Fractional COO or an operations manager?
A fractional COO designs how the company runs: the operating rhythm, the structure and the hard calls. An operations manager runs it day to day: suppliers, scheduling, process. The COO costs £5,367 to £9,967 a month at two days a week; an operations manager is a full-time salary well below that seat. Many growing companies need the design once and the manager every day.
Below is what each one actually owns, what they cost on the same basis, how each one fails, and when to pick the other one.
| A fractional COO | An operations manager | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the outcome | How the company runs, as a design question rather than a daily one | Execution of the process day to day |
| Commitment | One to three days a week, flexing with the work, no end date assumed | Full-time and permanent, on the payroll |
| How it is priced | £700 to £1,300 a day | Salary plus employer costs, typically well below a COO's and appropriate for the work. |
| Typical monthly cost | £5,367 to £9,967 a month at two days a week | No like-for-like monthly figure is published here; see how it is priced |
| How it fails | Being brought in to do the operations rather than to design them, which two days a week cannot cover and was never the point. | Being asked to make structural decisions above their remit and authority, which is unfair to them and rarely works. |
| Pick it when | The operation needs redesigning, not just running | The operation is understood and what you need is somebody running it daily |
What an operations manager actually is
A full-time hire running the day-to-day operations: process, scheduling, suppliers, and keeping the machine turning.
What each one owns
| A fractional COO | An operations manager |
|---|---|
| How the company runs, as a design question rather than a daily one | Execution of the process day to day |
| The cadence: what gets reviewed, by whom, and how decisions get made | Suppliers, scheduling and the operational detail |
| Removing the founder from every decision without losing the standard | Being present continuously for whatever arises |
| The hard structural calls, including about people | Keeping the thing running while somebody else redesigns it |
What neither of them does
Neither can fix a company where the founder will not let go. Both arrangements fail the same way, and it has nothing to do with the hire.
How each one fails
The fractional COO: Being brought in to do the operations rather than to design them, which two days a week cannot cover and was never the point.
An operations manager: Being asked to make structural decisions above their remit and authority, which is unfair to them and rarely works.
What they cost, on the same basis
A fractional COO charges £700 to £1,300 a day, which is £5,367 to £9,967 a month at two days a week. Salary plus employer costs, typically well below a COO's and appropriate for the work. The monthly and annual arithmetic for the fractional side, against a full-time equivalent, is on the cost page for this seat.
Pick an operations manager when
- The operation is understood and what you need is somebody running it daily
- There is a team that needs managing every day
- The problem is capacity rather than design
We would rather say that plainly than win an engagement that was the wrong shape. Nobody pays us to list on the bench, so there is nothing in it for us either way.
When you want both
A fractional COO designing how the company runs, with an operations manager executing it daily, is a strong and common pairing, and it costs far less than a full-time COO doing both.
Common questions
Should I hire a fractional COO or an operations manager?
A fractional COO designs how the company runs: the operating rhythm, the structure and the hard calls. An operations manager runs it day to day: suppliers, scheduling, process. The COO costs £5,367 to £9,967 a month at two days a week; an operations manager is a full-time salary well below that seat. Many growing companies need the design once and the manager every day.
Is a fractional COO cheaper than an operations manager?
Not necessarily. An operations manager is a full-time salary well below a COO's, plus employer costs, and a fractional COO costs £5,367 to £9,967 a month at two days a week, so the monthly totals can be similar. They do different jobs: the COO designs how the company runs and the manager runs it every day.
When is an operations manager the better choice than a fractional COO?
The operation is understood and what you need is somebody running it daily. There is a team that needs managing every day. The problem is capacity rather than design.
Can I use a fractional COO and an operations manager at the same time?
A fractional COO designing how the company runs, with an operations manager executing it daily, is a strong and common pairing, and it costs far less than a full-time COO doing both.