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.
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.
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.
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.
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.