I have taken companies from a handful of people through a NASDAQ IPO and global scale — turning early chaos into the systems a leadership team can actually run. Today I take on a limited number of fractional and advisory engagements, alongside full-time operator work.
I started my career in event production, leading the team at Capital Factory across Austin and Dallas — producing 400-plus events a year, including SXSW and ACL, with 10,000-plus people in attendance. That is where I learned to make fast decisions under real deadlines, and to build slack into systems so they hold when something goes wrong.
That instinct has shaped everything since. I went on to build People and Operations functions from the ground up — at MindMed, where I took a company from 15 to 150-plus people through a NASDAQ IPO; and at Jacob & Co, where I ran the people side of a 300-plus person group across five countries.
Today I do that work in two forms: full-time operator roles, and a limited number of fractional and advisory engagements, where I help founders and leadership teams build the People and Operations backbone to scale. I am also the founder of Your Chief of Staff, a community for senior operators and chiefs of staff.
Ran the people and operations side of a 300-plus person global group.
Owned the operating engine of a Series A company — through the raise.
Built People and Operations from zero, all the way through a NASDAQ IPO.
The breadth of the role, from first hire to public company.
Rachann McKnight is a People & Operations executive who builds the People and Operations function from zero. She has done this three times, including through a NASDAQ IPO at MindMed, and led 300+ employees across five countries at Jacob & Co.
She scaled MindMed from 15 to 150+ employees through a NASDAQ IPO, led People & Global Operations for 300+ employees across five countries at Jacob & Co, and served as COO at Series A SaaS company Press Hook.
Yes. Rachann is available for operator, fractional COO, and advisory engagements with early and growth-stage companies that need to build operations and people systems. Reach her at rachannmcknight@gmail.com or on LinkedIn.
Her capabilities include People Strategy & Org Design, Total Rewards & Compensation, HRIS Implementation, Financial Operations & P&L, IPO Readiness, M&A Integration, Workforce Planning, Global Compliance, Performance Management, and Change Adoption & Manager Enablement.
Before her People & Operations leadership roles, Rachann led the Events Team at Capital Factory across Austin and Dallas — executing SXSW and ACL events with 10,000+ in attendance and 400+ events per year.
I take on a limited number of fractional and advisory engagements each year, alongside full-time work. If you are building a People and Operations function that needs to scale — or you would like a second voice on an operating question — I would be glad to hear from you.
Based in New York, NY · available for fractional and advisory work