Fractional COOs in Dallas-Fort Worth Making Things Happen in 2025

Dallas-Fort Worth Interim Chief Operating Officers to Know

Dallas–Fort Worth has always been a city of doers. This isn’t the place for fluff or formality—it’s a region where ideas meet execution. And in 2025, no role captures that better than the fractional COO.

Whether it’s a health-tech startup in Frisco, a nonprofit serving schools across Tarrant County, or a legacy company trying to modernize, local teams are realizing that they don’t need a full-time COO—they need the right operator at the right moment. Fractional COOs are stepping into that gap, offering strategic leadership on a part-time, project-based, or interim basis.

At Digital Reference, we created this guide to help surface the real players doing the work—not just consultants with nice pitch decks, but operators who are embedded in teams, helping them run tighter and scale smarter.

Why We Made This List

We evaluated dozens of professionals across DFW to find COOs who:

• Are based in or focused on Dallas–Fort Worth
  
  
• Have a track record of hands-on operational leadership
  
  
• Work across multiple sectors—including tech, nonprofit, and education
  
  

And because our focus is on using radical authenticity, we looked for people who’ve operated in mission-driven environments—where operations aren’t just about efficiency, but also trust, communication, and human complexity.

The Fractional COOs to Watch in Dallas–Fort Worth

Jaclyn Kobza

Founder, Cornerstone Avenue

Jaclyn’s clients span from downtown Dallas firms to suburban social ventures. She founded Cornerstone Avenue to help mission-aligned teams reimagine their operating systems—without burning out their people. She blends strategy and structure with a coach’s mindset.

What she’s known for:

• Supporting founder-led orgs scaling past their first 10–15 hires
  
  
• Creating org-wide clarity during times of rapid change
  
  
• Strong experience in healthcare-adjacent industries and team development

Jaclyn’s  work is built on trust, efficiency, and a deep understanding of what it takes to run a thriving healthcare practice.

The Digital Reference Team had the chance to ask Jaclyn a few questions about her fractional services approach - here's what we learned:

Jaclyn, What's your typical approach to client engagements?

"I start by listening and really getting to know how things work, what’s frustrating, and what’s already going well. From there, I build a roadmap that balances quick wins with bigger changes. I’m big on communication, clarity, and making sure the team is brought along for the ride. Real change sticks when people feel part of the process, not just handed a new system."

What type of clients are the best fit for you?

"The best-fit clients for me are private healthcare practice owners such as dentists, medspa owners, and therapists who are dedicated to both excellent patient care and building a strong business. They often feel stretched thin trying to juggle clinical work and operations, and they know something has to shift. I work best with providers who are open to improving systems, eager to create a better experience for their team and patients, and ready to bring in a trusted partner to help them operate more smoothly and profitably."

What are your specialties or professional superpowers?

"My specialties lie in building operational systems that bring clarity, consistency, and momentum to growing healthcare practices. I’m especially skilled at translating vision into action, creating workflows and resources that actually get used, and guiding teams through change in a way that feels collaborative and empowering. I thrive at spotting inefficiencies, simplifying complexity, and helping leaders make better decisions with clear data and strong systems behind them."

What else should your clients know about you?

"Clients in private healthcare should know that I understand the unique pressures of running a patient-centered practice while managing the business side. I bring a calm and thoughtful approach to operations, helping doctors and practice owners gain clarity, reduce chaos, and build systems that support growth without compromising care. I meet teams where they are, respect the clinical expertise in the room, and bring business fluency that makes day-to-day operations smoother and more sustainable."

What are your professional values, what motivates you professionally, what's your personality type? - Share anything that gives prospective clients more information about the soft skills you bring to the table.

"I’m driven by a genuine desire to make complex operations simpler and more manageable so healthcare providers can focus on what matters most, their patients. I believe that every team deserves clear, respectful communication and systems designed around their strengths. My approach is thoughtful and collaborative. I listen carefully, ask the right questions, and adapt solutions to fit the unique culture of each practice.I value authenticity, kindness, and leading by example. I’m naturally curious and enjoy learning new tools and methods to stay ahead and bring fresh ideas. People describe me as approachable, reliable, and patient, which helps build trust and openness with clients and their teams. I also hold my SHRM-CP certification, which strengthens my knowledge of effective people management and HR best practices. Ultimately, I want to be a steady partner who helps healthcare practices not just survive but thrive with confidence and ease."

Magda Salazar

Magda is an operator’s operator. She’s worked in public systems and private ventures and brings calm, confidence, and change management expertise to the table. She’s especially strong in orgs that are post-startup, pre-enterprise—and stuck in that messy middle.

What she’s known for:

• Leading systems and team culture transformations
  
  
• Deep understanding of educational,  nonprofit, service-based, and Latino-focused organizations
  
  
• Strong cross-sector partnership and relationship management capacity

The Digital Reference Team had the chance to connect 1-on-1 with Magda, ask her a few questions about her fractional approach, and uncover the human behind the work - here's what we learned:

Magda, What's your typical approach to client engagements?

"I start by building trust and ensure client success remains the top priority."

What type of clients are the best fit for you?

"Client that are open to self-reflection and adaptation. Clients that are ready to adopt new processes, and value transparency."

What are your specialties or professional superpowers?

"I lead with empathy and patience, this helps clients recognize and understand gaps, and enables us to challenge and iterate on processes together."

What else should your clients know about you?

"I want their success as much as they do. The developing results and process may not be what was originally envisioned but their success is my success."

What soft skills do you bring to the table?

"Objectivity and integrity are foundational to me and how I work with teams."

Matt Jones

Owner, Directions Consulting Group

Matt brings north-of-635 polish and downtown Dallas grit. As the founder of Directions Consulting Group, he specializes in helping small to mid-sized businesses develop operational infrastructure that lasts. He’s a great fit for companies entering growth mode—and especially sharp at aligning people, process, and performance.

What he’s known for:

• Helping businesses transition from founder-led chaos to team-driven clarity
  
  
• Leading operational turnarounds with empathy and discipline
  
  
• Experience across professional services, edtech, and mission-driven orgs

Matt is driven by a commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion, he has managed sales, marketing and customer service teams both large and small. He’ll bring data analytics expertise to the table to help set policy, budgets, and strategies; tying those back to financial and performance objectives that are aggressive, achievable, and measurable.

Jason Scoggins

Founder, Atlatl Business Solutions

Jason is Dallas-Fort Worth to the core: grounded, approachable, and strategic. Through Atlatl Business Solutions, he supports teams that need more than just advice—they need traction. With roots in operational consulting, Jason brings a dual perspective that’s invaluable for education and service-oriented orgs.

What he’s known for:

• Building systems and rhythms of accountability for small teams
  
  
• Operational support for English and Spanish speaking teams
  
  
• Leading with clarity and coaching during high-change periods

Additionally, Jason is a Six Sigma Black Belt and 6-time business founder/owner, I bring award-winning leadership to the table. He has been recognized as a Top Forty Under Forty, Emerging Business of the Year, Top 100 Privately Owned, and a handful of other awards. 

Bill Mattoon

Managing Partner, BT Solutions Group

Bill’s client base stretches from Fort Worth’s warehouse innovation corridors to the boardrooms of Dallas-based private equity firms. As managing partner of BT Solutions Group, he’s the kind of operator who delivers high-accountability execution with zero fluff.

What he’s known for:

• Serving as an interim integrator for leadership teams post-acquisition
  
  
• Bringing operational structure to scaling companies and investor-backed orgs
  
  
• A trusted advisor to both investors and founders

Bill has industry experience in:

🛒 CPG & Beverage 

📦 E-commerce, Fulfillment & Marketing 

🏭 Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Commercialization

Griffin Warner

Founder, Griffin Strategic

Griffin splits his time between growth-stage startups and founder-led tech teams—many of which call Dallas home. With a focus on analytics, ops design, and team optimization, he helps young companies look and run like seasoned ones.

What he’s known for:

• Translating founder vision into executable systems
  
  
• Building data infrastructure and ops dashboards that actually get used
  
  
• Partnering with early-stage orgs as a long-term operational strategist
  
  

Meg Rockman

Owner, Rockman Consulting LLC

Meg’s approach is all about quiet power. She’s an operator who thrives in environments that value people as much as process. Many of her clients are based in Dallas’s creative and product-driven sectors, and she’s especially skilled at managing org design and team rhythm through growth.

What she’s known for:

• Building people and process systems that support hybrid and remote teams
  
  
• Strong EQ: known for culture-preserving change management
  
  
• Helping education nonprofits and school networks professionalize ops
  
  

Why Dallas–Fort Worth?

DFW has one of the fastest-growing economies in the country—but it’s not just oil and real estate anymore. The region has quietly become a hub for:

• Education and workforce innovation (shoutout to Tarrant County College and Dallas College)
  
  
• High-growth SaaS and service firms based in Plano, Addison, and Las Colinas
  
  
• Nonprofits and mission-driven orgs working across K–12 and postsecondary landscapes
  
  

These companies don’t always have the budget (or the need) for a full-time COO. But they do need someone who can operationalize growth. That’s exactly what these fractional leaders are doing.

Want to Go Deeper?

If this list got your gears turning, we recommend exploring these pieces next:

• Operations Consultants & What They Actually Do?
• Fractional COOs by Region and Country
• Fractional COO or Outsourced COO - Choosing the Right Fit for Your Business
  
  

These guides break down not just the who but the how behind the rise of fractional operations—and what it means for scaling teams.

Digital Reference: Helping You Navigate What’s Next

At Digital Reference, we’re here to decode the modern world of work. That means surfacing the real players doing the real work—especially behind the scenes. Whether you’re building your leadership team or rethinking your operating model, we’re here to make sure you have the context (and contacts) to move with clarity.

Have a fractional leader in DFW you think we should add to this list? Drop us a line at hello@digitalreference.co — we're just getting started.

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