Fractional Leaders feat. Rob Bowley

Here’s our conversation with Rob Bowley, a seasoned product and technology leader turned fractional CPTO/COO. With over 25 years of experience spanning startups, scale-ups, and large enterprises, Rob now helps businesses build scalable products, high-performing teams, and stronger organisational structures.

Here he shares insights on making a lasting impact, navigating scale-up challenges, and why doing less—but better—is key to success.

Can you please introduce yourself and your journey to becoming a Fractional Leader?

I’m Rob Bowley, a product & technology leader with over 25 years of industry experience. I started as a software engineer during the DotCom boom and transitioned into leadership about 15 years ago. My career has spanned early-stage startups and scale-ups (Masabi, 7digital) to large enterprises (Co-op Group, Mony Group), leading teams from four to 200 engineers. My focus has always been on building scalable products and fostering high-performing teams.

Beyond my work, I’m actively involved in Manchester’s tech community – mentoring on accelerator programmes, advising Manchester Tech Festival, sitting on Manchester City Council’s Digital Strategy Advisory Board, and co-running the Manchester CTOCraft Mixer. I also care about making the tech industry more accessible, improving career pathways and creating opportunities for underrepresented groups in the industry (such as founders).

Now, I work as a Product & Leadership Technology Advisor, Consultant, Coach, and Mentor (aka fractional CPTO/COO). You can find me on LinkedIn or at pragmaticpartners.co.uk.

I made the leap to starting my own consulting business two years ago after feeling permanent roles had become repetitive. I loved the impact I could make in the first six months, but the ongoing BAU was less fulfilling. Now, I get to bring my experience to multiple organisations at once, staying in that high-impact phase indefinitely. It’s the most rewarding work I’ve ever done!

Let’s talk impact, what achievements are you proud of the most?

It’s tough to pick just one, especially as many are with ongoing engagements and client confidentiality matters!

What stands out is how my role consistently expands beyond product and tech – I often end up improving the whole organisation (and why I consider myself as much COO as CPTO). Whilst I’ve regularly transformed product and engineering teams and helped clients achieve critical delivery goals, I’ve also restructured service divisions, optimised support functions, improved HR and recruitment, driven executive execution, advised on wider organisational design, and even supported improvements in sales functions.

It’s probably because my approach is rooted in systems thinking – seeing organisations holistically. Many challenges appear at the point of delivery (such as tech teams), but their root causes usually lie elsewhere – upstream processes, misaligned priorities, unclear role responsibilities, poor communication or ineffective collaboration.

Addressing these broader issues creates a much greater and lasting impact.

Based on your work with start-ups and scale-ups, do you have any pieces of wisdom you could share with businesses in scale-up mode?

It’s probably my favourite area and my sweet spot (I’ve taken over from founder CTOs on at least two occasions in permanent roles). Someone said to me recently I should change my LinkedIn to say “I help people with big ideas turn them into businesses. “

Scaling up is a pivotal transition – what got you here won’t get you to the next stage. Early on, small, tight-knit teams move fast with informal processes. But as you grow, lack of structure starts to slow you down. Organisational hygiene becomes crucial, for example:

• Are your goals and priorities clear?
• How are you tracking outcomes?
• Do you have defined roles and decision-making authority?
• Have you thought about your org structure?
• Do you have effective communication channels?
• Is your recruitment process robust?
• Are the people that got you here the right people to take you forward?
• Do leaders have the right tools to support their teams?

Whether building apps or running marketing campaigns, stick to tried-and-tested well established industry best practices. They’re not hard to find (try asking ChatGPT), so there’s no need to reinvent the wheel

Putting some processes and best practices in place isn’t bureaucracy if done well. Done well, they eliminate confusion, speed up progress, increase the likelihood of success, both in the short and longer term.

Finally, do less, better. Even with additional resources, it’s still finite. Ruthless prioritisation remains essential regardless of the size and scale of the organisation.

By focusing on fewer things, doing them well, and being deliberate about what you do and don’t do, you’ll achieve far more than you expect. Success isn’t about doing everything – it’s about doing the right things, well.

If you’re a business interested in hearing more about our Fractional Leadership offering you can:

Find out more here

If you are a fractional leader and would like to be featured as part of the “Fractional Leaders” series please get in touch.