• Fractional Chief of Staff and Operations Officer

    Part-time executive operational support for mission-driven startups and nonprofits navigating growth, transition, or cultural realignment.

What is a Fractional Chief of Staff and Operations Officer?

Think of a Fractional Chief of Staff and Operations Officer as a strategic partner to your Executive Director or CEO who also oversees your organization’s operational infrastructure, but works a fraction of the time instead of full-time.

My day-to-day work varies, but core is ensuring that organizational priorities are executed effectively by coordinating cross-departmental initiatives, managing special projects, and translating leadership’s vision into actionable plans. I design and refine systems, workflows, and policies that help organizations operate efficiently.

Drawing on my experience as a former start-up founder and executive directer, I balance of strategic thinking with detailed execution – overseeing everything from technology infrastructure to human resources to budget development. I also serve as a gatekeeper and prioritizer for an executive’s time allowing leaders to stay focused on external relationships and strategy.

Why combine Chief of Staff and Operations Officer into one fractional role?

Organizations hiring fractionally for one of these roles usually have neither on staff. Having one person doing both strategic work and operational management eliminates the potential misalignment between the “map” (your official processes and org chart) and the “territory” (how work actually gets done). When strategy and operations are integrated, change sticks instead of stalling.

What Does a Fractional Chief of Staff and Operations Officer Do?

Structure and Systems

  • Design and implement systems (workflows, decision-making, communication) that honor how your team actually works
  • Create processes that scale without bureaucracy
  • Map the territory of your current operations before building new infrastructure
  • Ensure institutional knowledge is documented, not just tribal
  • Establish metrics and dashboards that tell the real story, not just the official one

Team Coordination & Culture

  • Break down silos and get teams actually talking to each other
  • Manage competing priorities and resource allocation
  • Assess and nurture cultural health, identifying where stated values diverge from lived experience
  • Serve as organizational translator between different functions
  • Navigate the terrain between departments to keep work flowing

Strategic Execution

  • Turn strategic plans into actionable roadmaps with clear owners and timelines
  • Coordinate cross-functional initiatives that require multiple teams
  • Drive key projects from conception to completion
  • Make sure priorities stay priorities (and actually get done)
  • Chart pathways forward that fit your organizational culture

Executive Support

  • Be your thinking partner for major decisions
  • Take complex problems off your plate and bring back solutions
  • Manage special projects that don’t fit neatly into anyone’s job description
  • Free you up to do the work only you can do
  • Help you see what’s happening beneath the surface of official reports

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Who is This For?

  • Organizations in Growth Mode

    You’re past the scrappy startup phase but not yet big enough to justify a full-time COO. You’re somewhere between $500K and $5M in budget, things are working but your old processes are slowing you down. You need operational leadership to professionalize without losing what makes you special.

  • Organizations in Transition

    New leadership, post-merger, strategic pivot, or layoffs – whatever the change, you need operationally steady hands to manage the chaos and keep things moving forward. The map your previous leadership drew doesn’t fit your current territory.

  • Executives Burried in Operations

    You’re great at vision and strategy but you’re also drowning in the day-to-day work of keeping the organization running. You need someone to take the execution piece off your plate so you can focus on fundraising, external relationships, and big-picture thinking.

  • Teams with Talent but Lacking Coordination

    Your team is incredible and everyone excels at their function, but no one’s coordinating across the organization, connecting the dots, or making sure things actually get done. You need someone who can see the whole terrain, not just individual departments.

  • Organizations Where the Map Doesn’t Match the Territory

    Your org chart says one thing, but decisions actually happen another way. Your stated values sound hollow because daily behavior tells a different story. Everyone routes around official processes because “that’s not how things really work here.” You need someone who can diagnose the gaps and close them.

What Makes This Different

I Don’t Just Draw Maps, I Navigate Terrain

Combining Chief of Staff and Chief Operations Officer already sets me apart from other fractional consultants. But what truly makes me different is my background as a documentary filmmaker who’s spent two decades conducting interviews and weaving together stories.

This is my superpower: the ability to ask questions that reveal what’s really happening beneath the surface. I listen for the narrative your systems are actually telling well beyond the one in your strategic plan. I map your organization’s true topography before charting pathways forward.
It’s not just my fifteen years as a tech entrepreneur who’s worn almost every hat (CTO, CMO, COO, CEO). It’s not just my MBA with an emphasis in Organizational Psychology. It’s that I bring a storyteller’s ear to operational work, reading the real landscape of your organization before building systems that honor it.

I Build With You

Consultants make Powerpoints. I build systems, run meetings, make decisions, create documents and processes, and do the actual work of an operational leader. You aren’t paying me to tell you what to do, you are paying me to do it with you.

Mission-Driven Operational Expertise

I’ve co-founded nonprofits and startups. I understand the specific terrain of mission-based work, from stakeholder management, to values-led decision-making, to balancing impact and sustainability, to working with boards. This isn’t corporate operations translated to your world. It’s built from the ground up for organizations where the map rarely matches the territory and culture isn’t negotiable.

Flexible and Scalable Support

Need me 3 days a week during a crisis and 1 day a week once things stabilize? Done. Need to pause during a funding gap? We will figure it out. This model is designed to flex with reality (I have been there).

Building Your Internal Capacity

I’m not trying to make myself indispensable. Every system I build, I’m training your team to own it. Every decision I make, I’m building your team’s decision-making muscle. The endgame is that you don’t need me anymore or you need me differently as your organization evolves and the terrain shifts.

Typical Engagement Structure

Time Commitment: 1-3 days per week (8-24 hours)

Duration: Minimum 3-month commitment, most engagements run 6-12+ months

Format: Mix of on-site/virtual depending on location and needs

What Does Success Look Like?

After 3 Months

  • The Executive Leader has a strategic thought partner and their time is being protected for highest-value work
  • Major stuck projects are unstuck and moving with clear ownership
  • Leadership team has clarity on priorities and cross-functional coordination is improving
  • Key operational systems are in place and being used (budgeting, project tracking, communication workflows)
  • You’ve identified where your map and territory diverge and have started closing those gaps
  • You’re spending less time on operational chaos and more time on strategic work
    Initial process improvements are showing measurable impact

After 6 Months

  • Strategic initiatives are executing on time with clear accountability structures
    The Executive’s calendar and priorities are well-managed, allowing them to focus on external relationships and vision
  • Your team has operational rhythms and rituals that actually work (effective meetings, decision-making processes, information flow)
  • Critical systems are functioning smoothly (HR processes, technology infrastructure, financial controls)
  • Systems honor how your organization actually works, not just how you say you work
  • Decisions are being made faster and with more clarity across the organization
  • You have infrastructure that scales with growth rather than breaking under pressure

After 12 Months

  • Your organization operates smoothly even when I’m not there—the ED and leadership team can rely on established systems
    Strategic and operational planning are integrated, not separate exercises
  • Your team has internalized operational best practices and can maintain systems independently
  • You’ve built organizational muscle memory for execution, follow-through, and continuous improvement
  • The map matches the territory and your official processes reflect how work actually gets done
  • Key operational functions (HR, tech, finance, facilities) run efficiently with appropriate oversight
  • You’re ready to either bring strategic and operational leadership in-house or continue at a lower fractional capacity based on your evolving needs

Other Ways to Work With Me

Not ready for ongoing fractional support? Here are two other options:

Organizational Narrative Assessment Map

Map your organizational terrain before charting the path forward

A 6-week diagnostic that reveals where your official story (org chart, policies, stated values) diverges from your actual operations (how decisions really get made, what gets rewarded, where bottlenecks exist). Using interview methods I learned creating documentary films, I listen for what’s really happening beneath the surface, then help you close the gaps that matter most.

Best for: Organizations that sense something is off but can’t quite name it, or need objective data before making major changes.

Learn More About Oranizational Narrative Mapping

Workshops & Masterclasses

Build your team’s operational capabilities

Interactive training that teaches your leadership team to diagnose misalignment, design systems that fit your culture, and navigate change without losing what makes you special. From 90-minute workshops (“When the Map Doesn’t Match the Territory”) to multi-session masterclasses, these programs transfer frameworks and skills so you can do this work yourselves.

Best for: Individual leaders, teams that want to build internal capacity, or organizations not ready for ongoing fractional support.

Learn More About Workshops and Masterclasses
Ready to Close the Gap?

Let’s start with a conversation about what’s actually going on in your organization and whether fractional operations leadership is the right solution.

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