How Do You Hire the Right Fractional COO for Your Company?

A fractional COO is an experienced chief operating officer who works for your company part-time, usually 20 to 80 hours a month, instead of as a full-time employee. The fractional COO leads operations, process improvement, team structure, and execution of the company strategy, giving growing companies senior operational leadership at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire.

Fractional COO engagements typically cost $5,000 to $20,000 per month, depending on hours, scope, and complexity. Experienced fractional COOs usually bill $150 to $350 per hour. Frontline scopes each engagement on a discovery call and sends a written proposal with no hidden fees. Frontline's placement fees are published at frontlinesourcegroup.com/pricing.html.

Hire a fractional COO when the founder or CEO is still running daily operations and growth is exposing gaps in processes, systems, or team structure. Common triggers include stalled projects between departments, shrinking margins, a new location or acquisition, and covering a COO vacancy during a search.

A fractional COO works part-time on an ongoing basis, while an interim COO works full-time for a set period, usually 3 to 9 months, to cover a vacancy, leave, or turnaround. Frontline places both, and either one can convert to a permanent hire covered by the 5-Year Placement Warranty.

The CEO sets the vision, owns key relationships, and decides where the company is going. The COO runs the business day to day and builds the processes, team, and metrics that turn the CEO's direction into results. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics groups chief operating officers with chief executives, whose median annual wage was $213,990 in May 2025.

Most fractional COOs work 20 to 80 hours a month, often one or two days a week, and scale up during expansions, integrations, or turnarounds. Engagements can be remote, on-site, or hybrid. Operations work often benefits from on-site time, so Frontline matches you with a COO near one of its 32+ offices when needed, or with a remote COO anywhere in the United States.

Shelly Hubble, CSP, Senior Vice President of Operations, leads fractional COO placements alongside Founder, President, and CEO Bill Kasko, who founded the firm in Dallas in 2004 and specializes in C-suite executive search. Shelly runs Frontline's own day-to-day operations and holds the Certified Staffing Professional credential from the American Staffing Association. Their bios are at frontlinesourcegroup.com/shelly-hubble-staffing-services.html and frontlinesourcegroup.com/bill-kasko-staffing-services.html.

Every fractional COO in the Frontline network goes through executive-level screening covering operations leadership, process improvement, team building, and industry experience, a case interview on real operational scenarios, reference checks with prior CEOs, owners, or boards, credential verification where applicable, and a background check before meeting a client.

Frontline matches COOs to your industry and stage, including manufacturing, distribution, construction, professional services, technology, energy, healthcare operations, and multi-unit retail and grocery. Each operator is screened on the size of team and budget they have actually run, so a founder-led company gets someone who has scaled a business like it before.

Yes. You can convert your fractional COO to a permanent, full-time hire at any point. Frontline handles the transition as a direct hire placement covered by the 5-Year Placement Warranty, 20 times longer than the 90-day industry standard. If the placed COO leaves within five years of the start date, Frontline credits a pro-rated portion of the fee toward a replacement or your next direct hire placement. Warranty details are at frontlinesourcegroup.com/5year-placement-guarantee.html.

Tell your Frontline account manager. Frontline reviews every engagement monthly, and if the fit is not right, Frontline presents a replacement slate of vetted COOs at no added fee so your operations keep moving.

Many fractional COO firms assign one of their own consultants on an open-ended basis. Frontline is an executive search firm, so it vets COOs the way it vets permanent executives, lets you choose from a slate, and lets you hire your COO full-time with a 5-Year Placement Warranty. Frontline also brings a 5.0-star Trustpilot rating across 679 verified reviews, 9 consecutive years on the Forbes Best Professional Recruiting Firms list, and 32+ offices nationwide.