External Chief Operating Officer (Fractional COO) for companies that are growing or changing and where a full-time in-house COO would still be premature.
Your business has moved forward.
Its operations need to move with it.
Because what was enough for a smaller team stops being enough as the company grows.
What worked before may not be enough for what comes next.
The company grows. More people, clients and teams come in. Or you are preparing for another branch, a new market, a management change or a sale.
As the company changes, the way it is run has to change with it. Because what got it here may not get it where it needs to go next.
I work as an External Chief Operating Officer (Fractional COO), typically with companies of 15–100 people, on a fractional basis of one to three days a week. This gives the owner senior operational leadership without having to create another permanent management role.
I work directly inside the business, where decisions are made, coordination happens and operational limits become visible. In particular:
How I help business owners
when further growth only adds more complexity
when the company keeps creating unnecessary work for itself
when management sends problems back up instead of making decisions
when the company is preparing for its next phase and the current way of operating may not be able to support it
I am not a coach or an adviser who makes recommendations and leaves. For a limited period, I become part of the company’s management and work with the team to make sure the changes actually take hold in practice.
When an external COO makes more sense than an internal one.
When the company already needs senior operational leadership, but does not yet have five days a week of work for the role.
This is typically a transitional phase: the company has grown, is preparing for further growth, another location or a management change. The owner wants to hand over part of the management responsibility, but hiring an internal COO would still be premature.
You do not hire an external COO for their presence. You hire senior judgement in the amount the business actually needs.
Once the company has a permanent COO agenda, a larger management team and enough work for the role every day, an internal COO starts to make more sense.
Tech-first operations. Human-first environment.
Technology without people scales mediocrity. People without technology fall behind.
Operations without AI, automation and the right tools are now at a structural disadvantage. That is why I try to make them part of every system I design. But technology alone is not enough.
Real performance always comes down to people — people with autonomy, room to grow and a clear sense of purpose in their work. And the stronger the team, the less control it needs.
I build ways of working where technology takes care of routine work and the environment gives people room to do their best work. Only then does technology truly help — instead of simply accelerating average performance.
How the collaboration works
I start with a diagnostic phase. I talk to the owner and the team and look at what needs to be preserved, what needs to change and whether the way the company operates today can support what you will need from it tomorrow.
I then get involved one to three days a week and work directly with the team on the changes. I do not hand over a set of recommendations. I stay with the change until it starts working in practice.
I describe in more detail what the role of an external COO involves at fractionalcoo.cz.
Who am I?
I have been managing companies, teams and operations for more than 15 years. I have worked as a COO and Managing Director, and I co-founded two companies and helped build them from the ground up.
At Havas, I was part of growing the company to around 70 people. At Dentsu, I was a member of the Czech board, led a team of more than 60 people and oversaw the development of a regional delivery hub of around 400 people across Central and Eastern Europe. At Insighters, as COO following the company’s acquisition by new owners, I helped stabilise its economics, client portfolio and operating model.
I have managed companies that needed to be built, scaled and simplified again. That is why I do not believe in universal management models. What interests me is what a particular company needs in order to handle its next phase. Today, I bring that experience to my work as an External Chief Operating Officer.
More detailed professional history can be found on my LinkedIn profile.
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