an interim arrangement puts a full-time operator in place through a defined period of change.
What gets fixed first
- A weekly operating cadence that produces decisions, not status updates
- Single ownership and clear decision rights across the leadership team
- The handful of metrics that actually run the business
- Cost and margin discipline without cutting the parts that produce revenue
- The systems and processes that let the company scale without breaking
Where this works best
- Scale-ups whose growth has outrun their operating systems
- Companies integrating an acquisition
- Businesses in turnaround that need execution, not only strategy
- Founder-led companies professionalising operations
- Private-equity-backed companies that need an operating partner inside the business
Engagement model
- Fractional cadence or full-time interim, defined upfront
- Typically six to eighteen months for interim mandates
- Outcome-linked compensation
- Direct relationship with the CEO, chair, or board
- A clean handover to the permanent COO agreed in advance
How to start
Share the situation, the operating pain, and the timeline. The first response is a direct read on fit, followed by a ninety-day diagnostic view before any commitment. Contact is by email or LinkedIn.
https://niklaslindahl.com/services/fractional-coo