What to Look for When Hiring a Fractional Chief Operating Officer (COO)?

A Practical, No-Fluff Guide for Founders, Boards, and Teams Who Need Real Operational Leadership—Without the Full-Time Commitment

So you’re thinking about hiring a fractional COO.

Maybe your startup is scaling fast and you’re drowning in logistics. Maybe your nonprofit’s team is growing, but your systems are cracking. Maybe you’ve just raised a round and your investors want “operational excellence” ASAP. Or maybe—let’s be honest—you’ve been the de facto COO for too long, and something has to give.

Whatever the reason, you're here because you need real operational leadership, but you're not quite ready to go full-time.

Welcome to the fractional frontier.

First, What Even Is a Fractional COO?

Let’s skip the jargon.

A fractional COO is someone who steps into your business on a part-time, interim, or contract basis to lead, fix, and scale your operations. They’re not just advising—they’re in it. Building dashboards, cleaning up workflows, mentoring your ops manager, sitting in your leadership meetings, and sometimes—yes—helping you untangle that mystery Airtable base someone built two years ago and hasn’t touched since.

They’re a partner. A steadying presence. A translator between vision and execution.

But not all fractional COOs are created equal. And hiring the wrong one can be just as disruptive as hiring too late.

So how do you find the right one?

1. Get Clear on the Kind of COO You Actually Need

Here’s the thing no one tells you: “COO” is one of the most variable roles in the C-suite. In some companies, it’s internal ops. In others, it’s product delivery. Sometimes it’s HR. Sometimes it’s sales ops. Sometimes it’s literally all of the above.

Before you even think about hiring, get clear on the pain points you need help with. Ask yourself:

• What’s breaking right now? (Be specific.)
  
  
• Where do we lack clarity, rhythm, or follow-through?
  
  
• Who is currently “doing ops” by default—and are they equipped for it?
  
  
• What outcomes would make you say, “Hiring this person was worth it”?
  
  

Then map those needs to the flavors of COO out there. A few types you’ll run into:

• The Systems Fixer: Obsessed with processes, dashboards, and documentation. Good for messy back offices.
  
  
• The Scale Architect: Focuses on org design, hiring, and team development. Good for growing headcount.
  
  
• The Integrator: Partner to a visionary founder. Balances the energy. Brings calm and follow-through.
  
  
• The Change Driver: Steps in during pivots, restructures, or leadership transitions. Often former consultants or turnaround experts.
  
  

Not sure what you need? That’s okay. A good fractional COO will help you figure that out. But go in with a hypothesis. It’ll save you (and them) time.

2. Look for Experience That Matches the Moment—Not Just the Industry

This is where a lot of hiring processes go sideways. Founders want someone from their exact industry—edtech, fintech, nonprofit, whatever. But what often matters more is stage and situation.

Are you pre-seed and trying to formalize anything for the first time? Are you post-Series A with a growing team and scattered systems? Are you five years in and trying to scale without burning everyone out?

Look for COOs who’ve done the work you need at the stage you’re in. Not just “senior leaders” with impressive logos. You want someone who:

• Knows how to build structure with limited resources
  
  
• Has worked in ambiguous, fast-moving environments
  
  
• Understands how to balance people, process, and product
  
  

Pro tip: ask them to walk you through a project that’s similar in messiness to what you’re facing right now. Not just the glossy outcomes—the decisions, the friction, the trade-offs.

3. Don’t Hire the Resume—Hire the Operator

We’ve said it before (and we even wrote about it)—resumes are broken.

The best fractional COOs aren’t always the ones with the longest list of roles. They’re the ones who can walk into your business, see the gaps, and start moving things forward. That doesn’t always show up on a bullet point.

When evaluating candidates:

• Ask for examples of work they’ve done in similar contexts
  
  
• Look for people who speak in systems, not just results
  
  
• Pay attention to how they talk about your company—are they asking smart questions, or pitching generic solutions?
  
  

You’re hiring for judgment. Pattern recognition. Execution under pressure. And the ability to bring clarity where there currently is none.

4. Prioritize Radical Transparency in the Relationship

A fractional COO relationship only works when trust and clarity are built from day one. You’re inviting someone into your core. They’re going to see your messy Notion boards, your passive-aggressive Slack threads, your financial spreadsheets with “final_final2.xlsx” in the file name.

This is where Radical Transparency comes in. (Read our manifesto on it here.)

Be honest about:

• What’s working and what’s not
  
  
• What kind of support your team actually needs
  
  
• What you’re afraid of screwing up
  
  

A good fractional COO will match that transparency with their own. They’ll tell you what they’re great at—and what they’re not. They’ll flag blind spots. They won’t promise quick fixes.

Transparency builds trust. And trust is what makes this model work.

5. Don’t Confuse Fractional with Temporary

Fractional doesn’t mean short-term. It means right-sized.

Some fractional COOs come in for a quarter to build your ops playbook. Others stay for 18 months, helping you scale your team and systems before transitioning out. Many are open to hybrid roles—part operator, part coach, part interim leader.

What matters is fit—not FTE.

So instead of asking, “How long will we need them?” ask:

• What outcomes are we hoping to achieve?
  
  
• What capacity does our team have to own those outcomes?
  
  
• How do we build a relationship that flexes with our growth?
  
  

If you’re building toward sustainability, the right fractional COO will help you design themselves out—and leave your org stronger for it.

6. Trust Your Gut (And Your Team’s)

Operational leadership is intimate. This person will be in your systems, your meetings, your business rhythms. You need someone you trust—and who your team can rally behind.

Bring your team into the conversation. Let them ask questions. Gauge how the candidate interacts with your people. Watch how they hold space. You’re not just hiring skills—you’re hiring presence.

If something feels off, it probably is.

If someone brings clarity, calm, and forward momentum just from a conversation—that’s usually a good sign.

TL;DR: A Checklist for Hiring the Right Fractional COO

• ✅ We know what kind of help we need (and what kind of COO we want)
  
  
• ✅ We’re evaluating based on stage-fit, not just resume glitz
  
  
• ✅ We’re prioritizing execution and judgment over titles
  
  
• ✅ We’re ready to be transparent about where we’re at
  
  
• ✅ We’re looking for right-sized leadership, not just short-term help
  
  
• ✅ We’re involving our team and trusting our instincts
  
  

Final Thoughts: Fractional Is a Mindset, Not Just a Model

Hiring a fractional COO isn’t just a cost-saving move. It’s a mindset shift.

It’s saying: we don’t need hierarchy, we need help.
We don’t need busywork, we need leverage.
We don’t need a title—we need traction.

Want to Go Deeper?

If this list got your gears turning, we recommend exploring these pieces next:

• Operations Consultants & What They Actually Do?
• Fractional COOs by Region and Country
• Fractional COO or Outsourced COO - Choosing the Right Fit for Your Business
  
  

These guides break down not just the who but the how behind the rise of fractional operations—and what it means for scaling teams.

At Digital Reference, we’re here to help you find that. Whether it’s surfacing operators who’ve actually done the work, creating tools for better evaluation, or building a more transparent hiring ecosystem—we’re in this to make the talent economy more real.

And if you’re a fractional COO reading this? We see you. Let’s keep building something better.

‍