Senior product leadership for a growing company, without hiring a full-time Product Lead or CPO
When nobody owns Product, your team picks up the pieces with their spare time, and the roadmap follows whoever asked last or loudest. I step in as your embedded Product Leader. I set up the Product practice, lead discovery with your customers, own the roadmap, and build the habits your team keeps when you're ready to hire full time.
Remote or on-siteDenver and Colorado's Front Range in person, anywhere in the US online. On-site visits elsewhere are available, with travel billed at cost.
Monthly retainerScoped to the hours your product work needs
20+ years in healthcare softwareFrom a six-person startup to directing product across six R&D teams at a multi-billion-dollar enterprise
Who is fractional product leadership for?
Startups and growing companies where nobody owns Product yet and the CEO and engineers are splitting the job between everything else they do
Teams between Product Leaders who need someone to keep the roadmap moving while they hire
Healthtech companies that want a Product Leader who already knows clinical workflows, EHR integrations, and regulated software
Founders who want a real Product practice before they commit to a full-time head of Product
What does a fractional Product Leader do?
I work with your existing team and I can do the product work myself or I can train and equip your team. I set everything up so the practice keeps running after the engagement ends.
Establish the Product practice
Analyze the market and industry so your team understands the landscape
Assess opportunities so you focus on the right things
Build a roadmap and prioritization process the whole company understands
Write a backlog with epics, stories, and acceptance criteria the team can deliver
Run planning, reviews, and stakeholder updates that keep everyone aligned
Lead discovery and user research
Interview customers and users on every side of your platform
Understand the real problem behind each feature request
Validate ideas with prototypes before effort is spent on them
Leverage AI tools to speed up research synthesis, prototyping, and backlog work
Equip your team with the skills and tools they need to continue the research
Connect Sales and Engineering
Bring sales and customer feedback into priorities
Craft go-to-market plans and launch readiness campaigns
Build pricing and packaging strategies backed by evidence
Build the team
Coach Product Managers, Product Owners, and future Product hires
Establish work processes for distributed and offshore teams
Define the Product role you'll eventually hire for
How it works
A free conversation. We spend 30 minutes on where your product stands, what's stuck, and whether fractional leadership is the right fit.
A clear plan. In the first weeks, I meet your team and customers, review what already exists, and share a 90-day plan with priorities and quick wins.
Ongoing leadership. I work with your team each week on discovery, the roadmap, and delivery, and I keep leadership updated on progress.
A practice that lasts. When you're ready for a full-time Product Leader, I help define the role and hand off a working practice.
Some teams start with a Design Sprint or a Foundation Sprint to align on direction before ongoing work begins. Others start with a 90-day product foundation: a fixed-length engagement that ends with a working roadmap, a delivery-ready backlog, and a discovery rhythm your team can keep, with the option to continue month to month.
Where this experience comes from
I've spent more than 20 years building healthcare and healthtech software products, at companies of every size.
Portfolio leadership. As Director of Product Management at ZOLL, my team supported six R&D teams building EMS patient care software. Over five years, we increased portfolio margins by 21%, reduced costs by 20%, and moved the portfolio to recurring revenue.
Mobile firsts. My team launched the industry's first phone-based mobile charting app for EMS crews. Many of our most successful products started in Design Sprints I facilitated with customers.
Patient and provider platforms. At iTriage, a consumer health app that helped patients find care, I owned the provider products, including listings, appointment setting, check-in, and EHR integrations with athenahealth, Epic, and Greenway.
Startup roots. I was the sixth employee at a medical imaging startup and helped grow it through acquisition.
Distributed teams. I've led product work with development teams across India and the US, treating offshore developers as full members of the team.
Regulated software. At ZOLL, I worked with regulated devices and I coordinated with our compliance team to move our patient charting app out from under FDA regulation. At DaVita, my teams were responsible for meeting CEHRT certification requirements for the EHR. I've worked with HIPAA and HITECH regulations throughout my career and I understand the compliance landscape.
What people say
Corissa nurtured the growth of other product owners and managers who reported to her, elevating the entire organization’s performance.
She encouraged validating assumptions through prototyping, gathering direct customer feedback, and conducting usability sessions to help inform product decisions.
Common questions
How is this different from coaching?
Coaching helps your people do the Product job well. Fractional leadership means I do the product job myself, part time, working alongside your team. Many engagements include both: I lead the work while coaching the people who will carry it forward.
Is this a fractional Product Manager, a fractional CPO, or something else?
The title follows what your company needs. For a startup with no product function yet, I work as a fractional Product Manager or Head of Product and build the practice from scratch. For a company whose product managers need direction, I work as a fractional Chief Product Officer (CPO) or Product Lead. Between hires, the role is closer to an interim Head of Product. The work is the same in every case: discovery, a roadmap, delivery, and a team that can carry it forward.
How many hours does it take?
Most engagements run 10 to 20 hours a week. We set the hours together based on how much product work you have and how much your team can absorb.
What does it cost?
Fractional leadership is a monthly retainer based on the hours we agree on. Tell me where things stand and I'll send a proposal within two business days.
How long do I have to commit?
Engagements start with a 90-day foundation phase and then continue month to month. Either of us can end the engagement with 30 days' notice, so you're never locked in. Most teams know within the first month whether it's working.
How many clients do you take on?
I take on a small number of leadership engagements at a time so each one gets the attention it needs.
Need someone to own product?
Tell me about your company, your team, and what's stuck. I'll come back with a plan and a proposal within two business days.