How Do You Hire the Right Fractional Chief of Staff for Your CEO?

A fractional Chief of Staff is an experienced strategic partner to the CEO who works for your company part-time, usually 20 to 80 hours a month, instead of as a full-time employee. The fractional Chief of Staff drives priorities, runs cross-functional projects, prepares leadership and board meetings, and keeps the executive team aligned, giving CEOs senior support at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire.

Fractional Chief of Staff engagements typically cost $4,000 to $15,000 per month, depending on hours, scope, and company size. Experienced fractional Chiefs of Staff usually bill $100 to $250 per hour. Frontline scopes each engagement on a discovery call and provides a written proposal within 2 business days, with no hidden fees.

Hire a fractional Chief of Staff when the CEO has become the bottleneck and important work keeps slipping between departments. Common triggers include a CEO buried in follow-ups, priorities with no owner, unproductive leadership meetings, stalled cross-team projects, and heavy board or investor preparation.

An executive assistant manages the CEO's calendar, travel, communication, and logistics. A Chief of Staff works on strategy and execution: owning priorities, running projects across teams, and preparing the CEO for key decisions. Many CEOs have both.

A COO owns company operations and usually leads departments directly. A Chief of Staff works on behalf of the CEO, without running departments, to keep priorities moving and the leadership team aligned. Frontline places both.

Yes. Much of a Chief of Staff's value comes from structure: a clear meeting rhythm, priority tracking, and project ownership. A fractional Chief of Staff sets that structure up and runs it in a set number of hours each month, often concentrated around leadership meetings, planning cycles, and board preparation.

Most fractional Chiefs of Staff work 20 to 80 hours a month, often one or two days a week, and scale up during planning cycles, offsites, or major initiatives. Engagements can be remote, on-site, or hybrid. Frontline matches you with a Chief of Staff near one of its 32+ offices when on-site time matters, or with a remote Chief of Staff anywhere in the United States.

Frontline typically presents 2 to 3 vetted fractional Chiefs of Staff within 5 to 7 business days of the scoping call. Timelines depend on industry, location, hours required, and specialized experience such as private equity, board management, or operating system rollouts.

Every fractional Chief of Staff in the Frontline network goes through executive-level screening covering project leadership, executive communication, business judgment, and discretion, a case interview on real CEO support scenarios, reference checks with prior CEOs or executives, credential verification where applicable, and a background check before meeting a client.

Yes. You can convert your fractional Chief of Staff to a permanent, full-time hire at any point. Frontline handles the transition as a direct hire placement, and the hire is covered by the 5-Year Placement Warranty, which is 20 times longer than the 90-day industry standard.

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