Capacity gaps have a shape. Someone goes on leave. A new initiative needs a senior owner for two quarters. A market needs exploring before anyone commits headcount to it. The need is real, hands-on and senior — and it has an end date.
The worst response to a shaped gap is an unshaped solution: a rushed permanent hire, chosen from whoever was available in a six-week window, for a role that may not exist next year.
What good looks like for a defined gap
- Senior and hands-on, not advisory. A gap needs someone who ships from week one — inside your tools, your standup, your Slack. Deck-writers need not apply.
- Part-time by default. Most gaps are two or three days a week of the right person, not five days of an average one. Pay for the days the work needs.
- Sector-adjacent experience. Marketplaces, subscription products, e-commerce, B2B — someone who has seen your motion before and doesn’t spend month one learning the category.
- A clean contractual shape. One agreement with a partner, not an employment relationship with an individual. When the gap closes, the engagement closes — cleanly, on the date you set.
- A handover built in from day one. The measure of a good interim operator is what remains after they leave: documented systems, a trained team, a decision log. Insist on it.
Flexible. A short sprint, fractional ongoing, or full ownership — the shape of the engagement should follow the shape of the gap.
The timeline reality
A permanent hire takes a quarter to sign and another quarter to ramp — the gap is over before they’re effective. An embedded operator from a vetted bench starts in two weeks: signed NDA to working operators in 14 days is our standing pace. For a 3–6 month need, that difference isn’t convenience. It’s the whole point.
If you’re looking at exactly this shape of gap, the fastest way to see names and rates is to request the rate card — it comes with a first indication for your setup within one working day.
Questions we get on this
What information do you need to propose someone for a gap?
One or two lines on the gap, the sector, and roughly how many days a week you’re thinking. You get the rate card plus a first indication — which roles, what intensity — within one working day.
Can the engagement end early or extend?
Both. The contract is built for defined periods: extend if the initiative grows, close cleanly on the agreed date if it doesn’t. No retainer floor holding it open.
What does a good handover look like at the end?
Documented systems, a trained team member where possible, and a decision log. The measure of a good interim operator is what still runs after they’ve left.
