Fractional CHRO Builds HR Infrastructure for a 150-Person Fintech Scaling to 300
A Series B fintech had doubled headcount in 12 months with no HR infrastructure beyond payroll. A fractional CHRO built the people function from scratch — compensation frameworks, performance management, and a talent acquisition engine — reducing attrition from 28% to 11%.
Attrition cut by 60%$2.1M retention savingsPay equity restoredPermanent CHRO transitioned
What they came to us with.
A Canadian fintech had raised a $40M Series B and grown from 70 to 150 employees in under a year. The rapid scaling outpaced the people infrastructure: no HR leader, payroll run by finance, ad-hoc hiring through department leads, no compensation bands, no performance reviews, and no formal onboarding beyond a laptop setup. The consequences were showing — 28% annualized attrition concentrated in the first 6 months, a Glassdoor rating that had dropped from 4.2 to 3.1, 15-20% pay gaps across similar roles, and two pending discrimination complaints from employees who believed their compensation was unfair. The board was demanding a professional HR function before approving the next phase of hiring to 300 employees. The CEO needed seasoned HR leadership immediately — but didn't want to rush a permanent CHRO hire while the function was still being defined.
How the work actually ran.
- 01
Org diagnostic
Analyzed compensation data across all 150 employees, mapped reporting structures, surveyed engagement, and interviewed 30 employees across all levels to surface the cultural pain points.
- 02
Compensation framework
Designed market-benchmarked salary bands for every role, ran a pay equity audit, adjusted 23 salaries, and communicated the new framework company-wide to rebuild trust.
- 03
Performance + onboarding
Built a startup-appropriate performance system (quarterly check-ins, OKR alignment, calibration) and a structured 90-day onboarding program targeting the first-6-month attrition spike.
- 04
Talent engine
Hired two in-house recruiters, implemented an ATS, built structured interview guides for every role family, and stood up an employer brand presence on LinkedIn.
- 05
Permanent successor
Recruited, evaluated, and onboarded a permanent VP of People with a 4-week transition and documented playbooks for every HR process.
We were hemorrhaging talent and had no idea why until someone with real HR expertise looked under the hood. In ten months, we went from chaos to a function that our board — and our employees — actually trust. The fractional model gave us exactly what we needed: senior leadership without the risk of a bad permanent hire.
Selected. Closed.
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Tell us what you’re facing. We operate from there.
Most first conversations happen on a call within the week. We respond personally within one business day.