Fractional Head of Product
Fractional Head of Product
vs a management consultant
Consultants advise. Fractional leaders do. A consultant will assess your situation, produce recommendations, and hand you a report. A fractional leader embeds in your team, makes decisions, implements changes, and is accountable for outcomes. The difference is between someone who tells you what to do and someone who does it with you.
Why fractional works
Embedded, not external
We're part of your team, not outsiders writing reports. We attend your standups, know your engineers by name, and understand the context that consultants miss because they're not in the room.
Accountable for outcomes
Consultants deliver recommendations and leave. We're accountable for whether the changes actually work. Our success is measured by your team's outcomes, not by the quality of a slide deck.
Implementation, not just strategy
We don't just tell you what to change — we change it. We build the frameworks, run the processes, and coach your team to sustain them after we step back.
Pragmatic, not theoretical
We've been Heads of Product, Heads of Delivery, and operational leaders in real companies. Our advice comes from doing the job, not from studying it.
When a consultant might be better
- —Breadth of analytical resources. Large consulting firms can deploy teams with diverse specialisms for large-scale transformation or due diligence projects.
- —External credibility. A big-name consultancy can lend credibility to recommendations when you need buy-in from a board or investors.
- —Defined scope and deliverables. Consulting engagements are typically scoped tightly with clear deliverables, which can be useful for specific analytical or strategic questions.
Choose fractional when
When you need someone who will actually do the work, not just tell you what the work should be. When the problem is execution and implementation, not analysis.
Choose a consultant when
When you need a specific analytical deliverable — market analysis, due diligence support, or a board-ready strategy document — and you have the internal team to implement the recommendations.