The phrase 'operating partner' is back in PE conversations. What it now means is structurally different from what it meant five years ago — and most funds have not adjusted.
The operating-partner model is being rebuilt around two changes — sector specialisation and interim deployment — and funds that adopt the new model are quietly outperforming those that built the old one.
What Changed
The traditional operating-partner model was generalist (senior executives who could 'add value' across a portfolio) and full-time (a salaried fund role). It produced a small number of brilliant operating partners and a larger number of expensive listeners.
The 2026 model is sector-specialist and engagement-based. Operating partners are deployed against specific portfolio company problems for defined periods — six months to two years — with clear mandates, deliverables, and exit points. The fund maintains a network rather than a staff. The cost structure shifts from fixed to variable, and the impact per pound deployed tends to rise materially.
Where It Earns Its Keep
The new model earns its keep in three situations. First, in carve-outs and post-merger integration, where senior interim leadership is genuinely transformative. Second, in commercial scale-ups, where an experienced CCO-grade operator can compress eighteen months of go-to-market learning into six. Third, in management transitions — interim CEO or CFO coverage during a leadership search or post-departure, protecting value during a vulnerable window.
Each of these situations has a different operator profile and a different engagement structure. Funds that have built a model treating them as one category produce thin results.
How Funds Should Be Structuring This Now
Three operating-partner moves are now distinguishing the strongest funds. First, building a network of seasoned, sector-fluent interim operators across the fund's investment thesis areas — and maintaining the network actively, not just on call. Second, embedding operating-partner deployment into the underwriting model — not as a 'value creation initiative' bolt-on but as a planned resource in the deal model. Third, treating the operating-partner relationship as a service category with proper procurement, scoping, and outcome measurement.
The funds doing this well are not advertising it. They are quietly producing better returns and shorter hold periods.
What to do next
- Audit your operating-partner model: generalist vs sector, fixed vs deployed
- Embed operating-partner resource into deal underwriting, not value-creation overlay
- Build and maintain a sector-fluent interim operator network actively
- Apply procurement discipline to operating-partner engagements
Grant & Graham helps private equity general partners, operating partners, and value-creation leads address exactly this kind of challenge. Our senior interim operators across portfolio companies in EMEA is built for organisations facing an operating-partner model that is producing inconsistent results across the portfolio. Email Andrew Collins or visit grant-graham.co.uk to discuss.
