Fractional and interim operations

What I can take on

I work alongside your CEO and senior team and take responsibility for getting the work done.

• People operations, HR and recruitment, including onboarding and wellbeing
• Finance operations, budgets and reporting
• Systems, SaaS and process improvement, from task tracking to IT providers and security
• TUPE transfers, restructures and other major change
• Governance, compliance, insurance and office moves
• Managing an operations team and setting clear service standards

When it helps

• Your CEO or directors are spending too much time on operational work
• You are growing faster than your processes, systems and team can support
• You are preparing for a TUPE transfer, restructure or system migration
• A senior operations post is empty, for example during maternity leave

Your first month

What usually happens when I start. The details depend on what you need.

1. Week 1: discovery and diagnostic. Stakeholder conversations with you, the senior team and staff. A review of governance documents, policies, budgets and management accounts, contracts, HR processes and systems. An initial risk register covering compliance, people, finance and IT.
2. Week 2: prioritise and agree my remit. A prioritised plan agreed with you, and a RACI that sets out what I own, what stays with you and what goes to your board. Weekly reporting and the risk log start.
3. Weeks 3 and 4: deliver and stabilise. I take ownership of the first workstreams and close quick wins, such as policy gaps, process fixes or overdue compliance tasks. You get a 90-day operations plan with owners, milestones and measures.

When I bring in specialists

I will tell you when something needs a specialist, and manage the work with them.

• Accountants. If you are setting up or rebuilding a finance function, I would bring in an accountant from the start for statutory accounts, tax and financial controls.
• Solicitors. Contracts, employment disputes and complex data protection questions go to a solicitor with the right specialism, such as a data protection lawyer.
• An example. On the TUPE transfer of 80+ employees at The Social Change Nest, an employment lawyer advised on the legal process while I led the transfer.

Recent work

What it costs

How we work together

What you can expect, whichever way we work together.

• We start with a conversationYou tell me what is happening and what needs to change. If I am not the right fit, I will say so.
• You get a written scopeA short proposal covering the work, the cost, the timescale and what a good handover looks like. Nothing starts until you have agreed it.
• Weekly updatesA weekly check-in with your lead contact, and a short written update on progress, risks and decisions. I keep a risk log from day one.
• Clear decisionsYou set the priorities and sign off the work. I make day-to-day calls within the agreed scope, and raise anything that would change the cost or timescale early.
• Data and safeguardingI collect only the personal data the work needs, keep it secure and delete it when the project ends. Research participants give consent and are paid for their time. I hold an enhanced DBS check.
• Accessible by defaultWebsites are built to WCAG 2.2 AA and checked with automated accessibility testing before launch. Websites and documents are written in plain English and tested on phones.
• A proper handoverYou get the documents, guides and training your team needs to carry on without me.