Hire Interim COOs

Hire the Top 3% of Freelance Interim COOs

Hire interim COOs, on demand. Top companies and startups choose interim COOs from Toptal for strategic leadership, operational efficiency improvements, scalable business processes, interim executive management, and more.

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Trusted by leading brands and startups

Hire Freelance Interim COOs

Henry Yoon

Freelance Interim COO
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
UTC-08:00
Canada
Toptal Member Since June 8, 2022

After spending his last five years as a C-level executive with a 17-year corporate career on his belt, Henry decided to be in management consulting to help clients make tough business decisions in any given business setting, minimizing risks yet maximizing values. Henry enjoys freelancing because it allows him to assist clients more creatively, not limited by only a few schools of thought.

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Josh Bornstein

Freelance Interim COO
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
UTC-07:00
United States
Toptal Member Since July 1, 2022

Josh is an experienced early-stage venture investor, having sat on boards of SaaS and consumer startups in the US and India over the past 15 years. Josh worked closely with founders in multiple sectors, including vertical SaaS platforms, healthtech, fintech, audio infrastructure, no-code data science platforms, and consumer brands. Josh is willing to continue helping companies with hiring, product roadmap strategy, product-market fit, and growth.

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Pravin Raj

Freelance Interim COO
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
UTC-06:00
United States
Toptal Member Since February 15, 2023

Pravin excels at empowering strategic ambitions with the minimum of surprises. With 30+ years of experience, including AWS and Cisco, he has been a COO, professional services leader, management consultant, portfolio manager, software engineer, evangelist, marketer, and author. Pravin has led distributed teams on every continent, built teams of 15-1,500+, managed multi-hundred-million-dollar P&Ls, and delivered customer outcomes with a CSAT of 9.4/10 across 1,000+ clients.

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Andon Baltakov

Freelance Interim COO
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
UTC-05:00
United States
Toptal Member Since May 9, 2022

Andon is a business operations executive with 15+ years of experience leading product launches, cross-functional coordination, and operational scaling in media and technology. He's an expert in building operational frameworks from concept to execution, managing stakeholder relationships, and driving growth initiatives in fast-paced environments. Andon has led product development and business transformation efforts, guiding organizations from startup scaling to major institutional operations.

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Joseph Valentic

Freelance Interim COO
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
UTC-05:00
United States
Toptal Member Since November 9, 2018

Joe has 30+ years of middle-market financial services experience as an investment banker, CFO/COO, strategy consultant, public accountant, banker, and board leader. He excels with strategic planning, fractional CFO, pitch deck creation, fundraising, FP&A, M&A due diligence, and research. Joe helps businesses achieve their growth goals by integrating strategy, fractional executive services, financial planning, and capital placement services.

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Gayemarie Brown

Freelance Interim COO
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
UTC-05:00
United States
Toptal Member Since September 30, 2022

Gayemarie is a management consultant, fractional COO, and strategist with 25+ years of experience at global firms. She specializes in digital transformation, AI (agentic, generative, data), large-scale organizational change, strategic planning, board succession, and technology adoption. A sought-after advisor in AI readiness, strategy, data, operations, organizational change, and martech, Gayemarie has led programs exceeding $500 million in strategic advisory and leadership roles.

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Peer Hackman

Freelance Interim COO
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
UTC+00:00
United Kingdom
Toptal Member Since August 24, 2022

Peer is a senior strategy consultant and executive with over 25 years of experience advising Fortune 500 enterprises and venture-backed startups across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. With a tier-1 consulting background from McKinsey, PwC, Capgemini, and BearingPoint, he has also held C-suite roles such as CCO, CMO, CSO, and COO at Orange, Vodafone, Webhelp, and Capita. Peer specializes in growth strategy, market entry, digital and AI transformation, PMI, and operating-model design.

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Gavin Glick

Freelance Interim COO
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
UTC+02:00
Israel
Toptal Member Since October 17, 2017

Gavin has spent 15 years building and growing companies from scratch to profitability. At Peregrine, he successfully established new hedge funds and raised R1 billion in new assets. As a freelance financial expert, Gavin specializes in advising B2C and B2B mobile commerce and mobile app businesses to maximize cost per acquisition, ROI and sales via data-driven analysis, business modeling, and building customized KPI dashboards.

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Mohammad Reda

Freelance Interim COO
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
UTC+02:00
United Arab Emirates
Toptal Member Since May 18, 2022

Mohammad has over two decades of experience across diverse emerging markets and holds an MBA. As a business excellence advisor, he's helped SMEs and startups build their business models and structures to achieve remarkable growth and advised on funding needs. He also has extensive experience in digital transformation through postgraduate studies and in reengineering processes and teams to enter new markets. Mohammad joined Toptal to help clients create global success stories.

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Pratik Malladi

Freelance Interim COO
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
UTC+05:00
India
Toptal Member Since September 9, 2021

Pratik has 14 years of experience in accounting, tax, corporate finance, M&A, due diligence, entrepreneurship, and pre-investment appraisals for corporate M&As, and private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) transactions. As an associate VP, he executed advisory assignments for some of the largest corporates, PE, and VC houses across sectors. Pratik advised on more than 50 domestic and global transactions with deal sizes up to several billion US dollars.

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Johan Bergendorff

Freelance Interim COO
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
UTC+08:00
Singapore
Toptal Member Since June 10, 2021

Johan began his career with PwC, advising on some of the most prominent private equity transactions in the UK and the Nordics. Following a decade as an M&A advisor, he took up a position with a billionaire investor, focusing on turnaround investments, including a US publicly-traded company where he was parachuted in as CFO. Johan held the position of CFO and COO for ConnectedLife, a medical technology company, successfully raising $2.5 million over Zoom during the COVID lockdown in Spring 2020.

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Toptal in the press

... allows corporations to quickly assemble teams that have the right skills for specific projects.

Despite accelerating demand for coders, Toptal prides itself on almost Ivy League-level vetting.

Our clients
Creating an app for the game
Conor Kenney
Creating an app for the game
Leading a digital transformation
Elmar Platzer
Leading a digital transformation
Building a cross-platform app to be used worldwide
Building a cross-platform app to be used worldwide
Drilling into real-time data creates an industry game changer
Drilling into real-time data creates an industry game changer
Testimonials

How to Hire Interim COOs Through Toptal

1

Talk to One of Our Client Advisors

A Toptal client advisor will work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics.
2

Work With Hand-selected Talent

Within days, we’ll introduce you to the right interim COO for your project. Average time to match is under 24 hours.
3

The Right Fit, Guaranteed

Work with your new interim COO for a trial period (pay only if satisfied), ensuring they’re the right fit before starting the engagement.

EXCEPTIONAL TALENT

How We Source the Top 3% of Interim COOs

Our name “Toptal” comes from Top Talent—meaning we constantly strive to find and work with the best from around the world. Our rigorous screening process identifies experts in their domains who have passion and drive.

Of the thousands of applications Toptal sees each month, typically fewer than 3% are accepted.

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Capabilities of Interim COOs

An interim COO provides strategic leadership and operational expertise to drive efficiency and stability during transitional periods. With a deep understanding of financial processes, performance optimization, and team management, they streamline operations, boost profitability, and maintain business continuity for long-term success.

Strategic Financial Planning

Strategic financial planning involves developing and executing short-term financial strategies to stabilize cash flow, optimize resources, and drive financial performance. Toptal provisional COOs have extensive experience crafting tailored financial plans that help businesses navigate transitions while maintaining operational stability.

Cash Flow Management

Cash flow management focuses on monitoring, forecasting, and optimizing money movement within a business to maintain liquidity and financial health. Our interim COOs apply advanced financial modeling and forecasting techniques to help companies meet obligations, manage working capital, and prevent cash shortages.

Operational Efficiency Improvements

Improving operational efficiency requires identifying inefficiencies, streamlining workflows, and implementing cost-saving measures without affecting productivity or quality. Toptal COOs have a proven track record of optimizing processes, eliminating redundancies, and enhancing cross-departmental collaboration to drive sustainable growth.

Financial Risk Assessment and Mitigation

Assessing financial risks involves evaluating potential threats related to operations, investments, and regulatory changes and implementing strategies to mitigate them. Our interim Chief Operating Officers are skilled in risk analysis and developing proactive measures that safeguard assets, support compliance, and help businesses remain resilient in uncertain markets.

Budgeting and Forecasting

Budgeting and forecasting involve creating financial plans that allocate resources effectively and predict future economic conditions. Toptal interim COOs excel at developing precise financial forecasts that provide actionable insights, helping businesses align budgets with strategic goals and optimize financial decision-making.

Crisis Management and Turnaround Strategy

Crisis management and turnaround strategies focus on stabilizing operations, addressing financial distress, and executing recovery plans. Our provisional COOs bring extensive experience in diagnosing business challenges, implementing corrective actions, and guiding companies toward long-term stability and growth.

Leadership and Team Alignment

Effective leadership and team alignment involve bringing finance, operations, and other key departments together to achieve common business objectives. Toptal interim COOs are seasoned leaders who foster collaboration, maintain team morale, and drive alignment during times of transition.

Mergers, Acquisitions, and Restructuring

Mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring require due diligence, integration planning, and operational realignment to optimize business value. Our interim COOs have deep expertise in managing complex financial transitions, ensuring smooth integrations, and maximizing synergies for long-term success.

KPI Development and Monitoring

Key performance indicator (KPI) development and monitoring involve establishing measurable financial and operational benchmarks to track progress and inform decision-making. Toptal interim Chief Operating Officers design and implement KPI frameworks that provide insights into business performance and drive continuous improvement.

Interim Reporting and Stakeholder Communication

Interim reporting and stakeholder communication involve providing transparent financial and operational updates to investors, board members, and executives. Toptal interim COOs deliver clear, data-driven reports that build confidence, support decision-making, and maintain trust during leadership transitions.

FAQs

  • Typically, you can hire interim COOs with Toptal in about 48 hours. For larger teams of talent or full end-to-end project delivery, timelines may vary. Our talent matchers are highly skilled in the same fields they’re matching in—they’re not recruiters or HR reps. They’ll work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics, and match you with ideal candidates from our vetted global talent network.

    Once you select your interim COO, you’ll have a no-risk trial period to ensure they’re the perfect fit. Our matching process has a 98% trial-to-hire rate, so you can rest assured that you’re getting the best fit every time.

  • To hire the right interim COO, it’s important to evaluate a candidate’s experience, technical skills, and communication skills. You’ll also want to consider the fit with your particular industry, company, and project. Toptal’s rigorous screening process ensures that every member of our network has excellent experience and skills, and our team will match you with the perfect interim COOs for your project.

  • At Toptal, we thoroughly screen our interim COOs to ensure we only match you with the highest caliber of talent. Of the more than 200,000 people who apply to join the Toptal network each year, fewer than 3% make the cut.

    In addition to screening for industry-leading expertise, we also assess candidates’ language and interpersonal skills to ensure that you have a smooth working relationship.

    When you hire interim COOs with Toptal, you’ll always work with world-class, custom-matched interim COOs ready to help you achieve your goals.

  • You can hire interim COOs on an hourly, part-time, or full-time basis. Toptal can also manage the project end-to-end based on your specific requirements as part of our Consulting and Services offerings. Whether you hire a interim COO for a full- or part-time position, you’ll have the control and flexibility to scale your team up or down as your needs evolve. Our interim COOs can fully integrate into your existing team for a seamless working experience.

  • We make sure that each engagement between you and your interim COO begins with a trial period of up to two weeks. This means that you have time to confirm the engagement will be successful. If you’re completely satisfied with the results, we’ll bill you for the time and continue the engagement for as long as you’d like. If you’re not completely satisfied, you won’t be billed. From there, we can either part ways, or we can provide you with another interim COO who may be a better fit and with whom we will begin a second, no-risk trial.

  • Hire a full-time COO when operations become too complex or time-consuming for your existing leadership to effectively manage. This is typically during a sustained growth period or after a major shift in direction, when founders need to refocus on high-level strategy and long-term goals. A dedicated COO can bring structure, momentum, and a long-term lens to keep your business moving in the right direction.

Toptal Lets You Hire Fast,
With Unparalleled Success

  • Trusted Talent Only

    Trusted Talent Only

    Our talent network is composed of thoroughly vetted professionals who ramp up quickly, function as essential team members, and deliver results.

  • Precise Matching

    Precise Matching

    Our experienced talent matchers specialize in identifying talent that fits your needs. They work to understand your exact requirements and hand-select the best professionals for your project.

  • Seamless Hiring

    Seamless Hiring

    We handle all aspects of billing, payments, and NDAs, streamlining the hiring process so you can focus on innovation, not overhead.

  • No-risk Trial Period

    No-risk Trial Period

    We want to be sure your engagement is a total success, so we offer a no-risk trial period. Work with your new hire for up to two weeks and pay only if you’re satisfied.

  • Effortless Scaling

    Effortless Scaling

    We help you scale your team up or down as needed, with quick and efficient hiring in under 48 hours.

  • Flexible Engagements

    Flexible Engagements

    Our flexible engagement models allow you to choose the engagement type that suits your needs and adjust it anytime: hourly, part time, or full time.

Top Interim COOs Are in High Demand.

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