For early-stage and growth-stage CPG brands, hiring full-time executives can feel like an expensive leap of faith. Not just financially—but organizationally. It requires betting that the need, the workload, and the person all align perfectly. And the truth is, that’s rarely the case.
That’s why more founders are moving away from the “one big hire” mentality and embracing a more strategic approach: fractional executive leadership. These aren’t part-time advisors or consultants with limited context. They’re operators embedded inside the business, scoped to high-leverage work, and structured for scale without long-term bloat.
If you’re still thinking in terms of full-time or nothing, you’re missing the opportunity to build leadership capacity in a smarter, more adaptable way.
The Full-Time Myth: Why One Hire Doesn’t Fix the Gaps
Most founders know the feeling—operations are messy, financials are murky, sales are inconsistent, and marketing feels like guesswork. The default move? Hire a full-time executive and hope it stabilizes the chaos.
But what happens next is predictable: onboarding takes longer than expected, the new hire spends 6 months building a team or reworking systems, and the founder realizes they’ve added $200K+ in SG&A before solving the core issue.
The real problem wasn’t a lack of leadership—it was a lack of focused, right-sized leadership. Someone to come in, solve a specific problem, and leave behind infrastructure the brand can build on. That’s what fractional executive leadership actually does.
Fractional Leadership Is Not Consulting
Let’s make something clear: this isn’t consulting by another name. Fractional leaders don’t drop a deck and disappear. They show up to the same meetings. They own outcomes. They work across functions and teams, not just in parallel with them.
And unlike advisors, they don’t operate from the sidelines. They’re scoped to execution—whether that means building out financial controls ahead of a raise, overhauling your supply chain structure, or running sales strategy across new regional launches.
In a recent client conversation, we discussed how this kind of support is critical not just during scaling phases, but also during inflection points—M&A prep, category expansion, organizational redesign. In each case, the need isn’t about bandwidth. It’s about competence. And that doesn’t always require 40 hours a week.
The Actual Benefits (Beyond Just Cost)
Yes, fractional executive leadership saves money. But that’s not why it’s valuable. The real benefit is flexibility without compromise.
You’re not hiring someone to fill a seat. You’re hiring someone to fix something. That might mean a 90-day sprint to stabilize your operations. Or a 6-month engagement to get your first-party data stack and DTC channels functioning before Q4. It might even be a standing relationship where someone serves as your head of finance for 20 hours a week for a year—and then transitions out once the business matures.
The win isn’t in what you avoid spending. It’s in what you actually get done. Because this isn’t a placeholder hire. It’s a lever.
Why This Works in CPG (and Why It’s Happening Now)
The consumer packaged goods industry is uniquely suited to this model. CPG founders are often product-first. That means they’re navigating everything from supply chain to compliance to distribution—often for the first time, and often with limited cash.
In that environment, the playbook of “build the full team early” doesn’t just fail—it breaks the business. What you need instead are precise interventions: a sales leader who can stand up your UNFI or KEHE strategy before Expo, a marketing lead who can oversee a retail launch plan in Q1 but doesn’t need to be around in Q3, or a finance operator who can rebuild reporting systems that will stand up to investor scrutiny in your next round.
These aren’t stretch roles. They’re scoped roles. And they’re filled quickly—not in 60–90 days, but often in under two weeks.
That’s why we’ve made fractional executive leadership one of the foundational offerings at Ace. Because it’s what founders actually need.
Not Just a Model—A Strategy
The smartest brands aren’t just using one fractional leader. They’re stacking them. A fractional CFO guiding cash flow and board reporting. A Head of Sales covering key accounts in the Northeast. A part-time creative lead coordinating launch campaigns. These aren’t stopgaps. This is infrastructure.
More importantly, it creates optionality. Founders can ramp hours up or down. They can test for long-term fit. And they can move fast without adding full-time liabilities that don’t align with revenue pacing.
In one client discussion, the founder mentioned that their fractional hire might “work themselves out of a job” by completing their scope too quickly. But that’s the point. You’re not building jobs—you’re solving problems. If the role needs to evolve, it does. If it doesn’t, you reallocate budget elsewhere.
It’s not about plugging holes. It’s about using precision hires to drive momentum—and then adjusting as the business shifts.
How Ace Makes It Work
At Ace, we don’t treat fractional leadership as a staffing shortcut. We approach it with the same rigor as full-time search—except with a faster timeline, clearer scoping, and compliance structures that keep everyone protected.
We run tailored searches based on function, business stage, and leadership style. We onboard them as W2 employees with benefits access starting at 22 hours/week. We manage payroll, compliance, and co-employment risk, so you can focus on the work, not the structure.
And we don’t just place people. We stay in the loop. Because the success of a fractional hire isn’t just about fit—it’s about follow-through.
Final Thought: This Is the New Default
Fractional executive leadership isn’t a workaround. It’s the new normal for growth-stage CPG.
If you’re not ready to bring on full-time executives—but know you can’t go another quarter without senior leadership—this is the model that keeps you moving, keeps you lean, and keeps you in control.
You don’t need a bigger team. You need sharper support.
Let’s build that.
