One operator. Never one person's knowledge.

COO For Hire, Backed By A Firm

Hiring a COO is a people decision before it is a service decision. Here is the standard every operator clears, how the match is made, and who stands behind the one you get.

The short answer

What Is A COO For Hire?

A COO for hire is an experienced chief operating officer who runs your daily operations on a part-time retainer rather than a full-time salary. They take the second-in-command seat, lead the leadership team, and own execution, so you can focus on vision and growth. Most companies hire one between $1M and $15M in revenue.

The harder question is not whether you need one. It is how to tell a genuine operator from someone who has read the books, and who stands behind them once they are in the seat.

Want to know which operator we would put forward?

Book a call
Why hire through a firm

Why Hire A Fractional COO Through A Firm?

You still work with one operator, accountable to you every week. That does not change. What changes is what stands behind them.

Through The COO Solution
One operator, with a firm behind them

Vetted and matched before you meet them.

Backed by operators who have seen it before.

Wrong fit? Our problem.

Hiring independently
One operator, and that is all

You vet, you choose, you carry the risk.

Their experience is the ceiling.

Wrong fit? You start over.

The standard

Not Everyone Who Wants The Seat Gets It

Anyone can call themselves a fractional COO. Every operator we place has to clear four things.

They chose this seat on purpose

Running someone else's business is where these operators do their best work, and they know it. They are not waiting for a company of their own. Someone biding their time in this role will not hold your leadership team for long.

Results behind them, not a resume

Every operator has held real operational accountability and has the outcomes to show for it: revenue scaled, margins improved, teams built. Most have completed formal Integrator training as well, which sharpens the discipline. It is not what qualifies them.

Psychometrically profiled

Every operator has a psychometric profile on file. That is what allows matching on working style rather than credentials alone, and why engagements do not end over a personality mismatch three months in.

Fifteen years in the seat

Our operators average fifteen or more years of second-in-command experience. They have run leadership teams, held accountability charts, and made the calls before. Nobody learns the role on your business.

That is the bar every operator clears. Let us talk about your business.

Book a call
What you get

What Every Operator Brings With Them

1
Operator accountable to you, every week
15+
Years average in the number-two seat
100%
Psychometrically profiled before matching
0
Resumes for you to screen
Founder & CEO

Who Decides Who Makes The Bench

Derek Fredrickson founded The COO Solution after sixteen years scaling companies from the operator's seat. He is not one of the fractional COOs on this page. He is the person who built the bench they sit on.

Every operator here was interviewed by Derek before joining, against the four standards above. He stays involved in matching, which is why the operator you are introduced to comes from someone who knows both your business and the bench, rather than from a directory or an algorithm.

Once you are matched, your operator runs the engagement. Derek stays close enough to the work to be useful, and far enough back that you are not managing two relationships.

Derek Fredrickson, founder and CEO of The COO Solution

Derek Fredrickson
Founder & CEO, The COO Solution

The bench

Meet The COOs

Operators across the US, United Kingdom, and Europe.
We work remote-first, which means you are matched with the right operator rather than the nearest one.

Nicole Gallicchio-Elz, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Nicole Gallicchio-Elz
Centereach, NY

Thirteen years as a fractional COO and Integrator. Strategic planning, organizational structuring, and brand development.

Read full bioClose+

Nicole is a seasoned operations expert and strategic partner with over thirteen years of experience as a fractional COO and Integrator. She specializes in strategic planning, organizational structuring, and brand development, and is known for driving efficiency, profitability, and sustainable growth.

Throughout her career Nicole has empowered teams to achieve their core objectives by implementing streamlined processes and data-driven strategies. Her expertise in process optimization and collaborative leadership makes her an invaluable asset to our team and the clients we support.

Tracy Betsworth, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Tracy Betsworth
Raleigh, NC

Twenty years across operations, sales and leadership. Services businesses that have outgrown founder-led operations.

Read full bioClose+

Tracy is a Fractional COO and Integrator for services-based businesses under $10M that have outgrown founder-led operations. She steps into the Integrator seat to align people, processes, and priorities and drive disciplined execution without disrupting what already works.

With 20+ years of experience across operations, sales, and leadership, she quickly identifies operational gaps, clarifies ownership, and establishes accountability rhythms that translate strategy into measurable results. She partners directly with founders to align revenue and delivery, ensuring growth does not outpace operational capacity.

Her background includes 12+ years in sales and business development, allowing her to contribute meaningfully to pipeline, forecasting, and revenue conversations, a critical advantage in services businesses where execution and growth must stay tightly aligned.

Chad Cochrane, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Chad Cochrane
Glen Ellyn, IL

Fifteen years in operations and executive leadership. Has scaled businesses from $4M to $13M+ and improved EBITDA.

Read full bioClose+

Chad Cochrane is a Fractional COO and Integrator who partners with founder-led and lower-middle-market companies to bring structure, accountability, and operational clarity to leadership teams. He works alongside visionary founders as a true second-in-command, helping businesses navigate growth, complexity, and performance challenges.

With more than 15 years of experience in operations and executive leadership, Chad specializes in identifying the constraints that limit profitability, cash flow, and execution. He translates strategy into disciplined operating systems, strengthens leadership alignment, and installs the structure and accountability needed to drive measurable results.

He has led transformations that increased enterprise value, improved EBITDA, and scaled businesses from $4M to $13M+, helping founders build companies that perform today and hold value over time.

Paisley Coxsey, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Paisley Coxsey
Scottsdale, AZ

Over a decade in business management, process optimization and accountability structures. EOS specialist.

Read full bioClose+

Paisley brings expertise in team operations and the Entrepreneurial Operating System, along with over a decade of experience in business management, process optimization, digital marketing, and accountability structures.

Her hands-on approach focuses on creating transparent workflows, documenting processes, and driving efficiency, exactly the kind of leadership a team needs to move forward.

Stephanie Denton, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Stephanie Denton
Dallas, TX

Works with founder-led and private equity-backed companies from $1M to $50M+. ClickUp expert.

Read full bioClose+

Stephanie Denton is a Fractional COO and Integrator who helps founder-led and private equity-backed companies turn vision into clear operational execution. She works with businesses across legal services, healthcare, SaaS, education, and professional services, typically supporting companies with $1M to $50M+ in revenue.

With experience operating inside EOS environments and leading client services teams, Stephanie implements Accountability Charts, Scorecards, IDS, and structured meeting rhythms that strengthen alignment and execution. She is also a ClickUp expert who builds project management systems that improve visibility, accountability, and team performance while allowing founders to stay focused on growth.

Gina Fedeli, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Gina Fedeli
Orange, CT

Operations leader and Integrator. Drives efficiency, profitability and customer satisfaction through team alignment.

Read full bioClose+

Gina Fedeli is an accomplished operations leader and Integrator with extensive experience driving efficiency, profitability, and customer satisfaction. Known for her strategic approach and team alignment skills, she optimizes processes and fosters collaborative, goal-oriented environments for sustained organizational growth.

With a proven ability to structure operations and lead high-performing teams, Gina is dedicated to delivering measurable results aligned with core business objectives.

Warren Frankel, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Warren Frankel
Morristown, NJ

Enterprise operations leader. Has run multi-site operations with teams up to 500 and multi-million dollar P&Ls.

Read full bioClose+

Warren Frankel is a Fractional COO and enterprise operations leader who partners with founders and leadership teams to bring structure, clarity, and disciplined execution to complex, growing organizations. He has led multi-site and enterprise-scale operations, overseeing teams of up to 500 and managing multi-million dollar P&Ls through transformation, turnaround, and growth.

Warren steps into the second-in-command role to reduce founder dependence, align strategy with execution, and establish strong financial and operating rhythms. His experience spans operating model redesign, post-acquisition integration, digital platform migration, and margin expansion, consistently turning operational complexity into measurable performance and durable business value.

He is known for translating strategic ambition into scalable systems that support people, drive accountability, and strengthen long-term resilience.

Jessica Lee, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Jessica Lee
Hampshire, IL

Twenty years driving performance and growth. Certified in Agile Facilitation, Integrator training and OKR Coaching.

Read full bioClose+

Jessica is a seasoned COO and business operator with 20 years of experience driving performance and sustainable growth. With deep expertise in strategic planning, operational efficiency, and business analytics, she excels at aligning vision with execution, transforming strategic priorities into clear, measurable outcomes.

Jessica holds certifications in Agile Facilitation, Integrator training, and OKR Coaching. She is especially skilled at leveraging data-driven insights to optimize systems, improve decision-making, and guide teams through high-impact transitions. Focused, pragmatic, and results-driven, Jessica is dedicated to establishing the operational foundation necessary for long-term success.

Danielle Levy, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Danielle Levy
Amesbury, MA

MBA and PMP certified. Integrator Masterclass graduate. People operations and digital communications background.

Read full bioClose+

Danielle is an integrator at heart with a deep background in people operations and digital communications. With her MBA and PMP certification, she combines strategic insight and operational excellence to help visionary founders turn big ideas into real results. She is known for her clear communication, structured leadership, and ability to solve problems before they become roadblocks.

A Certified Integrator Masterclass graduate, Danielle brings a blend of systems thinking and people-first management to every COO engagement. When she is not supporting CEOs in scaling their businesses, she is balancing life as a proud hockey mom to two energetic boys.

Julie Preis, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Julie Preis
Los Angeles, CA

Twenty years in product and operations leadership. Operational design, AI and automation for businesses from $1M to $50M.

Read full bioClose+

Julie Preis is a Fractional COO and Integrator with more than 20 years of product and operations leadership across founder-led and growth-stage businesses, typically from $1M to $50M in revenue. She partners with founders and leadership teams to close the gap between vision and execution, bringing structure and operational discipline to growing organizations.

Julie specializes in operational design and digital transformation, using AI, automation, and connected systems to simplify how a business runs and improve efficiency and profitability. Working through the Diagnose. Design. Drive. framework, she builds the processes and operating systems teams need to execute consistently, while removing the operational friction that slows founders down.

She is experienced in EOS® and comfortable in the Integrator seat alongside a Visionary founder.

Amy Simpson, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Amy Simpson
McKinney, TX

Co-founded a B2B SaaS company and served as COO through acquisition. Integrations, revenue operations and multi-unit P&L leadership.

Read full bioClose+

Amy Simpson is a Fractional COO who has built companies, integrated acquisitions, and scaled the operational infrastructure founders need to grow without getting in the way of their own business.

She co-founded a B2B SaaS company and served as its COO from concept through acquisition, then led Revenue Operations for the acquiring company, consolidating three separate teams into a single 45-person function across three countries. Alongside that, she has spent more than a decade in multi-unit operations, including full P&L responsibility for a 200-person flagship and six additional locations.

Amy specializes in building operating rhythms, accountability systems, and performance measures that reduce founder dependency and sharpen execution. She also has hands-on experience applying AI and automation to how teams work day to day, and brings that lens to every engagement.

Gemma Smith, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Gemma Smith
Stafford, England

MBA with a strong financial background. Senior operational experience across the US and Europe.

Read full bioClose+

Gemma is a Fractional COO and Integrator with senior-level operational experience across the US and Europe, currently based in the UK after 12 years in New York City. With an MBA and a strong financial background, she partners directly with founders to lead day-to-day execution, strengthen operating discipline, and drive measurable progress.

Gemma brings clarity to complexity by aligning vision, strategy, and execution. She builds strong leadership rhythms, installs accountability through EOS, and ensures teams operate with clear priorities and ownership. Known for her calm authority and structured approach, she transforms big-picture vision into practical, executable plans that support sustainable growth.

She thrives in founder-led businesses ready for operational maturity, helping leadership teams move from reactive decision-making to aligned, disciplined execution.

Kaitlyn Spinney, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Kaitlyn Spinney
Charlottesville, VA

Fifteen years in strategic planning and systems implementation. Asana Ambassador and systems expert.

Read full bioClose+

Kaitlyn Spinney is a Fractional COO, Integrator, and operations strategist who helps creative entrepreneurs and growing businesses turn big ideas into clear operational execution. With 15 years of experience in strategic planning, business development, team leadership, and systems implementation, she brings structure, focus, and follow-through to businesses with many moving parts.

As an Asana Ambassador and systems expert, Kaitlyn specializes in streamlining processes, organizing complex projects, and building operating systems that help teams work with more clarity and less overwhelm. She is known for her hands-on, implementation-focused approach, helping founders move from creative chaos to organized, consistent execution.

Stephanie Veraghen, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Stephanie Veraghen
Orlando, FL

Over a decade helping founders scale with structure and calm. Certified Life Coach and HeartMath Resilience Trainer.

Read full bioClose+

Stephanie is a seasoned Fractional COO with over a decade of experience helping founders and teams scale with structure and calm. Combining strategy, leadership, and emotional intelligence, she transforms fast-moving businesses into efficient, people-centered operations.

Certified as a Life Coach and HeartMath Resilience Trainer, and holding degrees in Graphic Design, Advertising and PR, and Transpersonal Psychology, Stephanie brings both analytical and human insight to every engagement. She excels at creating clarity, trust, and repeatable systems that drive sustainable growth, helping founders lead with focus and confidence while their teams thrive.

Genevieve White, fractional COO at The COO Solution
Genevieve White
Happy Valley, OR

Twenty years in program and project management, fifteen in marketing. Supports BIPOC, LGBTQ+ and female founders.

Read full bioClose+

Genevieve White is an operations strategist with over 20 years of experience in program and project management and 15 years in marketing. She specializes in strategic planning, business operations, and process optimization, helping organizations improve efficiency, alignment, and long-term success. Her expertise lies in creating systems that allow businesses to scale while freeing up leadership to focus on vision and growth.

She is a seasoned fractional COO and integrator who supports BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and female founders who feel stuck in the day-to-day. She helps them gain clarity and build a strong operational foundation. With a background in marketing, leadership, and process development, she brings a unique blend of strategic insight and execution.

The match

How We Decide Which Operator Fits

Matching is the part of this that most determines whether an engagement works. Getting it wrong costs a quarter and a relationship, so it is treated as its own process rather than an afterthought. These are the same criteria behind how to choose the right fractional COO.

What we match against

  • The stage your business is at
  • The industry it operates in
  • Team size and complexity
  • The systems already in place
  • The operational problem to solve
  • How you actually prefer to work
  • Timezone, where it matters
REPLACE WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE PHOTO

How it runs

01
Get acquainted call
A conversation about the business, the stage, and where the operational pressure actually sits. No pitch, and a straight answer if a fractional COO is not what you need yet. Not ready for the call? Start with the two-minute assessment.
02
Business assessment survey
A structured picture of how the business runs today. This is what turns a conversation into a match rather than a guess.
03
Operator selection
We put forward the operator whose experience and working style fit. That choice is made by people who know both your business and our operators, not by an algorithm or a directory.
04
Introduction
You meet them before anything is signed. Fit runs both ways, and you should feel it in the first conversation.
05
Placement
Your operator joins the leadership team as its second-in-command and opens with a structured assessment of the operational state.
The criterion most firms skip

Every operator has a psychometric profile on file before they are ever put forward. That is what makes matching on working style possible rather than aspirational, and it is why engagements do not quietly end over a personality mismatch three months in.

The alternatives

Hiring A COO: Your Realistic Options

Four ways to fill the seat, and what each one actually gives you.

Through TCSFull-time hireIndependent freelancerExecutive search
Time to placementWeeks3 to 6 monthsWeeks4 to 9 months
Vetted before you meet themYesNo, you vetNo, you vetYes
Proven second-in-command experience15+ yearsVariesVariesVaries
Psychometric matchingYesNoNoSometimes
Formal Integrator trainingMostVariesVariesVaries
Backed by a firm if fit is wrongYesNoNoRehire fee
CostMonthly retainerFull salary, equity, benefitsHourly or retainer20 to 30% of salary
Ongoing support after placementYesNot applicableDependsNo

Scroll the table sideways to compare all four.

Four ways to fill the seat. Here is what ours would look like for you.

Book a call
Andrea de la Cerda, founder of Clover Agency

It felt surprisingly good to have someone I could trust. A confidant. A thought partner. Someone who had my back. I did not realize how much stress I was carrying until it was not all on me anymore.

Andrea de la Cerda
Founder, Clover Agency
The investment

What Does It Cost To Hire A Fractional COO?

Engagements are structured as monthly retainers, tiered by hours of support. Pricing starts at $4,000 per month for a 20-hour retainer and scales with the level of leadership your business needs. What that leadership covers is set out in our fractional COO services.

Because the model is volume-tiered, the more hours you commit to, the lower your effective hourly rate. We recommend a tier during the Get Acquainted Call based on your goals, team and stage.

For comparison, a full-time COO typically costs $200,000 to $350,000 per year before benefits and equity. There is no salary, no equity and no severance exposure with a fractional engagement. See what clients have seen from the investment.

Every engagement starts with 90 days
Days 1 to 30 Diagnose. Stabilize execution.
Days 31 to 60 Design. Systems and accountability.
Days 61 to 90 Drive. Measurable results.

After the first 90 days, support continues month to month. We earn your trust through results, not contracts.

If that math works for your business, the next step is seeing who fits.

Book a call
We've got answers

Common Questions About Hiring A COO

When Should A Company Hire A Fractional COO?

+

Most companies benefit from fractional COO support when they're between $1M and $15M in revenue and execution is starting to break down. The signs are familiar: the CEO has become the bottleneck, projects slip between meetings, team accountability is inconsistent, and revenue growth has stalled despite everyone working harder.

Often, the team has expanded without the operational structure catching up, and the CEO can't step away from the business without things falling apart. This isn't a motivation or talent issue. It's an operating gap. When ambition has outgrown the operational structure, that's when a fractional COO delivers the highest ROI. More on when the right time to hire is.

What Industries And Business Types Do You Work With?

+

We serve a wide range of industries and business models. Our fractional COOs have led operations across professional services, financial advisory, legal, travel, interior design, architecture, healthcare, recruiting and staffing, manufacturing, coaching and education, technology, engineering, construction, and many more.

We work with B2B and B2C, service-based and product-based, digital-first and brick-and-mortar. What matters more than industry is fit. Our ICP is founder-led and CEO-led businesses between $1M and $15M in revenue, where execution has become the bottleneck and operational leadership is the next hire. If that's your business, we can almost certainly place the right operator.

What Does A Fractional COO Actually Do Day-To-Day?

+

A fractional COO handles the operational side of the business so you can focus on vision and growth. Day-to-day, that means leading weekly leadership meetings, managing projects and timelines, holding the team accountable to commitments, establishing KPIs, and translating your strategic plan into measurable execution.

They build the SOPs and operational playbooks that let the business run like a well-oiled machine, and implement the execution cadence through project management systems that keep the team aligned, accountable, and moving forward. The full scope sits on our fractional COO services page.

What Makes The COO Solution Different From Other Fractional COO Companies?

+

Three things set us apart. First, we operate on a proven framework: Diagnose. Design. Drive. We identify the real bottlenecks, design the systems to fix them, and drive execution until results compound. This isn't consulting or coaching. We're also not babysitters. We don't stand on the sidelines watching the business get run.

We drive accountability, ensure the right person is in the right seat, and elevate how the entire organization operates across every function. We don't just focus on what to do to grow and scale. We focus just as much on how you're doing what you're doing to grow and scale. We come with batteries included to make the vision real. Second, our bench. Every COO on our team has 15+ years of second-in-command experience, is well-versed and experienced in the EOS Integrator model, and is deliberately matched to the CEO and business they'll serve.

Most are graduates of the EOS Integrator Masterclass. We don't send resumes. Unlike other outsourced COO companies, we pair you with the right operator, backed by a firm and a methodology. Third, our focus. We serve founder-led and CEO-led businesses between $1M and $15M in revenue. That's our lane. You can meet the operators further up this page.

How Do You Match The Right COO To My Business?

+

This is a strategic partnership, not a matchmaking or placement service. The TCS methodology is woven throughout every engagement, and the fit matters as much as the person. Matching starts with a Get Acquainted Call and Business Assessment Survey.

From there, we consider your industry, revenue stage, team complexity, existing systems, leadership style, the specific gaps you need filled, and, when possible, timezone alignment. You're not handed a resume or matched by an algorithm. You're paired with a vetted second-in-command whose experience and working style fit your business and how you lead.

Once matched, your boots-on-the-ground COO drives strategic execution day-to-day, with Derek staying involved from a strategic planning and oversight perspective. You get an operator, a proven framework, and a methodology behind them, not a solo contractor.

What Does A Typical Engagement Look Like?

+

Every engagement starts with a 90-day commitment. This allows your fractional COO to do the foundational work that creates real traction: stabilizing execution, clarifying roles and accountability, and implementing the systems and cadence your business needs to scale. We structure the first 90 days around a 30-60-90 Day Plan.

The first 30 days are diagnostic and stabilizing. The next 30 days will design the systems and accountability structures. The final 30 drive execution and measurable results. After the initial 90 days, support continues on a month-to-month basis. We earn your trust through results, not contracts.

Most engagements continue well beyond the first 90 days, often 6 months, a year, two years, and more, because every new level brings a new devil. As your business grows, the operational challenges evolve, and we're with you every step of the way.

How Much Does A Fractional COO Cost?

+

Engagements are structured as monthly retainers, tiered by hours of support. Pricing starts at $4,000 per month for a 20-hour retainer and scales from there based on the level of leadership and execution your business needs. Because our model is volume-tiered, the more hours you commit to, the lower your effective hourly rate.

During your Get Acquainted Call, we'll recommend the right tier based on your goals, team, and stage of growth. For context: a full-time COO typically costs $200,000 to $350,000 per year, plus benefits and equity. A fractional COO delivers senior operational leadership at a fraction of that investment, scaled to what your business actually needs today. We break the math down in our cost-benefit analysis of hiring a fractional COO.

Is The Fractional COO Remote Or On-Site?

+

We operate remote-first. We lead weekly meetings, manage execution, and hold your team accountable through regular video and asynchronous communication. Our clients span the US, UK, and Europe, and our operating rhythm is built for distributed teams. We find this model works best to drive accountability. It doesn't lean on the comfort and convenience of in-person presence to create results.

The alternative is hiring locally, which means compromising quality for proximity. Remote-first lets us pair you with the best-fit operator on our bench, not just the one nearest to your office. When an engagement benefits from periodic on-site presence, we arrange it directly with the client. We cover this in do you need to hire part-time COOs local to you.

Do You Only Work With Companies Already Running On EOS®?

+

No. Our fractional COOs are well-experienced in EOS® frameworks and methodologies, and most are graduates of the EOS Integrator Masterclass. For companies operating on the Entrepreneurial Operating System®, they serve in the Integrator seat from day one. For companies using other operating frameworks, or none at all, we bring the same boots-on-the-ground execution, tailored to your business. EOS® is not a prerequisite for working with us.

What Is The Difference Between A Fractional COO And An EOS® Integrator?

+

The Integrator is a specific seat within the Entrepreneurial Operating System® framework. It's the operational counterpart to the Visionary. A fractional COO is a broader executive role covering all aspects of operations. At The COO Solution, our fractional COOs are well-versed and experienced in the EOS Integrator model.

For companies running on EOS®, they serve in the Integrator seat. For companies using other frameworks, they bring full operational leadership along with the execution discipline EOS® is known for. In both cases, you get the same caliber of operator, applied to the framework your business runs on. We go deeper in the difference between a COO and an Integrator.

Let's talk

Ready To Meet Your Operator?

Tell us where the business is and where the pressure sits. We will come back with which operator we would put forward and why, or tell you honestly if a fractional COO is not what you need yet.

Your information stays with us and is never shared.

Not ready to talk? Take the 2-minute assessment and we will tell you what your business needs first.

Go deeper

Learn More About Fractional COO Services

Guides on what the role covers, what it costs, and whether the model fits where your business is right now.