Interim COO: Cost, Timeline, and Fractional vs Interim
What an interim COO costs ($15,000 to $40,000 a month full time), how outsourced and part-time COO engagements differ, and which shape fits a $5M to $30M business.
Someone senior in the seat now, for as long as you need it. Interim, outsourced, or part time. Month to month either way.
What is an interim COO, and what does one cost?
An interim COO is a senior operations executive who holds the seat full time for a defined stretch, usually three to twelve months, after a departure or during a transition. Interim executives typically bill $1,200 to $2,500 a day, roughly $15,000 to $40,000 a month. A part-time or outsourced COO covers the same responsibilities for $8,000 to $25,000 a month, which is the shape most businesses under $30M actually need.
Interim, full time, per month.
Part time or outsourced, per month.
Typical time from first call to started.
Interim, outsourced, part time, fractional
category page covers it in full
side-by-side comparison is here
Twenty years, three numbers
3 years. Business line. Zillow.
Producers. ChuckTown Homes.
Regional Sales Director. Top performing team in 25 years.
ChuckTown Homes, 10 to 90 producers
Dwelli, two agents to 230+
04 When I am the wrong hire
Three cases where you should not call me
You need a full-time officer in the building five days a week and you can fund the package. Run the search. Hire the permanent seat.
Your problem is execution, not decision-making. If work gets decided and then does not get done, an operations manager costs a third of this and fixes it.
You are under $2M in revenue. At that size the owner is still the right operator. Spend the money on the first real salesperson instead.
Interim, outsourced and part-time COO, answered
The seat can start in two weeks
Every week you wait has a number on it. Book the call.
© Michael Schuerman · Atlanta
An interim COO is a senior operations executive who holds the seat full time for a defined stretch, usually three to twelve months. The normal trigger is a departure, a leave, or an acquisition. The job is to keep the operation running and hand a stable seat to whoever comes next.
What is the difference between an interim COO and a fractional COO?
Time and purpose. An interim COO is full time and temporary, filling a seat that already exists. A fractional COO is part time and ongoing, usually ten to twenty hours a week, building an operating system in a business that never had the seat. Interim is a bridge. Fractional is a build.
What does an interim COO cost?
Interim executives typically bill $1,200 to $2,500 a day, or roughly $15,000 to $40,000 a month full time, and search firms add a placement fee on top. Part-time engagements in the US market run $8,000 to $25,000 a month. My seat starts at $10,000 a month, month to month, with 30 days notice.
Is an outsourced COO the same thing?
Outsourced COO usually means the same part-time senior seat, bought from an individual or a firm instead of hired onto payroll. The word matters less than the terms. Ask who is personally in the room every week, what they own, and how fast you can end it.
Can I hire a COO part time instead?
Below $30M in revenue, part time is usually the right shape. The business rarely needs a full-time officer at that size. It needs a senior operator present for the hires, the renewals, and the decisions the owner keeps carrying alone.
What is a fractional operations manager?
A step below the COO seat. An operations manager runs process, tooling, and day-to-day execution. A COO owns the operating system and the leadership bench above it. If your problem is that nothing gets done, hire the manager. If your problem is that nothing gets decided without you, that is the higher seat.
How fast can an interim or part-time COO start?
Two weeks is typical without a search firm. The first call is 30 minutes and free. If the fit is there, the 90-Day Scorecard runs two weeks for a fixed $5,000 and produces a written plan you keep either way. The seat starts after that, and the $5,000 credits toward month one.
What happens when the interim engagement ends?
The handover is the deliverable. Written operating cadence, named owners for each number, a hiring profile for the permanent seat, and an onboarding plan. If the operation cannot run for a quarter without the interim, the engagement did not finish.
Do I need an interim COO or a permanent one?
What are the contract terms?
Month to month, 30 days notice, no equity, no long-term agreement, no deck. If the seat is not earning its fee, you should be able to end it in a sentence.
Interim COO: cost, timeline, and how it differs from fractional
What an interim COO does, what interim, outsourced and part-time COO engagements cost, and how to tell which shape your business needs.
Interim and part-time COO engagements
Senior operating seat held temporarily or part time for owner-led businesses doing $5M to $30M. Month to month, from $10,000 a month, no equity.
Michael Schuerman is an Operating Partner for founder-led businesses doing $5M to $30M in revenue, based in Atlanta, Georgia. He takes a seat inside the business, runs the revenue moves the owner has been deferring, and leaves a team that runs without them. Book a 30-minute call at michaelschuerman.co.