Full-time Chief Strategy Officers are common at large companies and rare below $100M in revenue. At founder-led companies the CEO usually owns strategy, and that is often right. The question for most buyers is whether a fractional CSO adds enough to the CEO’s own thinking to justify the fee, and at what point the work becomes a full-time job.
The full-time math
A CSO or head of corporate strategy at a $50M to $200M company typically earns $200,000 to $320,000 in base salary, with a bonus and sometimes equity. Many come from management consulting or corporate development. Add 20% to 25% for payroll taxes and benefits and 25% to 30% of first-year cash for a recruiter, and year one lands around $250,000 to $450,000.
The fractional math
Fractional CSO retainers typically run $6,000 to $15,000 a month, about $70,000 to $180,000 a year. Many companies buy a fixed-fee planning project instead, at $15,000 to $60,000, and run the plan themselves.
Where full-time starts to make sense
These bands are a rough guide; a company with an active acquisition program moves up a band.
- Under $10M: the CEO owns strategy, with coaching, a peer group or an advisory board. A fractional CSO is rarely worth the fee.
- $10M to $50M: a planning project once a year, or a fractional CSO at one day a week around the planning cycle and major decisions.
- $50M to $150M, or with an active acquisition program: a fractional CSO at one to two days a week, or a full-time corporate development lead if acquisitions are frequent.
- Over $150M, several business units, or a serial acquirer: full-time strategy and corporate development leadership becomes normal.
What you lose with fractional
You lose continuous attention. Strategy problems surface in leadership meetings, customer conversations and board discussions, and a fractional misses many of them. You lose some authority. Strategy changes what teams do, and a leader who is present every day has more pull in arguments over resources. In acquisition work, a fractional may not be available on short notice when a target becomes available. And a fractional CSO is unlikely to build a strategy team, which some larger companies need.
What you gain
A fractional CSO brings an outside view and experience across several companies, which is hard to hire into a full-time role at this size. You pay for strategy work in proportion to how much of it there is, heavier during planning and deals, lighter in between. And you avoid a common problem with full-time strategy hires at mid-sized companies: a capable person without enough strategic work, who drifts into operational projects.
A sensible sequence
Start with a planning project or a fractional CSO aligned to your annual cycle. If acquisitions become a regular part of growth, add a full-time corporate development lead, who often reports to the CFO. Hire a full-time CSO when the company has several business units whose strategies must be coordinated, or when the CEO’s time is fully consumed by running the business.