A fractional Chief of Staff is a senior operator who works with your business on a pre-determined, resource-based percentage of time, typically anywhere from 15 to 50% of their availability, rather than as a full-time hire. The role carries the same scope as a traditional Chief of Staff: translating your priorities into operational plans, coordinating across departments, managing high-stakes projects, and keeping your leadership team aligned and moving in the same direction. What changes is the commitment, not the caliber of the work.

It's different from hiring an executive assistant, whose role centers on calendar and logistics support. It's also different from a COO. A Chief of Staff's priority is to elevate the CEO's time and increase alignment across the leadership team, while a COO's priority is to scale internal operations across the company. A fractional Chief of Staff is brought in specifically because your business has outgrown ad hoc coordination but isn't ready to carry a full-time senior salary at that level.

This model works best for growth-stage companies and founders who need senior operational support now, without the long-term commitment or full compensation a full-time hire requires. You get the strategic partnership without the overhead, and the engagement can scale up or down as your needs change.