Lloyd'sSyndicatedTemporary
Chief of Staff to the Chief Commercial Officer / CEO Lloyd's Americas - 12 Month FTCCOO Consultants · COO consultant · fractional, interim and permanent
COO Consultants · hire a COO consultant, or find the work
COO consultants at leadership level are senior operations people who hold the brief: a fractional COO or operations director, working fractionally, on an interim mandate or permanently. Fractional Quest recruits them for companies; we do not employ them.
Reviewed by Fractional Quest · updated 23 October 2026 · 6 sources linked below
- 3–5our shortlist
Fractional seats our founder has held
Climatise
One Up Productions
CK Delta
In the press
- Financial TimesThe executives going ‘fractional’, not freelance
- International FinanceRenting the C-suite, and why the fractional executive era has arrived
The agency
What COO consultants do
Hiring? Brief us and we come back with a shortlist of 3–5, each with rate, availability and IR35 position set out. Looking for the work? The board below shows current operations leadership roles.
A COO consultant at this level owns how the business runs: the operating model, the planning cadence, the processes that deliver to customers, and the leads who run each function. The COO turns strategy into execution: operations, process, delivery, people systems and the operating rhythm of the business.
A COO consultant is usually a fractional COO consultant, holding the operating brief a few days a week, or an interim COO for an integration or turnaround. See fractional COO.
COO consultants are not a firm’s junior team: each is one senior person who contracts with the company directly. Fractional Quest is the recruitment agency that finds them; the service side is on operations consultancy.
On the board · last 90 days
Current operations leadership roles on the board
From our jobs feed. Where a posting states no rate, “est” is our estimate from the seat’s published band; ◆ marks days a week the posting states.
12 of 12 roles
Function
Engagement
- Algorithmiq OySyndicatedFractionalFractional Chief Operating Officer (COO)
- genesis labels & packagingSyndicatedFractionalFractional COO / Operations Director
- Confidential clientOur mandate · available nowFractionalFractional COO
- Confidential clientOur mandate · available nowInterimInterim Chief Operating Officer
- LRO Financial ConsultancySyndicatedFractionalFractional Financial Controller
- Confidential clientOur mandate · available nowFractionalFractional SDR
- Unity AdvisorySyndicatedFractionalReward Lead (Fractional- 12 month FTC)
- Reg Advantage LtdSyndicatedFractionalProduction Lead and Fractional CTO
- Confidential clientOur mandate · available nowFractionalFractional Executive Assistant
- PHIXSyndicatedFractionalPart time / Fractional Finance Director
- CivSec GroupSyndicatedFractionalAcquisition CFO / Finance Director (Fractional)
Every fractional role in the UK is on the fractional jobs board.
Three seats
What does a fractional seat look like in practice?
Three fractional seats our founder has held. Real companies, named with their permission; we state only what the seat covered.
Fractional seats our founder has held
ClimatiseFractional · go-to-marketA carbon-reporting software company that needed go-to-market leadership before a full-time hire.
- Seat
- Fractional go-to-market lead
- Days
- Two days a week
- Scope
- Go-to-market
One Up ProductionsFractional · go-to-marketA production company that needed both the go-to-market strategy and its execution.
- Seat
- Fractional go-to-market: strategy and execution
- Days
- Two days a week
- Scope
- Go-to-market
CK DeltaFractional · technologyTechnology work: tech stack implementation.
- Seat
- Fractional technology lead
These are seats our founder has held, not placements.
The scope
What a COO consultant owns
The scope. The operating model and organisational design; process, delivery and operational performance; planning cadence, OKRs and the operating rhythm; scaling functions such as operations, support and supply chain; freeing the CEO to focus on strategy and external relationships.
Out of scope. Financial control sits with the CFO; technology with the CTO or CIO. The COO coordinates them rather than replacing them.
The neighbouring seats. The COO owns how the business runs; the operations director runs a defined operations function; the CEO owns where it is going.
The process
How does a brief become a shortlist?
Six steps, one accountable person at each. We don’t promise a shortlist by a date; the weeks below are what a well-scoped brief usually takes.
- Day 001The 15-minute callThe seat, the engagement shape, the days or hours, the start date and the budget. No account needed; a call or a written brief.You and us
- Week 102Scope agreed in writingThe outcome the seat exists for, which days, and how the engagement will run for IR35. A brief that describes a person rather than a job, we rewrite with you.Us
- Weeks 1–203Search and approachWe approach people who aren’t looking and verify prior tenure in the seat at your scale and stage.Us
- Weeks 2–304References, taken by usFrom recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.Us
- Week 305Shortlist of three to fiveEach with day rate or salary, availability and IR35 position set out. You interview and decide.You
- Week 406Kick-offScope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.You, them and us
What it costs
COO rates what the published benchmarks say
Every figure is the named source’s own published band. Fractional Quest publishes no fees: each candidate on a shortlist states their own rate.
| Benchmark | Published figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fractional COO day rate | £800–£1,400 | Connectd 2026 |
| Interim COO day rate | £800–£2,000 | Exec Capital 2026 |
| Permanent COO salary (median of three published UK base ranges) | £95,000–£150,000 | composite (our median of three 2026 guides) |
Your figures
What does part of a COO’s week cost?
Rate × days × weeks, against a loaded full-time package. Move the sliders; the numbers redraw.
- COO band £800–£1,400 (Connectd 2026)
Year-one cost, fractional
£101,200
Fractional costs less in year one by£38,925
Our arithmetic. £122,500 composite (our median of three 2026 guides) median salary + employer NI at 15% above £5,000 (HMRC) = £140,125. Excludes pension, bonus and any search fee.
Against the alternatives
Four ways to buy operations expertise fractional, project, interim or permanent
The same operations problem can be bought four ways. The difference is who does the work, for how long, and who is accountable afterwards.
| Fractional operations leader | Project consultancy firm | Interim executive | Permanent hire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you buy | A fractional COO or operations director, days a week | A defined deliverable | A leader full-time for a fixed term | A full-time leader for years |
| Who does the work | One named senior person | A team, often with a partner who sold it | One named senior person | Your employee |
| Accountable after | Yes — they stay | No — the project ends | Until the hand-over | Yes |
| Best when | You need senior judgement every week, not every day | The work is a one-off with a clear output | You need full-time cover or a change led now | The seat is full-time work for years |
| Usual contract | Contract for services, often via the leader’s company | Statement of work | Day-rate contract for the mandate | Employment contract |
The decision
Which COO consultant to hire
Match the shape to the work, not the title.
- Weekly judgementA fractional COO consultantA fractional COO installs the operating rhythm, fixes the processes that break at scale and coaches the team leads on a standing weekly commitment.
- Now, full-timeAn interim operations leadTwo businesses need to run as one. An interim COO leads the operational integration full-time.
- For yearsA permanent hireA permanent COO is right when operations are large and complex enough to need a full-time executive alongside the CEO.
Vetting
How do we vet a COO consultant?
Five stages before anyone reaches a shortlist of three to five.
- Pedigree screenTenureWe verify prior tenure in the seat, at the scale and stage you need. No consultant presenting as an executive.
- Mandate fitFitFit to your stage, sector and the problem the seat exists to solve, not a CV keyword.
- Reference deep-diveVerifyWe take references ourselves, from recent clients and boards: what they delivered, not what they titled it.
- ShortlistShortlistThree to five candidates, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
- Kick-offStartScope, first-month outcomes and the contract agreed before day one.
The full process is on how we vet.
how to hire
How to hire a COO consultant four steps
Write down the decisions. List the three decisions the COO consultant will own in the first ninety days. That list decides the shape: weekly decisions point to fractional, a time-bound change to interim, a full-time load to permanent.
Brief us. Scope, days, start date and what success looks like. We search for your brief and assess through our five-stage vetting.
Compare a shortlist. 3–5 COO consultants, each with day rate or salary, availability and IR35 position set out, so you compare like with like.
Contract directly. The COO consultant contracts with you, usually through their own company for fractional and interim work. Write the contract to match how it will actually run.
what to check
What to check in COO consultants before you sign
Evidence, not titles. Ask for operations they ran, the metrics they moved and how long the change lasted after they left. The Chartered Management Institute sets the profession’s management standards.
Professional bodies. the Chartered Management Institute — the chartered body for management and leadership.
Status. It depends on how the engagement runs in practice — control, substitution and whether the COO consultant is part and parcel of your organisation, not on the label "consultant". For medium and large private-sector clients the client makes the status determination. Every candidate on our shortlist states their IR35 position.
Capacity. A fractional COO consultant holds other clients. Ask how many, which days are yours, and how urgent issues are handled between them.
for consultants
Work as a fractional COO consultant what the work looks like
Fractional COO work suits operators who have scaled a business through growth or integration and want a portfolio of two or three clients.
Briefs arrive as fractional (days a week, ongoing), interim (full-time, fixed term) or permanent roles. The board on this page shows current operations leadership roles, labelled by engagement; every fractional role is on the fractional jobs board.
Companies hire the leader, not the label: set out the decisions you have owned, the outcomes, and the days you can commit. Your IR35 position and rate go on the shortlist as you state them.
The right route
Agency, recruiter, interim or permanent?
Three taps. Say how much senior work there is, for how long, and whether it is one leader or a run of hires; the tool names the route.
The route · Fractional recruiter
An embedded fractional recruiter.
A hiring plan to work through below the leadership team is a talent-acquisition job: a recruiter inside your business for part of the week, paid for their time. We don’t supply them; the page below explains the role.
The route · Non-executive director
A non-executive director.
Independent oversight and constructive challenge, not executive direction. We recruit NEDs through the same brief process.
The route · Advisor
An advisor, not yet a seat.
Less than a day a week of senior input is advisory. Buy it as a scoped engagement; when it grows into a day or more, brief us for a fractional executive.
The route · Interim
An interim executive.
Four or five days for a fixed period is interim: cover for a departure, a turnaround or a transaction. The IIM puts the UK average at £907 a day and ten months.
The route · Permanent
A permanent search.
Four or five days of work, ongoing, is a full-time seat. We recruit permanent executives through the same brief process.
The route · Fractional executive
Brief a fractional recruitment agency.
Senior judgement for part of the week: a fractional CFO, CTO, CMO or COO on one to three days. We come back with a shortlist of three to five, each with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
We recruit executives. We don’t supply embedded fractional recruiters; where that is the right route, the tool says so.
Clients
What do companies say about our fractional work?
From a company where our founder has held a fractional seat. Name and logo given with the client’s permission.
“Excellent fractional support for building both our go-to-market strategy and our execution.”
Charlie AndersonDirector, One Up ProductionsWhere we are
Where is Fractional Quest?
Where we are
71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ
Fractional Quest Ltd, registered in England and Wales, no. 17322105. This is our registered office; meetings are by appointment, and most briefs start on a 15-minute call.
Questions
COO Consultants questions, answered
A COO consultant at this level owns how the business runs: the operating model, the planning cadence, the processes that deliver to customers, and the leads who run each function. The seat’s scope: the operating model and organisational design; process, delivery and operational performance; planning cadence, OKRs and the operating rhythm.
Brief us on the scope, the shape and the start date. We come back with a shortlist of 3–5 COO consultants, each with rate, availability and IR35 position set out, assessed through our five-stage vetting. You contract with the COO consultant directly.
Ask for operations they ran, the metrics they moved and how long the change lasted after they left. The Chartered Management Institute sets the profession’s management standards.
It depends on the shape and the days. Published bands for the seat: Fractional COO day rate £800–£1,400 (Connectd 2026); Interim COO day rate £800–£2,000 (Exec Capital 2026); Permanent COO salary (median of three published UK base ranges) £95,000–£150,000 (composite (our median of three 2026 guides)). Fractional Quest publishes no fees; each candidate on a shortlist states their own rate, so the cost of COO consultants is the rate times the days you agree.
It depends on how the engagement runs in practice — control, substitution and whether the COO consultant is part and parcel of your organisation, not on the label "consultant". For medium and large private-sector clients the client makes the status determination. Every candidate on our shortlist states their IR35 position.
The board on this page lists current operations leadership roles, labelled fractional, interim or permanent, and every fractional role is on the fractional jobs board. Your rate and IR35 position go on the shortlist as you state them.
A chief operating officer who holds the seat on a standing weekly commitment: the operating rhythm, the processes and the team leads, alongside the CEO, without a full-time number two on the payroll.
When operations are large and complex enough to need a full-time executive alongside the CEO. Many fractional COOs help define and recruit that role, or convert themselves.
Sources
Where does every figure on this page come from?
The primary publisher for each number, linked. Where a figure is our own arithmetic, the page says so where it appears.
- Connectd
- Exec Capital
- HMRC
- legislation.gov.uk
- 1
- 2Salary guides UK 2026 Exec Capital
- 3Understanding off-payroll working (IR35) HMRCStatus depends on how the engagement runs; medium and large clients make the determination.
- 4Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027 HMRCEmployer National Insurance at 15% above £5,000 a year.
- 5
- 6Employment Agencies Act 1973 legislation.gov.ukThe law a recruitment agency works under; no fee to a work-seeker.
