What We Do
Most growth-stage companies believe they need a fractional COO. In practice, what they actually need is a Chief Administrative Officer. The distinction matters.
A COO owns P&L, client delivery, and revenue execution. Those are core to the CEO's business and rarely appropriate to hand to a fractional executive. A CAO owns the organizational infrastructure that enables delivery: HR operations, finance and compliance, IT and facilities, internal process maturity, and organizational design. These are the functions that break first when a company scales past founder-led management, and they are precisely the functions that a fractional executive can own with full accountability.
We lead with the CAO model because it reflects how fractional operational leadership actually works: we build the machine that lets the CEO and the delivery team focus on winning and executing work.
Every engagement follows a structured path from assessment to independence.
A 2 to 4 week operational assessment. We identify gaps, friction points, and quick wins before committing to a longer engagement. This phase gives the client a concrete deliverable, a prioritized operational assessment, regardless of whether they proceed.
We step into the role. This is not advisory work. We take the seat, attend the meetings, make the decisions, and own the outcomes. The embed phase establishes operating rhythm, accountability structures, and the trust required to drive real change.
Ongoing fractional engagement, typically 2 to 3 days per week on 6 to 12 month terms. We operate as an integrated member of the client's leadership team, not as an outside resource.
We build internal capability and hand off to a permanent hire or a self-sustaining system. The goal is always to make ourselves unnecessary. A successful engagement ends with the client running independently at a higher level than when we arrived.
Each practice is led by a Vice President and Managing Director who carries firm-wide corporate duties alongside hands-on, client-facing delivery responsibilities, ensuring each engagement strengthens our institutional knowledge and elevates the quality of every client outcome.
Embedded 1 to 3 days per week as the client's enterprise infrastructure leader. We own the back-office functions that break first when a company scales past founder-led management: HR operations, finance and budget management, contracts and compliance, security and IT, organizational design, and internal process maturity.
Executive Advisory · Premium Service Line
A premium service line within Enterprise Services for embedded executive decision-support work as a dedicated Chief of Staff supporting the CEO or other designated C-Suite executive. Delivered through our cleared associate bench of former IC and DoD executive office leaders, including former Staff Directors, Chiefs of Staff, and senior front office leaders. Available as an add-on to an active ES retainer or as a standalone engagement.
Operational build-out for growth-stage companies with product-market fit that need structured delivery infrastructure. We stand up the processes, build the teams, and implement the frameworks that let companies scale past the point where the founder can manage everything directly.
Not every need requires a retainer. We also take on defined-scope engagements within either practice area for companies with a specific, bounded operational challenge.
Growth-stage IC and DoD contractors in the $10M to $500M range, with selective engagements in adjacent national security and federal services markets.
$10M to $500M annual revenue. Large enough to need executive infrastructure, too small for a full-time C-suite at every function.
Rapid growth that has outpaced organizational infrastructure. Growth without structure creates delivery risk and performance degradation.
Recently PE-backed, acquired, or undergoing ownership change. PE firms demand operational rigor. Acquirers need integration leadership.
Strong technical founder who recognizes the need for CAO-level operational infrastructure support. Technical founders excel at winning work. They need help building the delivery organization.