Hiring a fractional executive means giving someone visibility into your business at a strategic level. That trust isn't something we hand-wave — it's baked into how the platform is built. Here's what we do, and what you can rely on.
Advisor vetting
Every advisor on CXOwork goes through a three-part check before they can show up in your matches:
- Identity verification. Government-issued ID matched against the name and email on the account, via our identity-verification provider.
- Professional references. Two to three direct references from past CEOs, founders, or board members the advisor has worked with — we contact each one, by hand, before approving the profile.
- Past employment confirmation. The advisor lists their work history on signup; for senior roles we cross-check public records and reach out to former employers when something looks off.
Advisors can't see jobs, accept matches, or sign offers until all three steps are complete and our team has approved the profile. Until then, the advisor's dashboard is locked behind an "Under review" banner.
Platform NDA
Every advisor signs CXOwork's mutual NDA during onboarding. The NDA covers any information they encounter through the platform — your brief, your messages, your shared documents, anything they see on a call. It binds the advisor for the duration of the engagement plus a standard tail period afterward. Each advisor's signed copy is on file and can be produced on request.
For most engagements this platform-level NDA is enough. For sensitive deals (M&A, regulated industries, dual-track fundraises) you can ask the advisor to sign your own bespoke NDA in addition; we encourage this and most advisors will agree to it.
Anti-disintermediation guard
On-platform conversations are protected. The messaging system actively blocks attempts to share off-platform contact information — emails, phone numbers, even creatively obfuscated formats. If either side tries to drop their personal email mid-thread, the message is rejected with an inline warning before it's sent.
This isn't to be heavy-handed; it's to keep every message inside the system of record where the NDA applies, the audit log captures it, and the platform team can step in if anything goes sideways.
Dispute resolution
Most engagements run smoothly. When they don't, here's the path:
- Talk to the advisor first. The vast majority of issues — pace, scope creep, a missed deliverable — resolve in one conversation.
- Open the CXOAdmin thread. If you can't resolve it directly, the "CXOAdmin" conversation in your messages goes straight to the platform team. We'll review the contract scope, the message history, and the audit log, and propose a path forward.
- Mediation. If neither side can agree, we'll mediate — most often by re-scoping the remaining work, prorating the most recent invoice, or sourcing a replacement advisor at no additional matching cost.
Data privacy
Your data is yours. We process it under our Privacy Policy, which spells out what we collect (name, company, brief content, message history, contract artefacts), what we don't (no scraping, no sharing with advisors not matched to you, no advertising data), and how to delete it. GDPR and CCPA requests go to info@cxowork.com and are typically fulfilled within 30 days.
What happens to a deactivated advisor
If an advisor is removed from the network — for a vetting failure, a confirmed conduct issue, or a request from past clients — their profile becomes invisible to new matches immediately. Existing engagements are reviewed case-by-case; in serious cases we'll source a replacement and walk you through the transition. Your message history stays accessible regardless.
Reporting concerns
If anything feels off — an advisor asking to take the work off-platform, billing that doesn't match the scope, or anything else — open the CXOAdmin conversation. We take every report seriously and respond within one business day.