About FlexHR
A fractional CHRO practice, productized.
FlexHR is a fractional Chief Human Resources Officer practice for fintech and AI-native companies. The work runs on one methodology, the Manager Operating System, anchored in Gallup’s finding that managers drive 70% of variance in team engagement.
Mona Dhillon
Principal, FlexHR
HR and talent executive with 15+ years building People functions from zero to enterprise scale across fintech, AI/ML, AdTech and SaaS, through repeated hypergrowth cycles (3–10x headcount).
- Ubiquity Retirement + Savings, VP of HR & Talent AcquisitionFlat-fee 401(k) provider. Redesigned the HR operating model with the CEO, moved merit and promotion reviews to a calibrated biannual cycle, ran AI adoption pilots that shaped the company AI usage policy, and led the CEO search with the Board.
- Welcome TechSeries B fintech. First People hire after the Series B; built the People function from zero, doubled headcount to 75 in 8 months, built comp philosophy and review processes, and set up distributed engineering hiring in Vietnam, India and Canada via an EOR.
- Zest AIFintech / AI credit underwriting. Built the People function from the ground up, scaled to 250+ employees, then led a right-size through a business pivot. Built the first succession-planning framework and the comp philosophy for scarce AI/ML talent. Built In LA Top Workplace four years running (2017–2020).
- OpenX, Director of Talent AcquisitionAdTech. Scaled from 135 to 500+ employees across the U.S., U.K. and Germany, and led the move from TriNet (PEO) to in-house benefits, 401(k) and payroll.
- Google, Senior Technical Recruiter2006–2009.
M.S., Management of Information Systems, Claremont Graduate University · MBA, Human Resources and Industrial Relations
The gap between “you raised” and “you have a CHRO” is twelve quiet months.
Most fintech and AI-native companies between Series A and C don’t need a $400k full-time CHRO. They need operator-grade people work: comp architecture that holds against banking incumbents, leveling that survives the next round, perf cycles that don’t degenerate into ritual, an AI-workforce-transformation plan that actually ships.
Boutique exec firms won’t take a sub-$5M engagement. Generalist consultants don’t design operating models. PEOs handle admin, not strategy. FlexHR is built for the gap in between: productized enough to ship in weeks, deep enough to renew month after month.
The four moats we’re building over years: operator-led delivery (not consultant-led), the productized Manager Operating System, operating experience inside fintech and AI-native companies, and long-tail compliance fluency that’s baked into every artifact.
Credentials of the practice.
The methodology and the scholarship behind it, alongside the principal’s operating experience above.
Vertical-specific, by design
We work with fintech founders and operators, AI-native companies, and the venture and PE investors who back both. Generic SaaS playbooks don't translate to compliance-heavy environments. Ours don't pretend to.
Frameworks built from public scholarship, not borrowed slides
Galbraith Star, McKinsey 7-S, Mercer IPE, Korn Ferry Hay, Gallup Q12, Project Oxygen, Drotter Leadership Pipeline, Lou Adler's Performance-Based Hiring, Topgrading. Each playbook cites its scholarly anchors. See the “Why we cite” section on the playbooks page.
US-compliance-aware by default
NIST AI RMF, NYC Local Law 144, EEOC 2023 guidance, OCC Bulletin 2011-12, NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500, and state pay-transparency laws are built in to the diagnostics, the playbooks, and the work we ship.
How we work.
Operator-grade, not consultancy-grade
Frameworks come from running the function, not studying it from outside. We ship artifacts (leveling matrices, comp bands, perf cycle kits, manager curricula) that actually get used.
The methodology is the IP, not the brand
The Manager Operating System is the spine. It compounds with every engagement. The brand is the perimeter; the methodology is the moat.
AI augments managers, it doesn't replace them
Most organizations cite AI as a priority but haven't rebuilt their work processes around it. We've shipped end-to-end AI-driven HR transformations. We know what works and what's hype.
Fit before fee
We turn down work outside the fit. Sub-10-person teams, pure HR outsourcing, single-engagement investigations without counsel are someone else's job.
Long retention beats short engagements
Project Engagements are scoped to a single outcome, then renew into month-to-month CHRO advisory after delivery (3-month minimum on the renewal). The Diagnostic and Project shapes exist to qualify into ongoing advisory. We design for years, not quarters — the buyer keeps the off-ramp every month.
Run a discovery call.
30-min conversation. No deck. We’ll talk through what’s actually going on in your people function and tell you whether FlexHR is the right shape of help.