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Fractional Chief Operating Officer

Position Summary

Crumbs & Whiskers is seeking a Fractional Chief Operating Officer to help oversee, streamline, and strengthen day-to-day operations across the business. This role is responsible for improving operational efficiency, managing budgets and spending, optimizing labor, supporting store leadership, and ensuring the company is operating with clear systems, accountability, and financial discipline.

The Fractional COO will work closely with ownership and senior leadership to identify operational gaps, reduce unnecessary costs, improve workflows, and create sustainable processes that support both the guest experience and the company’s mission. This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who can balance strategy with execution and help bring structure, clarity, and consistency to a fast-moving, mission-driven business.

This is a fractional role expected to require approximately 10-15 hours per week, with some flexibility based on business needs. The position may be performed remotely, with occasional in-person meetings or site visits as needed.

Key Responsibilities

• Operational Oversight: Oversee day-to-day business operations and ensure stores are running efficiently, consistently, and in alignment with company standards. Identify operational bottlenecks and implement systems to improve execution across locations.
• Process Improvement: Evaluate current workflows, policies, and procedures and create streamlined systems that improve accountability, communication, scheduling, ordering, reporting, and overall operational performance.
• Budget Management: Work with leadership to manage store-level and company-wide budgets. Monitor expenses, identify areas of overspending, and help implement cost-control measures without compromising cat care, guest experience, or core business standards.
• Labor Planning: Review staffing models, labor costs, schedules, payroll trends, and store coverage needs. Help ensure labor is appropriately aligned with sales, operational demands, animal care requirements, and financial targets.
• Financial Discipline: Track and analyze key operating metrics, including labor percentage, revenue, expenses, profitability, inventory spend, vendor costs, and store performance. Provide clear recommendations to improve margins and stabilize operations.
• Leadership Support: Work directly with store managers, national management, and ownership to support stronger communication, clearer expectations, and better execution. Provide coaching, accountability, and operational guidance to management teams.
• Spending and Vendor Management: Review recurring expenses, vendor relationships, purchasing habits, supply orders, and service contracts. Identify opportunities to reduce costs, improve vendor terms, and create more disciplined purchasing processes.
• Systems and Reporting: Develop practical reporting tools, dashboards, checklists, and operating rhythms that give leadership better visibility into store performance, financial health, staffing, and operational priorities.
• Problem-Solving: Proactively identify risks, inefficiencies, and recurring issues before they escalate. Create practical solutions that improve day-to-day execution and support long-term sustainability.
• Cross-Functional Coordination: Collaborate with leadership across operations, marketing, finance, rescue partnerships, customer experience, and store management to ensure business priorities are aligned and effectively executed.

Requirements

• Proven experience in operations leadership, business management, or a COO-level role.
• Strong understanding of budgets, labor planning, expense management, and operational KPIs.
• Experience managing or advising multi-location retail, hospitality, service-based, or customer-facing businesses preferred.
• Ability to analyze financial and operational data and turn findings into clear, actionable recommendations.
• Strong leadership, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Comfortable working in a hands-on, fast-paced, and resource-conscious environment.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and able to create structure where systems are unclear or inconsistent.
• Experience building processes, reporting systems, accountability structures, and operational workflows.
• Ability to work collaboratively with ownership, senior leadership, and store-level managers.
• A genuine appreciation for the Crumbs & Whiskers mission and the unique operational needs of a cat cafe environment.

Qualities We’re Looking For

• A strategic operator who can see the big picture while also improving the details of daily execution.
• A calm, practical problem-solver who can bring clarity to messy or inefficient systems.
• Someone who is financially disciplined and understands how to protect margins while maintaining quality.
• A strong communicator who can work with leadership and store teams in a direct, supportive, and collaborative way.
• A hands-on leader who does not just make recommendations, but helps implement them.
• Someone who can create structure, accountability, and consistency without making the business feel overly corporate or rigid.
• A mission-aligned professional who understands that strong operations support better guest experiences, better team performance, and better cat care.

Engagement Type

Fractional / Part-time

Schedule

Approximately 10-15 hours per week, with flexibility based on business needs. Remote work is available, with occasional in-person meetings or site visits as needed.

Compensation

Hourly compensation is negotiable based on experience, scope, and agreed weekly hours.