Some problems are not a project. They are a seat that is empty, or filled by someone already doing two other jobs: the brand whose fulfillment is run by a finance lead between board decks, or the 3PL whose founder is still the only person who can price a deal and clear a dock. Fractional leadership puts an operator in that seat for part of the week, for as long as the gap exists.
For Brands
Fractional Head of Fulfillment, Director of Operations or VP Supply Chain. The role owns the 3PL relationship and its scorecard, the fulfillment cost model, carrier strategy, inventory positioning and the network plan — and builds the operating cadence (weekly operations review, monthly cost review, quarterly network review) so it keeps running after the engagement ends. Typical fits: a brand that has outgrown founder-run logistics, a 3PL transition that needs an owner, or a team that lost its operations lead mid-year.
For 3PLs
Fractional operations (COO or VP Operations): throughput, labor model, quality systems, margin by account, and the operational side of onboarding a large new customer. Fractional growth (Chief Growth Officer or VP Sales): ideal-customer definition, pricing architecture, the proposal and RFP process, pipeline discipline and the sales motion needed to win enterprise accounts. Fractional strategy (board and executive advisor): expansion markets, capital decisions, M&A readiness and investor sessions. Typical fits: an operator between leaders, a founder who needs to get out of the day-to-day, or a growth plan the current team hasn’t run before.
How It Runs
A defined role with a defined time commitment — usually one to three days a week — and 90-day outcomes written down at the start. Engagements typically run three to twelve months and include the exit from day one: a full-time hire you helped specify and interview, a team member promoted into the seat, or an operating system that no longer needs it. The work happens inside your business: your meetings, your systems, your team.
Fractional or Project?
If the question is a single decision — which 3PL, whether the rates are fair, where the next building goes — a scoped project engagement answers it faster. If the question is who is running this, fractional is the answer. Many engagements start as a project and become fractional once the decision has to be executed.
What You Get Back
Leadership with operating scar tissue, without a full-time executive’s overhead or an eighteen-month hiring cycle — and a business that runs better after the seat is handed back.
