Top 14 Fractional CHROs to Hire in 2026
The best fractional CHROs bring senior HR leadership without the full-time cost. If your organization needs strategic people leadership but isn't ready for a permanent hire, this list is for you. I've pulled together profiles of top fractional CHROs so you can quickly find the right fit—someone who can step in, drive real impact, and grow with your team.
Top 14 Fractional CHROs
Below are the profiles of the top fractional CHROs, covering who they are and the impact they’ve made in this space.
Chris Payne
Chris Payne founded PayneHR after a 13-year operating tenure that included six years holding CHRO and COO responsibilities while helping scale an organization from four people to more than 500.
Payne combines…
Chris Payne founded PayneHR after a 13-year operating tenure that included six years holding CHRO and COO responsibilities while helping scale an organization from four people to more than 500.
Payne combines fractional CHRO ownership with operations, compliance, AI automation, and AI governance. His work centers on building durable HR infrastructure, strengthening managers, and helping growing multi-state companies handle people decisions with senior-level judgment.
Erica Ellison
Erica Ellison is a fractional CHRO and founder of CoreSight HR Solutions, drawing on three decades of HR leadership across nonprofit, technology, defense, and professional services.
Ellison helps growing organizations build the…
Erica Ellison is a fractional CHRO and founder of CoreSight HR Solutions, drawing on three decades of HR leadership across nonprofit, technology, defense, and professional services.
Ellison helps growing organizations build the people systems and leadership practices needed to scale. Her work spans organizational design, talent, culture, engagement, change management, and executive advising, connecting HR structure with business growth and stronger teams. Her LinkedIn activity also emphasizes scalable HR systems, employee engagement, and intentional change leadership.
Tracie Sponenberg
Tracie Sponenberg advises manufacturers and distributors as a fractional and advisory Chief People Officer after 25 years leading HR in frontline businesses through growth and business change.
Sponenberg focuses on companies where…
Tracie Sponenberg advises manufacturers and distributors as a fractional and advisory Chief People Officer after 25 years leading HR in frontline businesses through growth and business change.
Sponenberg focuses on companies where frontline employees make up much of the workforce and HR teams run lean. She sets people strategy, coaches HR leaders, and leads culture and retention work, bringing executive-level People leadership to manufacturers and distributors on a fractional basis.
Thorsten Eger
Thorsten Eger founded Thorsten Eger Consulting after two decades in senior People and Culture roles at organizations including Deutsche Telekom, Roche, Novartis, and Johnson & Johnson globally.
Eger takes interim and fractional…
Thorsten Eger founded Thorsten Eger Consulting after two decades in senior People and Culture roles at organizations including Deutsche Telekom, Roche, Novartis, and Johnson & Johnson globally.
Eger takes interim and fractional CHRO/CPO mandates through growth, transformation, vacancies, and strategic inflection points. His work spans organizational design, talent, culture, executive coaching, and deliberate handover, with experience across startups, SMEs, and multinationals.
Shalini Phillips
Shalini Phillips is a fractional CHRO and AI-capability architect with 15+ years as a CHRO and senior HR leader, including people leadership at Wattpad, Achievers, Ezra, and OTN Health.
Phillips redesigns HR…
Shalini Phillips is a fractional CHRO and AI-capability architect with 15+ years as a CHRO and senior HR leader, including people leadership at Wattpad, Achievers, Ezra, and OTN Health.
Phillips redesigns HR operating models around AI capability, simplifying tech stacks, rethinking roles, and training teams to sustain the changes. Her fractional work combines CHRO-level judgment with hands-on HR transformation, AI adoption, and organizational design.
Elles Skony
Elles Skony founded Elles & Co. and Fractional People People after nearly two decades in people leadership, including senior talent and culture roles in high-growth technology companies.
Skony helps founders and executive…
Elles Skony founded Elles & Co. and Fractional People People after nearly two decades in people leadership, including senior talent and culture roles in high-growth technology companies.
Skony helps founders and executive teams navigate growth and change by turning values into leadership behaviors, communication rhythms, and accountable systems. She also built Fractional People People, a community for experienced HR practitioners moving into fractional and advisory work.
Sumit Singla
Sumit Singla founded HR+ after 20+ years building people systems and holding senior roles at Deloitte, Aon, and Accenture, bringing enterprise HR experience to growing founder-led companies.
At HR+, Singla brings CHRO-level…
Sumit Singla founded HR+ after 20+ years building people systems and holding senior roles at Deloitte, Aon, and Accenture, bringing enterprise HR experience to growing founder-led companies.
At HR+, Singla brings CHRO-level judgment to growing companies that need senior people leadership without a full-time executive. His work addresses scaling challenges through usable policies, manager capability, organization design, culture, and people systems built for a company’s stage.
Vanessa Phung
Vanessa Phung is founder and CEO of People Haven, a fractional HR firm for small and midsize companies, drawing on experience across startups, high-growth businesses, and Fortune 500 firms.
Phung works with…
Vanessa Phung is founder and CEO of People Haven, a fractional HR firm for small and midsize companies, drawing on experience across startups, high-growth businesses, and Fortune 500 firms.
Phung works with founders and C-suites on people strategy, culture, compensation, engagement, organizational development, and M&A. Her experience includes helping scale a startup from 40 to 1,800 employees, giving her fractional work a strong growth and integration lens.
Lindsay Dagiantis
Lindsay Dagiantis founded blueprintHR after 15+ years leading people operations in growing and complex organizations and now works with companies as a fractional HR leader and founder advisor.
Dagiantis works as both…
Lindsay Dagiantis founded blueprintHR after 15+ years leading people operations in growing and complex organizations and now works with companies as a fractional HR leader and founder advisor.
Dagiantis works as both advisor and operator, building HR foundations for growing companies. Her fractional engagements cover job architecture, compensation, hiring, onboarding, compliance, performance management, and manager coaching, with an emphasis on systems that can support the next stage.
Alicia Goodman
Alicia Goodman founded Namaa Partners, a boutique executive advisory firm focused on leadership, AI, and growth, after more than 20 years of global people and transformation leadership.
Goodman’s work connects organizational design…
Alicia Goodman founded Namaa Partners, a boutique executive advisory firm focused on leadership, AI, and growth, after more than 20 years of global people and transformation leadership.
Goodman’s work connects organizational design and people leadership with business transformation, AI readiness, and growth strategy. Through Namaa Partners, she advises founders, CEOs, boards, and investors when organizations need executive people judgment without a full-time CHRO.
Victoria Yang
Victoria Yang is a fractional People leader and consultant with 20+ years in HR and People Operations, including leadership roles at Bonusly, Looker, Google, Yahoo, and Electronic Arts.
Yang helps startups build…
Victoria Yang is a fractional People leader and consultant with 20+ years in HR and People Operations, including leadership roles at Bonusly, Looker, Google, Yahoo, and Electronic Arts.
Yang helps startups build and refine People programs from early stage through roughly 500 employees. Her fractional and interim work spans compensation, performance management, HR systems, organizational design, coaching, and DEIB, pairing strategic thinking with hands-on implementation.
Bria Porter McCray
Bria Porter McCray founded HRBP Consulting after more than a decade in tech and global HR, including work as a founding Head of People for early-stage startups and remote-first companies.
McCray helps…
Bria Porter McCray founded HRBP Consulting after more than a decade in tech and global HR, including work as a founding Head of People for early-stage startups and remote-first companies.
McCray helps scaling organizations build People strategies around culture, inclusion, leadership development, and sustainable growth. Her experience leading people operations across 30+ countries and teams from 10 to 1,000+ informs her work as a fractional Chief People Officer.
Alison Wood
Alison Wood is an advisor and fractional People executive who leads Wood Advisory, drawing on more than a decade building People functions through growth, scaling, and complex M&A.
Wood advises founder-led, scaling,…
Alison Wood is an advisor and fractional People executive who leads Wood Advisory, drawing on more than a decade building People functions through growth, scaling, and complex M&A.
Wood advises founder-led, scaling, and PE-backed organizations on leadership, talent, and people systems. Her operating experience includes tripling headcount at an early-stage tech company and building rewards and onboarding systems that supported growth from 150 to 750 employees and an exit.
Mandy Kutschied
Mandy Kutschied founded Cup of Culture Consulting after 15+ years in HR and People Operations, helping mission-driven startups, nonprofits, and services organizations build and scale people systems.
Kutschied provides fractional CHRO and…
Mandy Kutschied founded Cup of Culture Consulting after 15+ years in HR and People Operations, helping mission-driven startups, nonprofits, and services organizations build and scale people systems.
Kutschied provides fractional CHRO and HR strategy support for mission-driven organizations. Her work centers on intentional culture, inclusive people systems, leadership partnership, organizational change, and practical HR infrastructure that helps people thrive while the business grows.
Selection Methodology
I selected the leaders on this list based on their relevance, demonstrated expertise and impact, professional credibility, and ongoing contributions to the field.
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I look for evidence such as leading meaningful initiatives or delivering notable results within their organizations, developing influential ideas or practices, publishing research or educational resources, speaking or teaching, and other contributions that demonstrate impact within their work or the broader field.
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