Fractional and interim Chief People Officer

A senior people leader beside your CEO, before you need a full-time one.

Growth-stage and investor-backed companies need senior people leadership to execute the plan, but most can't justify a full-time Chief People Officer until they're at scale. We step into that seat, fractional or interim, and get the company and its people through what's changing.

Talk through a company Fractional or interim?

When companies bring us in

The moments a CPO-level call can't wait.

You just raised

The plan now depends on hiring fast without breaking leaders or culture.

You're buying or being bought

Key talent, revenue and synergies ride on how the people side is handled.

You've passed 80 people

You have a small people team to develop and no senior leader to lead it.

Your CPO just left

The seat is empty, decisions are piling up, and the next hire matters.

AI is reshaping roles

Every backfill is now a choice between hiring, AI, or both.

You're opening in the US

A first US team needs compliance, a bridging leader and a culture link to HQ.

Two ways to fill the seat

Fractional for the long run. Interim for the gap.

Fractional CPO

An ongoing seat at the leadership table

For companies that need CPO judgment now and a full-time CPO later, or never. We embed with the CEO and leadership team as a culture and business partner, and as the talent partner the CEO calls first.

Time
Typically around a day a week, flexing up in heavy periods and down when steady.
Length
6 to 12 months tied to your plan or integration milestones, then optional ongoing advisory.
Ends when
Your people team owns every system and results hold without us.
Interim CPO

A steady hand while you find the right hire

For a sudden departure, a deal that can't wait, or a seat you're not ready to fill permanently. We keep decisions moving, stabilize the team, and set up the permanent CPO to succeed.

Time
More hours up front, set to what the gap demands, with a defined end.
Length
Until the permanent CPO is hired and onboarded, typically a few months.
Ends when
The new CPO has a scorecard, a working team and a clean handoff.

What the role covers

Strategy and talent first. Operations run through your team.

HR operations matter, but they aren't the job. The job is the senior people calls that move revenue, profit and performance.

Talent partner to the CEO

A proactive sounding board on every senior people decision: who's in the right seat, who's at risk, what to do about it.

Leadership team and leaders

Assess the team against the work ahead, coach leaders to carry change, and sort every gap into skill or will.

Culture as a system

Turn values into how you define, hire, lead, recognize, brand and measure, so culture moves results instead of hanging on a wall.

Change through the big moments

Growth, M&A, AI reshaping the org and US expansion, each led and checked so the change sticks.

Board and investor reporting

People data on one page, one chart per point, ending in a decision the board can make.

A people team that grows

Focus and direction for your existing team, a development plan per person, and ops oversight without doing the work for them.

The first 90 days

An early win, agreed in week one.

  1. WEEK 1

    Agree the win

    With the CEO, set what success looks like at 30, 60 and 90 days in business terms: one number, its counterweight, and a date.

  2. WEEKS 1 TO 4

    Diagnose

    Business baseline, leader audit, people-team read and system scorecard. If the basics carry legal or operational risk, we fix those in parallel.

  3. DAY 30

    Answer-first read-out

    One page naming the constraint costing the business most and what it costs, with the plan to close it.

  4. DAYS 30 TO 90

    First visible win

    Fix the weakest system through your leaders, show it on the scoreboard, and re-score.

Choose your level

Scope you can turn up or down each quarter.

Every engagement is anchored to a cadence and a quarterly outcome, with a scope review each quarter.

Advisory

Monthly CEO sessions

The diagnostic, then a regular advisory rhythm with the CEO and your people lead.

Embedded

Leading alongside the team

A seat at the leadership table, a weekly CEO session, and the change led with your leaders.

Embedded plus

With a defined project

Embedded, plus a project with its own milestones, such as an integration or a US launch.

The rhythm

  • Weekly CEO session and priorities
  • Monthly people report that ends in a decision
  • Quarterly theme, critical number and scope review

Why fractional

Senior judgment, without the full-time line item.

When G&A is tight, the people function is often the first line cut, at exactly the moment the senior calls matter most.

Full-time CPOFractional or interim
CostFull executive packageRoughly a third to half
StartMonths of searchWithin weeks
ExperienceOne career pathIPO, M&A and integrations, 3 continents
FlexFixedScope reviewed every quarter

What this isn't

Clear lines keep the work on what matters.

Not a search firm

We define the seats, build the scorecards and assess finalists. Your recruiter or search partner runs the search.

Not outsourced HR ops

We advise and set direction; your people team builds and runs the systems, with AI handling the admin.

Not open-ended

Every engagement has a cadence, a quarterly outcome and a clear finish line.

IPO
Public-company readiness for the Freshworks IPO
M&A
Deal after deal, from diligence through integration
3
Continents lived and worked on

Questions about fractional or interim CPO support? See the FAQ.

Need a people leader at the table?

Tell us where the company is and what's changing. We'll tell you plainly whether fractional, interim, or neither is the right fit.

Talk through a company