Small enough to be nimble. Too small to carry a full executive team.
Your firm punches above its weight with customers who expect compliance and process from companies many times its size. That gap is what a fractional executive fills.
Why a full C-suite is out of reach for now
A permanent CFO, COO or CMO is the usual instinct. For most firms around the District it does not fit:
Customers ask for more than you have staff for
Government and large-enterprise customers expect systems and documentation that a small team has not had time to build.
The market for senior people is tight
Executives with the right background are hired fast by larger firms, and a search for one can run for months.
Contract revenue is lumpy
A permanent executive salary is a fixed cost against revenue that rises and falls with awards. Our services agreements carry one month's notice, our standard, for either party.
The work comes in bursts
Programme peaks need senior time and the quiet weeks do not. Two or three days on average is usually enough.
A fractional executive has run the function in comparable organisations and does it for you part time. They sit in the team, decide within their remit and are accountable for the outcome.
Who this is for, and who it is not
Best for
- Founders carrying a C-suite function themselves with no time left to lead
- Businesses that need senior capability two or three days a week, not five
- A specific gap in finance, operations, marketing, technology or people that is holding growth back
- Teams that cannot yet justify, or afford, a full-time executive salary
- Owners who want an operator accountable for outcomes, not a consultant with a deck
Not for
- A junior or purely execution role a full-time manager should own
- A one-off project an agency could deliver and hand back
- Businesses wanting a figurehead rather than someone who does the work
- A pre-revenue idea with no function yet to lead
Senior judgement for a firm built on awards
A firm whose revenue follows awards needs senior help for some of the week and structure around the engagement. We provide both.
Governance included
Award and recompete dates set our review calendar, and the brief is revised with you when they change the picture.
A collective to draw on
One executive joins the firm, with a collective of 800+ in support. A cash question that is really about indirect rates goes to someone who has set them.
The file stays with us
Our notes on your firm stay current, so a change of executive is a transition we manage rather than a fresh start.
Someone who reads the room
In a city that prizes credentials, the person who can read a room is the one who delivers. Temperament decides our short list.
What an engagement looks like
From first call to an embedded operator in weeks, not months.
Discovery
We spend time understanding your business: challenges, goals, team dynamics, and what 'success' looks like in 90 days.
Match
We introduce the right fractional executive from our vetted collective. You meet them, ask hard questions, and confirm the fit.
Scoped engagement begins
The engagement launches with a defined scope, clear deliverables, and a structured cadence. Your fractional is embedded, not advisory.
Adapt and evolve
As your business changes, the engagement changes with it. Add hours, shift focus, introduce a second specialist, all without restructuring.
Which executive do you need first?
You do not need to know the answer before you call. Match the problem you feel most to the operator who owns it.
Each fractional role maps to a different SME challenge
Start with the gap that is costing you most, and the roles below show which leader owns it.
Backed by executives who have led at
