Fractional VP of Business Development, Senior Partnership and Strategic-Deal Leadership

Altitude and scope. Managers run individual partnerships hands-on. Directors manage the BD team and run the operating cadence. VPs own BD strategy, partner with the CEO and CRO, sponsor strategic deals at the executive level, and design the partnership P&L. Same function, different work. Smaller companies often need a Manager more than a VP. Companies with growing partnership complexity, board-level partner-program decisions, or strategic-deal-driven revenue need VP altitude.

Manager altitude is IC-leaning, runs individual partner recruitment and relationships hands-on. VP altitude is executive-leaning, sets strategy, partners with CEO, owns partnership P&L, sponsors strategic deals. Different operating altitudes; different fractional engagements. We have both on the roster.

Two answers. Our Recruit practice does run VP of Business Development searches for high-growth startups (and growth-stage companies generally), and our search process is calibrated to the specific patterns at that stage. Our Consulting practice fields fractional VPs of BD for in-seat operating work, which often precedes a permanent VP search. About 25% of fractional engagements convert to permanent placements when both sides want it.

Week one: BD portfolio review, partner landscape audit, strategic deal review. Weeks 2-4: BD strategy recommendation and 90-day plan. Weeks 4-16: execution against the plan, including strategic deal sponsorship as opportunities arise.

Most engagements run $25K-$50K per month at two to three days per week, scoped to outcome.

Yes. Our Recruit practice runs the search; the fractional VP often writes the brief and participates in finalist interviews.

Directly. Chameleon Collective is a senior-only collective.