I’m a fractional and interim Chief Product Officer. I step in when a company is growing fast, going through change, or bringing AI into the product, and I lead the work from inside the team, not from a slide deck.
Most companies I work with need to transform at scale and with urgency. I’m a systems thinker, and real transformation starts with the right systems. As an experienced outside voice, I bring an honest read on what those need to be. The other half is people. Lasting change depends on a team that’s empowered to run the organization once it’s built, and developing that team is as much my work as the strategy. I’ve done this across many companies and industries, and I can step in and give you a clear path forward.
More about Julie →Fully embedded product leadership through a transition or scale-up moment.
Learn more →Ongoing senior partnership, owning product strategy part-time.
Learn more →Lighter-touch guidance for CEOs and internal product leaders.
Learn more →Executive coaching for leaders moving through the scale-up chasm.
Learn more →Defining purpose, vision, mission, and values, then building the operating model and product delivery process underneath. Often paired with any of the four tracks above.
Learn more →“The most durable thing I can leave behind isn’t a roadmap. It’s a stronger, more confident, and empowered product organization.”
Julie Kopp, Fractional & Interim CPO
A fractional CPO is a senior product executive who joins part-time to lead product strategy, scale the organization, and own delivery. They drive the work and own the outcome, rather than advising from the sidelines.
The difference is how much of me the work needs, not how long it runs. Interim is full-time and fully embedded: 75–100% of a full-time role, four to five days a week, usually covering a leadership gap or a fast-moving transformation. Fractional is a part-time partnership at 25–50%, one to three days a week, for companies that need senior product leadership without a full-time hire. Duration varies with what the company needs; it isn’t what separates the two.
Engagements are priced as a retainer scoped to the actual work: a lighter strategic-advisory or “hold the fort down” engagement costs less than a fractional role leading a full organizational transformation. Reach out for pricing specific to your situation.
Common moments: the current product leader may not be the right fit for the company’s next stage, a permanent hire is months away, or the organization needs experienced leadership now to lead through growth, an AI adoption push, or a leadership transition.
30+ years across SaaS, healthcare, cybersecurity, financial services, supply chain, oil & gas, and telecomm. That cross-industry pattern recognition is something most single-industry fractional CPOs don’t bring.
AI is a tool, and increasingly a necessary one, but there’s no single blueprint for it. Some companies use it to automate internal workflows; some build it into the product itself. What’s right depends on where a company is in its growth and what makes sense now versus later. What doesn’t vary is what has to be underneath: an organizational system that can support AI at the foundation, and the scaffolding above it, the frameworks, processes, and governance that let a team build with AI and manage how it gets used. Buying the tool without building that is where most AI efforts stall.
Interim CPO: 6 months to 1 year or more. Fractional CPO: 6-month minimum. Strategic Advisor: 3-month minimum. Product Coaching: 3-month minimum, 6-month standard length.
Not for full CPO engagements. This work is for scale-up companies past product-market-fit that are growing, going through change, adopting AI, or between product leaders. Coaching may still be a fit for an early-stage founder or product leader.
Transitions are planned, not abrupt. I often shift to a lighter Advisor cadence to support a permanent hire’s first months, which can include helping define the role and sitting in on the hiring process itself.