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Best Fractional COO Services in Los Angeles
Top Los Angeles Outsourced COO Services & Fractional Chief Operating Officers (COOs)
Behind every growing company is an operator quietly making the gears turn. In the fast-paced, creative, and often chaotic business ecosystem of Los Angeles, fractional COOs have emerged as the go-to solution for founders, CEOs, and leadership teams seeking scalable operational excellence without the cost of a full-time executive.
From Venice to Downtown LA, from Long Beach to Anaheim, these fractional Chief Operating Officers bring structure, clarity, and momentum to fast-growing organizations. They work across industries—from DTC to SaaS to entertainment—advising, building, and executing with precision.
At Digital Reference, we believe in lifting the veil on talent. Our mission is to build a more efficient, transparent, and human-centered talent ecosystem. This curated list features some of the most compelling fractional COOs in the Greater Los Angeles area. These are the leaders turning founder chaos into scalable systems—and making things happen behind the scenes.
Our Methodology - How We Selected the Best Interim, Outsourced, and Fractional COO Services in Los Angeles
To build this list, we evaluated fractional operators based on the following:
- Active fractional COO or executive operator status
- Physical presence or active client base in Los Angeles, Long Beach, or Anaheim
- Public visibility via LinkedIn, personal websites, or firm platforms
- Demonstrated leadership in strategy, execution, team building, and scaling operations
- Alignment with Digital Reference’s values of authenticity, transparency, and verified expertise
Each leader in this guide is not only operationally sound—they bring a unique perspective, proven outcomes, and a mission-aligned approach.
Meet The Best Fractional COO & Outsourced COO Services in Los Angeles
Robert Johns
Founder & Fractional COO at Robert Johns Consulting
🔗 LinkedIn | Robert Johns Consulting
Robert Johns is a seasoned fractional COO with over 20 years of leadership experience helping companies strengthen their operational backbone and scale with confidence. Through Robert Johns Consulting, he partners with founders and executive teams to streamline processes, align teams, and translate strategic goals into measurable business outcomes. His background spans startups, high-growth ventures, and established organizations navigating transformation and scaling challenges.
Highlights:
⚙️ Operational strategy and business process optimization
👥 Team alignment and leadership execution
📈 Proven experience guiding companies through rapid growth
🧠 Vision-to-execution frameworks that drive results
Robert represents the kind of hands-on operational leadership that brings clarity, structure, and sustainable growth to high-stakes environments.
Christian Erlendson
Fractional COO & Operational Executive
🔗 LinkedIn
Christian Erlendson is a strategic, results-driven operational leader with deep experience across industrial services, energy, and residential construction. Known for his ability to drive transformation in complex, high-risk environments, Christian brings a kinetic approach to operational excellence—one that moves from strategy to execution with precision. His career is marked by measurable impact, including significant cost reductions, productivity gains, and scalable systems that improve over time.
Highlights:
📊 P&L leadership, budgeting, and cost control
⚙️ Operations, project, and change management
🌱 Sustainability, risk management, and compliance
🔁 M&A, stakeholder engagement, and cross-functional leadership
Christian exemplifies high-caliber fractional leadership—bringing C-suite discipline, executional rigor, and adaptable strategy to organizations navigating growth, transition, or turnaround.
Ashish Gupta
Founder & Fractional COO at ScaleUpExec
🔗 LinkedIn | ScaleUpExec
Ashish Gupta is the founder of ScaleUpExec and a fractional COO with over 20 years of executive experience in strategy, operations, and business development. He specializes in helping early- and mid-stage startups build scalable, investor-ready operational foundations. Ashish is known for his systems-driven mindset and his ability to prepare companies for fundraising and major growth inflection points.
Highlights:
📈 Startup and scale-up operational strategy
📊 KPIs, growth modeling, and process optimization
🚀 SaaS, professional services, and consumer tech experience
🤝 Founder mentorship and execution support
Ashish represents the operational partner founders rely on when preparing for scale, capital, and long-term success.
Mia Bjorkroos
Fractional COO & Founder at Mia-B Consulting
🔗 LinkedIn | mia-b.com
Mia Bjorkroos is a Los Angeles–based fractional COO with a global perspective, partnering with purpose-driven founders to bring structure to operational chaos. Through her consultancy, she blends emotional intelligence with executional rigor—helping teams scale without losing their culture. Mia is especially known for her people-first approach to building systems that last.
Highlights:
👥 People systems and founder enablement
🌍 International operations and startup leadership
⚙️ Inclusive, values-driven scaling
🧠 Calm, structured leadership in high-emotion environments
Mia helps organizations turn culture into systems and operations into a true competitive advantage.
Why LA Is a Hotbed for Fractional Ops Talent
Los Angeles is a city where creativity, culture, and commerce converge. It’s also home to a wide range of businesses—from entertainment studios and DTC brands to fintech startups and social impact ventures. This diversity, paired with the rise of hybrid work and flexible talent models, makes LA the perfect environment for fractional executives.
Companies here are:
- Seeking hands-on, senior leadership without full-time costs
- Building with lean, agile teams that need operational clarity
- Moving fast and need trusted operators who can hit the ground running
Fractional COOs offer a unique bridge between the chaotic founder phase and the structured growth stage—bringing maturity without slowing down momentum.
What Makes a Great Fractional COO?
Every operator is different, but the best fractional COOs tend to:
- Align quickly with founder vision
- Bring cross-functional experience (finance, product, HR, ops)
- Communicate clearly across teams
- Know when to build systems and when to get scrappy
- Have a strong POV and emotional intelligence
They’re not just execution machines—they’re thought partners, culture carriers, and organizational builders.
The Digital Reference Perspective
At Digital Reference, we see fractional leaders as the future of executive work. They move between clients, solve diverse problems, and leave behind systems that scale. But unlike traditional executives, they often lack a single narrative to prove their impact.
That’s why we’re building a platform for fractional professionals to:
- Capture verified testimonials and accomplishments
- Organize and present structured work history
- Build reputation, not just resumes
Our mission is to make it easier for businesses to find the right leaders—and for professionals to own their story.
The Digital Reference Lens - Fractional Operations Leadership is The Future
At Digital Reference, we’re not just surfacing names—we’re changing how executive talent is discovered, evaluated, and celebrated. Our platform enables fractional leaders to:
- Capture structured accomplishments
- Collect portable, verified references
- Present their work with radical authenticity
Guides like this are part of our broader mission: to make the talent ecosystem more transparent, more human, and more efficient. A few more guides worth looking into:
- Best Platforms to Hire Fractional COOs
- Full Directory of Local Fractional COO Listings
- Best Communities for Operations Professionals
We believe the future of work doesn’t live in resumes—it lives in reputation, results, and relationships.
Final Thoughts
Whether you’re running a Series A SaaS startup, a DTC brand, or a creative studio, the need for operational excellence doesn’t go away. But hiring a full-time COO might not be the right fit.
That’s where the leaders on this list come in. Ashish, Mia, Christian, and Henry represent a new generation of executive talent—modular, strategic, and impact-driven.
They’re not just making things happen. They’re making things work.
Check Out Our Local Directories of Fractional COO, Outsourced COO Services & Interim COOs by City
Ann Arbor, MI - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
Ann Arbor startups and research-driven firms are turning to fractional ops leaders for precision execution and growth strategy.
Atlanta, GA - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
In a city that blends enterprise and startup energy, Atlanta companies lean on COOs who can unify vision and operations.
Boston, MA - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
From biotech to B2B SaaS, Boston’s ops leaders bring structure and speed to innovation-heavy teams.
Chicago, IL - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
COOs in the Windy City are helping companies align their back-end systems with bold front-end goals.
Denver, CO - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
Denver’s scale-ups are calling in fractional execs to professionalize their operations without slowing their culture.
Detroit, MI - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
With roots in manufacturing and momentum in mobility, Detroit companies rely on fractional COOs for systems that scale.
Houston, Texas - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
Houston’s operational ecosystem is evolving fast. More startups are scaling. More nonprofits are serving complex needs.
London, United Kingdom - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
Fractional COO Services are sky-rocketing in popularity in London as labor costs go up and time to market is accelerating.
Los Angeles, CA - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
In LA, creative industries meet tech—and fractional COOs bring the operational clarity these hybrid teams need.
Philadelphia, PA - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
Fractional COO Services in Philly are ensuring East Coast startups and high growth companies have the right structure to survive.
Phoenix, AZ - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
Phoenix-based COOs help founders transition from hustle to structured scale with systems that grow.
San Francisco, CA - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
Bay Area COOs are stepping in to help tech companies streamline, automate, and stabilize post-funding growth.
Seattle, WA - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
In Seattle’s product-driven landscape, ops leaders drive alignment between engineering, GTM, and finance.
Sydney, Australia - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
Home to Canva, growing base of purpose-led enterprises, and increasing demand for agile executive leadership, Sydney has become a hotbed for operational talent that doesn’t require a full-time seat.
Toronto, Canada - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
Toronto doesn’t just build startups—it builds systems. It’s a city where public meets private, where the startup ecosystem is growing alongside government programs, universities, and a rising impact economy. But for all its innovation, hiring executive talent in Toronto has always come with nuance.
Washington, DC (DMV Area) - Part-Time COOs & Fractional COO Services
DC-area operators bring rigor and regulatory awareness—perfect for mission-driven orgs and gov-adjacent teams.
Explore their services. Build intentionally. And document your journey with Digital Reference.
– The Digital Reference Team
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