Fractional Product Leadership
Experienced product leadership when the business needs it most
Organizations do not always need, or have time to wait for, a permanent product executive.
A leadership transition, stalled growth, strategic reset, acquisition, transformation initiative, or underperforming product organization may require senior product leadership now. Faust Forward provides experienced fractional and interim product leadership to help executives stabilize the organization, clarify direction, strengthen decision-making, and move critical work forward.
This is not advisory support from the sidelines. It is hands-on product leadership focused on the business outcomes that matter.
When fractional product leadership makes sense
Fractional or interim product leadership can be valuable when:
A senior product leader has departed or is about to leave
The company is not yet ready to hire a full-time CPO or VP of Product
Growth has stalled, and the product strategy needs to be reassessed
Product, UX, technology, sales, and marketing are not aligned
The roadmap lacks focus, credibility, or connection to business priorities
The product organization needs a stronger structure, accountability, or leadership
An existing product leader needs experienced executive support
A major transformation, acquisition, or portfolio decision is underway
The company needs to evaluate what kind of permanent product leadership it should hire
The goal is not simply to fill a vacant seat. It is to give the organization the leadership, clarity, and momentum required to make better product and business decisions.
What Faust Forward can lead
Product and portfolio strategy
Clarify where the company will compete, which customer problems matter most, how products should be differentiated, and where to concentrate investment.
Leadership and organizational alignment
Align executives and functional leaders around product priorities, decision rights, responsibilities, and shared business outcomes.
Product and portfolio strategy
Eleanor's background spans education, coaching, and creative development. With a strong focus on process and progress, Eleanor helps learners move from where they are to where they want to be—one step at a time.
What Faust Forward can lead
The work is shaped around the needs of the business, but commonly includes:
Align executives and functional leaders around product priorities, decision rights, responsibilities, and shared business outcomes.
Product and UX team leadership
Coach and lead product and UX teams, strengthen accountability, clarify roles, improve management practices, and build confidence across the organization.
Roadmap and portfolio prioritization
Create greater discipline around investment decisions, tradeoffs, sequencing, portfolio complexity, and the connection between the roadmap and business strategy.
Customer and market evidence
Strengthen how the company gathers, evaluates, and uses customer insight, market evidence, product performance data, and commercial signals.
Product operating model
Improve planning, discovery, prioritization, decision-making, cross-functional collaboration, and the way work moves from strategy through execution.
Growth and go-to-market alignment
Connect product decisions more directly to adoption, retention, revenue, positioning, sales enablement, and customer experience.
Leadership transition and hiring support
Stabilize the organization during a transition, define the future leadership role, assess candidates, and help onboard a permanent product executive.
What the engagement may look like
Fractional leadership is designed to provide meaningful executive capacity without defaulting to a full-time structure.
Depending on the situation, the engagement may include:
Participation in the executive leadership team
Direct leadership of product and UX functions
Regular work with the CEO, board, or investors
Leadership of strategic planning and portfolio reviews
Coaching of product leaders and managers
Cross-functional alignment with technology, sales, marketing, operations, and finance
Executive decision support
Oversight of critical product initiatives
Support during leadership searches and transitions
Engagements may be structured as ongoing fractional leadership, a defined interim assignment, or an initial diagnostic followed by focused execution support.
What good fractional leadership should accomplish
The value of fractional leadership is not measured by the number of meetings attended or frameworks introduced.
A successful engagement should leave the organization with:
Clearer product and portfolio strategy
Better executive alignment
Stronger product and UX leadership
More disciplined investment and prioritization decisions
Greater confidence in the roadmap
Better use of customer and market evidence
Stronger connection between product work and business performance
More accountable and effective teams
A practical plan for long-term product leadership
The objective is not to make the organization dependent on an outside leader. It is to build the clarity, capability, and operating discipline needed for sustained performance.
Why Faust Forward
Phil Faust has led large digital product portfolios, built and improved product organizations, supported business transformation, and worked across SaaS, education, publishing, staffing, professional services, and emerging technology environments.
His experience connects product strategy, user experience, customer insight, revenue, operations, and organizational leadership.
Faust Forward brings the perspective of a senior operator with the breadth and objectivity of a consultant. The work is practical, evidence-based, and focused on helping leaders make better choices—not adding more process for its own sake.
Fractional, interim, or advisory?
Not every organization needs the same level of support.
Fractional leadership
Best when the company needs ongoing executive product leadership on a part-time basis.
Interim leadership
Best when the company needs a temporary product executive to lead through a transition, search, transformation, or critical business period.
Executive advisory
Best when an existing product leader or CEO needs experienced guidance, decision support, and an objective outside perspective.
Faust Forward can help determine which model best fits the organization’s needs.
Start with the business problem
The first conversation is not about forcing the situation into a predefined package.
It is about understanding what the organization is facing, what decisions need to be made, and whether fractional or interim product leadership is the right response.
Not sure whether you need a fractional leader, an interim executive, or a broader product assessment?