The seat is empty, or no one should still be covering it.
You need an owner in the function, and you're not at the full-time hire yet. That's what we do: fixed days agreed at the start, ownership of the function rather than coverage of it, and a notice period in the agreement before day one.
When a seat makes sense
Your CTO, COO or CHRO just left.
You didn't plan for it. The function doesn't wait. You need someone in the seat while you work out the hire: not a consultant writing recommendations, an owner making decisions.
The function has outgrown whoever's been covering it.
Engineering, operations or people has grown past what one person runs alongside everything else. The decisions still get made, but later, and by whoever is free that week.
Someone is asking who owns this.
A customer, an investor or an auditor asks who owns security, delivery or the people function. "All of us" is the honest answer. It isn't the one they need.
You'll hire the full-time role in 6 to 18 months.
You know the hire is coming. You want the function set up, the gaps named, and the job description written by someone who has held the seat.
Fractional CTO
The technology function, owned.
Ian HowlettHolds this seat
Book a call about the CTO seatWhat the seat owns
- Technology strategy In writing, aligned to the business plan
- Architecture And the technical-debt decisions, with the reasons on the record
- Delivery And release discipline
- Security program Once readiness is done
- Cloud spend And the vendors behind it
- Hiring The engineering leads, and the full-time CTO when it's time
The first 90 days
- A written read of the codebase, the pipeline and the team, with the three things to fix first
- The list of what the seat owns, agreed with you
- The engineering rhythm set: planning, releases, incident review
What you get each month
- The agreed days, on your calendar
- A peer at board and investor meetings
- A readout: what shipped, what's blocked, what the spend did
- A function built to hand off to your full-time hire
Fractional COO
The company runs on a cadence, not on whoever is awake.
Ian HowlettHolds this seat
Book a call about the COO seatWhat the seat owns
- Operating plan In writing, aligned to the business plan
- Operating cadence Planning, metrics and the weekly rhythm
- Process Where there isn't one, and only there
- Cross-functional problems The ones nobody owns
- Systems The ones the company runs on
- Board numbers In one place
The first 90 days
- A map of how work moves through the company, and where it stalls
- The list of what the seat owns, agreed with you
- One operating cadence running: weekly, monthly, quarterly
What you get each month
- The agreed days, on your calendar
- The leadership meeting run, with a decision log
- A readout: the numbers, what moved, what's stuck
- A function built to hand off to your full-time hire
Fractional CHRO / CPO
The people function, board-ready.
Toni KayHolds this seat
Book a call about the CHRO / CPO seatWhat the seat owns
- People strategy In writing, aligned to the business plan
- Org design And the strategic workforce plan
- Comp philosophy And the framework behind it
- Performance The cycle, the conversations, the KPIs
- People controls What a security review, due diligence or merger asks about
- Human capital reporting The numbers the board sees, and Toni to answer any challenges
- The hard conversations Prepared and closed
The first 30 days
A Current State of People
The org mapped, the gaps named, the risks on the record, and a prioritized set of recommendations for discussion and agreement of next steps.
What you get each month
- The agreed days, on your calendar
- An ally at board and investor meetings, and a CPO coaching your leaders
- A people readout, built toward ISO 30414
- A function built to hand off to your full-time hire
What people ask before they start
How is this different from an advisor?
An advisor gives you opinions on a call. A seat owns the function: the decisions, the people and the outcomes, with a place at the leadership table. You can hold the seat to what it owns, because it's written down in week one.
Can one person hold two seats?
Yes, while the company is small enough that the two functions are one job. Ian holds the CTO and COO seats together. If the scoping shows the two need more days than one person can give, we'll say so and quote it that way.
What happens when we hire full-time?
The seat writes the job description, helps you hire, and hands over. That's part of the job, not a loss. Some seats stay on for a few months as an advisor to the new hire; most end at the handover.
Do you work on-site?
Mostly remote, from Waterloo Region. Some of the agreed days are on-site when it helps: the first weeks, a planning cycle, a hard conversation. We agree the mix at the start.
What's the shortest engagement?
A seat is by the month, with a notice period written into the agreement, and there's no minimum term. A function that only needs an owner for a few weeks usually needs a project, not a seat, and we'll say so at the first conversation.
Is a fractional CHRO / CPO the same as HR Services?
No. HR Services is the work without the seat: a handbook, a hire, an exit, each scoped and quoted on its own, with an end. The CHRO seat owns the people function by the month. If you're not sure which you need, start with a project. It usually tells you.
- Need one piece of this done without the seat? HR Services →
- Need senior HR advisory for a specific initiative? Let's talk →