People Ops
Fractional People Operations is senior HR and People Ops support delivered part-time, for a fraction of a full-time salary. You get the function a growing team needs without the cost of a full-time Head of People.
Book a free People Ops auditPeople Operations is the function that runs everything related to your team: hiring, onboarding, contracts, payroll setup, policy, compliance, performance, and offboarding. It is the modern name for HR, with more focus on systems and data and less on paperwork. A good People Ops setup means a new hire signs a clean contract, lands in a clear onboarding flow, and knows how they will be reviewed, all without the founder doing it by hand.
For a deeper breakdown of how the two terms differ, read People Operations vs HR.
Figures above are directional. Verify current salary benchmarks for your market before quoting them.
Fractional People Ops fits companies that have outgrown founder-run HR but cannot justify a full-time People hire yet. That is most startups between roughly ten and fifty people. It also fits teams hiring fast, raising a round, or operating across borders, where a mistake in contracts or compliance gets expensive quickly.
If that sounds like your stage, the HR for startups guide walks through exactly what to set up and when.
There are three common ways to cover the People function. The right one depends on your headcount, your budget, and how much senior judgment you need.
| Option | Best for | Cost | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founder-run HR | Under 10 people | Founder time | Eats focus, gaps appear as you grow |
| Fractional People Ops | 10 to 50 people | A few days a month | Not on-site full-time |
| Full-time Head of People | 50+ people | $160k+ loaded | Heavy cost before the workload justifies it |
| Traditional HR agency | Compliance-only needs | Retainer or per-task | Often junior, transactional, less strategic |
Key takeaway: fractional People Ops gives you senior, strategic support at the stage where a full-time hire is too expensive and founder-run HR has started to break. For the full case for and against handing it off, read the pros and cons of outsourcing HR.
Puetto runs the People function end to end on a fractional basis. You bring the team and the goals. We bring the systems, the compliance, and the senior judgment.
New to the model? Start with What is fractional HR? for a plain definition and when it makes sense.
Work through the cluster, starting wherever fits your stage:
The full guide to People Ops: definition, stats, lifecycle, terminology, tech stack, and the job market.
A plain definition of fractional HR, how it works, and when it beats a full-time hire.
When to start HR, what to set up first, and how to run it without a full-time team.
What changed, what stayed the same, and which one your company actually needs.
An honest look at where outsourced HR helps and where it falls short.
Fractional People Operations is senior HR and People Ops support delivered part-time, for a fraction of a full-time salary. A fractional People Ops lead runs hiring, onboarding, policy, compliance, and culture for your company without being a full-time employee.
HR is the traditional function covering compliance, payroll, and employee relations. People Operations takes the same responsibilities and treats the team like a product, using data and clear systems to improve hiring, onboarding, and retention. In practice the two overlap, and most small companies need one person or partner covering both.
Most startups need structured People Ops once they pass roughly ten to fifteen employees, or sooner if they are hiring fast, raising a round, or operating across multiple countries. Before that, a founder usually handles it. After that, gaps in contracts, onboarding, and compliance start to cost real money.
Yes. A full-time Head of People in the US costs well into six figures plus benefits. Fractional People Ops gives you senior experience for the hours you actually use, which is usually a few days a month for an early-stage team.
Puetto runs the full People Ops stack on a fractional basis: HR setup and compliance, hiring and onboarding systems, contracts and policy, HRIS selection, performance and retention programs, and offboarding. You get the function without a full-time team.
Tell us your headcount and where it hurts. We will map the gaps and show you what fractional People Ops would cover for your team.
Book a free People Ops audit