Fractional CHROs in San Diego Making Things Happen in 2025

San Diego Interim Chief People Officers to Know

San Diego is where tech meets biotech, where DTC brands sit alongside global defense contractors, and where growth-minded companies are scaling across sectors. But even with world-class talent, building a high-functioning, values-aligned workplace doesn’t happen by accident. More often, it’s the work of fractional CHROs—operationally sharp, culturally attuned, and embedded exactly where companies need them most.

Whether it’s an early-stage biotech startup looking to establish HR systems or a mid-market company navigating leadership change, fractional Chief People Officers in San Diego are showing up with the clarity and structure that modern teams need to grow well.

At Digital Reference, we’re proud to highlight professionals in the San Diego metro who are leading this shift—bringing people leadership that’s flexible, referenceable, and built to scale.

Our Methodology: How We Select San Diego’s Fractional CPOs

Each individual featured below has been vetted through our curation lens. We look for:

• Clear public presence as a fractional, interim, or embedded CHRO/CPO
  
  
• Active client work in the San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad region
  
  
• Demonstrated ability to lead through growth, change, or complexity
  
  
• Strategic orientation paired with hands-on execution
  
  
• Alignment with Digital Reference’s values: trust, context, and impact
  
  

We don’t do lists for SEO. We build trusted directories for people who are actually hiring.

San Diego Fractional CHROs to Know

🔹 Michael Janniere

Fractional Chief People Officer | Founder, The People Effect
Michael is a San Diego-based fractional CPO with deep expertise in culture transformation, organizational development, and executive team coaching. Through his advisory firm, The People Effect, Michael partners with high-growth startups and mission-driven orgs to scale people strategy in ways that support long-term performance. He combines big-picture clarity with day-one execution.

🔍 Specialties: Founder coaching, culture diagnostics, leadership team design, HR operations
📍 Based in: San Diego, CA

🔹 Dr. Tonya Jackman Hampton

Executive Coach | DEI Leader | Fractional CHRO
Tonya brings executive-level insight to organizations ready to rethink how they engage their people. With a background in organizational change, DEI, and senior HR leadership, she operates as a fractional CHRO for companies that need transformation with humanity. Tonya is especially known for leading DEI work at the executive level while also supporting leadership alignment.

🔍 Specialties: DEI strategy, inclusive leadership, HR transformation, talent engagement
📍 Based in: San Diego, CA

Why San Diego’s HR Landscape Is Going Fractional

San Diego’s business ecosystem is unique: highly innovative, science-heavy, and increasingly remote/hybrid. This creates new challenges for people strategy, including:

• Scaling hiring without eroding culture
  
  
• Navigating complex compliance across states or countries
  
  
• Supporting hybrid and lab-based teams simultaneously
  
  
• Building HR systems that don’t feel “corporate”
  
  
• Aligning leadership around performance, not just productivity
  
  

Fractional CHROs are being brought in before these challenges escalate, and the ROI is showing up quickly—in retention, engagement, and org clarity.

When to Bring in a Fractional CPO

San Diego founders, COOs, and HR teams are bringing in fractional leaders when:

• 💸 They've just raised a round and need scalable people infrastructure
  
  
• 🧪 They’re navigating the early team-building phases of product-market fit
  
  
• 🔁 They’re restructuring departments or spinning up new business lines
  
  
• 🌍 They’re expanding internationally and need HR strategy that travels
  
  
• 🤝 They’re trying to mature culture and leadership behaviors
  
  

Fractional isn’t just “HR help.” It’s executive perspective with focused scope—and it’s becoming the go-to model for companies who want alignment without delay.

What Makes Fractional Work in Southern California

The best fractional CHROs in San Diego bring:

✅ Deep experience with innovation-driven teams (tech, biotech, creative)
✅ Sensitivity to growth-stage dynamics—founders, boards, scaling pains
✅ A people-first mindset, backed by systems that scale
✅ Operational clarity and immediate presence

They’re not sitting back with audits. They’re in the trenches, building better workplaces.

Explore More on Digital Reference

Want to see how fractional leadership is reshaping the C-suite?

📘 How to Hire a Fractional Executive
A practical guide for founders and operators navigating interim leadership.

📍 The Importance of Professional References
Explore why third-party credibility is more critical than ever in today’s trust-driven hiring market.

📘 Collecting Professional References: The Dos and Don’ts
References are often the make-or-break element of your next opportunity. Yet many professionals still treat the reference process as an afterthought or, worse, scramble to collect them last minute.

📗 The Talent Ecosystem: Why Fractional Operators Are Reshaping the C-Suite
Explore the structural shifts behind the rise of fractional leadership and what it means for your next hire.

Final Thought: People Strategy That Moves With You

San Diego companies are growing smarter. They’re not hiring full-time people leaders just because the org chart says they should. They’re hiring fractional CPOs who fit their moment—and move them forward.

If you're in San Diego and need strategic HR help that actually builds momentum, this is the play.

Michael and Tonya are already showing how flexible leadership delivers real outcomes. They’re not just consulting. They’re making things happen.

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