What a fractional head of operations does, and when you need one

In a growing product business, there is often a moment when the founder realises they have become the operations department. They talk to the factory, chase the freight forwarder, check stock with the warehouse, fix the store when an order goes wrong, and still try to grow the business.

The obvious answer is to hire a head of operations. But a full-time senior hire is a big commitment, and the business may not yet need one every day. A fractional head of operations sits in between.

What “fractional” means

A fractional head of operations is a senior operations leader who works with your business part time, on an ongoing basis. They take ownership of agreed priorities and are responsible for results, not only advice.

It helps to compare the role with two others.

• A consultant usually delivers a project or a set of recommendations, then leaves. The work of putting it in place stays with you.
• A freelancer or assistant takes on tasks you define. The thinking and the coordination stay with you.
• A fractional head of operations stays with the business, owns an area, makes decisions within agreed limits and puts changes in place with your team and partners.

You get senior experience without the cost and commitment of a full-time executive.

What the role covers in a product business

In a business that makes and sells physical products, operations covers most of what happens behind the storefront. Depending on the scope, a fractional head of operations may own:

• supplier and factory relationships, including quotes, samples and quality
• production planning and purchase orders
• international freight and the relationship with forwarders
• inventory planning and forecasting
• fulfilment, including third-party warehouses and new locations
• e-commerce operations, such as Shopify setup, order flows and integrations
• coordination with testing laboratories, compliance specialists and tax advisers
• the processes, documents and reporting that hold it all together

This is close to the work I do as Operations Manager at MyBrainBooks, an Australian children’s publishing and e-commerce company. My role there covers product development, manufacturing in China, supplier management, production planning, international freight, inventory, global fulfilment, Shopify operations, taxation and compliance. I have been closely involved in building and scaling the company’s operational infrastructure as it grew into a business generating six-figure monthly e-commerce revenue.

Signs you need one

A fractional head of operations is worth considering when several of these sound familiar.

You are the bottleneck. Every operational decision waits for you, and your time goes to chasing partners instead of growing the business.

The same problems keep coming back. Stockouts, late production, freight surprises, warehouse errors. Each one gets fixed, but nothing changes the pattern.

Growth is adding complexity. New markets, new product types, a second warehouse, new compliance requirements. Each one adds work that nobody fully owns.

Your partners do not talk to each other. The factory, the forwarder and the warehouse each see their own part. Nobody sees the whole chain from production to customer.

You plan to hire full time, but not yet. You know the role will be needed, but the business is not ready, or you are not yet sure what the role should look like.

When it is not the right fit

A fractional lead is not the answer to everything.

• If you have a single, well-defined problem, a project with a clear end may suit you better.
• If you need someone on site every day managing a large team, you need a full-time hire.
• If the product does not exist yet and there is no operation to run, start with product development first.

How to make it work

A fractional arrangement works best when a few things are clear from the start.

A defined scope. Agree what the role owns and what it does not. Write down the first priorities and what success looks like for each.

Access. The role needs access to your data, systems and partners. A head of operations who has to ask permission to talk to the factory cannot fix much.

Decision rights. Agree which decisions the role can make alone, and which come back to you.

A steady rhythm. A regular check-in, usually weekly, keeps priorities current and problems visible.

Processes that last. Good fractional work leaves behind documented processes, clear supplier agreements and reporting that the team can keep running. If you later hire full time, that person starts with a working system instead of a blank page.

What the first weeks usually look like

Every business is different, but the start of a fractional engagement tends to follow the same shape.

Understand. Map how products, stock, orders and money actually move today, from the factory to the customer. Meet the key partners. Read the numbers.

Stabilise. Deal with the urgent issues first: the late order, the stock gap, the provider that keeps making the same mistake. Quick, visible fixes build trust with the team and the partners.

Build. Once the urgent work is under control, put the longer-term pieces in place: a production and stock plan, clear agreements with suppliers and providers, and simple reporting the founder can read in minutes.

How we work

At Onkon Group, I join as your part-time operations lead. I own agreed priorities and put changes in place, and you work directly with me. Because I am based in Guangdong, the supplier and factory side of the role happens in person, not only by email. That combination of European business thinking and direct access to China is the core of what we offer.

If you recognise your business in this article, book a consultation and we can talk about what a fractional arrangement could look like for you.