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Interim and Fractional CPO

Temporary Leadership Support

I step in as a product leader when you need senior capacity but not, or not yet, a permanent hire. That might be covering a gap while you recruit, steadying a team through a transition, or giving a growing business experienced product leadership a few days a week rather than full time.

As a CPO I have owned product strategy in partnership with an investor board, led a function of nearly 100 people, and carried teams through rapid growth and acquisition. I bring that to the role whether I am in three days a week or holding the seat full time for a defined period.

Best used when:

  • You are recruiting a permanent CPO and need the seat held in the meantime

  • A growing business needs senior product leadership but not a full-time hire

  • A team is going through a transition, restructure, or integration and needs a steady hand

  • The board wants experienced product leadership close to a key decision or milestone

How it works

Two women in business attire are writing on a glass whiteboard in an office, with one smiling and the other focused, sunlight streaming through large windows behind them.

We agree the scope, the time commitment, and what the engagement needs to achieve. From there I work as part of the leadership team: setting direction, leading the product organisation, and partnering with the executive and board.

Interim engagements are usually full time for a defined period; fractional ones are a steady commitment of a few days a week.

However the engagement is shaped, I take real ownership rather than advising from the side, and keep the product team moving while the bigger questions get resolved. I work closely with the executive team and the board throughout, and keep an eye on the handover so the function is in good shape for whoever holds the seat next.

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Five young adults gathered around a laptop, looking at the screen and discussing.

What you get

A senior product leader embedded in the team

  • Clear product strategy and direction, aligned with commercial goals

  • A product organisation that keeps moving through the transition

  • A clean handover to a permanent hire when the time comes

  • A supported team throughout the change

  • The inherent advantage of an interim or fractional leader who has frequent exposure to other organisations facing product opportunities and challenges.

How I’ve done this with organisations:

  • Worked with a growing company to hire its first product leadership role and put the key product processes in place: defining the role, running the hire, designing and running the initial processes, and coaching the new lead once they were in post as a handover

  • Supported a founder-led business where the CEO came from a technical background and needed help on the more commercial side of product: weekly coaching sessions with work in between to provide specific guidance and processes to support their first product hire, followed by ongoing executive coaching in the product area

  • Led product through an integration, keeping things steady while the organisation went through a lot of change at once