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Where brilliant women return to work.
A two-sided platform connecting highly qualified professionals returning from career breaks with companies committed to flexible, meaningful roles — and the ESG credentials to prove it.
Concept deck · 2025
The problem — for professionals
Brilliant careers,
interrupted.
2M+
Women left the US workforce during the pandemic alone — most of them highly qualified, all of them capable of returning
74%
Of women with career breaks say they struggled to re-enter at their previous seniority level, even with strong experience
$0
Tools purpose-built for senior returning professionals. Job boards treat them like first-time applicants. Returnship programmes are rare and narrow.
"I had 14 years of experience. A $12M budget under my belt. A team of 20. And every job board treated me like I needed to start over."
— Common sentiment from returning professionals
The existing options
LinkedIn treats the gap as a red flag. The Mom Project serves all levels, not senior talent. General job boards have no returnship filter at all. Nobody has built the premium end of this market.
The problem — for companies
Desperate for talent.
Overlooking it.
The talent crisis
Senior hiring takes 4–6 months on average. Executive search fees run 20–30% of salary. And yet millions of VP and director-level professionals are sitting on the sidelines, ready and willing to work flexibly.
The missed opportunity
Companies consistently pass on candidates with career gaps — despite research showing returning professionals outperform peers in productivity, retention, and culture contribution.
The ESG pressure
Boards and investors are
watching.
Why companies can't ignore this
Gender equity is now a reportable ESG metric for most public companies. Institutional investors score portfolios on DEI performance. Companies need to demonstrate concrete hiring action — not just policy statements.
25%
More profitable — companies with top-quartile gender diversity (McKinsey)
4.2×
More productive — returning professionals vs. comparable hires
Market opportunity
A large market with
no premium player.
$14B
Returnship & flexible talent market
The addressable market for returnship programmes, fractional executives, and flex-first hiring — growing 18% YoY as remote work normalises flexible arrangements.
Source: Future of Work research, 2024
2.4M
Qualified returning professionals (US)
Women with 8+ years of experience who have taken a career break and are either actively seeking or would consider returning to senior-level flexible roles.
Source: McKinsey, Women in the Workplace 2024
$4.2B
ESG-driven talent spend
Corporate spending on DEI talent programmes, ESG reporting, and gender equity initiatives — now a board-level line item at most Fortune 1000 companies.
Source: Deloitte ESG Trends 2024
Cleo's initial target: The premium segment — professionals at director level and above, companies with 200+ employees and active ESG reporting obligations. This segment alone represents a $2B+ serviceable market, currently underserved by every existing platform.
The curated two-sided platform connecting senior returning professionals with companies that have made a real, verified commitment to hire them.
Curated talent — director level and above Verified company commitments ESG reporting built in Subscription model — both sides AI resume builder Smart availability matching Fractional · Part-time · Returnship
How it works
Two sides. One
powerful match.
Professional joins
1
Apply and be accepted
8+ years experience, director+ level — application reviewed by Cleo team
2
Build profile + resume
AI reframes career gap, surfaces skills, sets availability
3
Get matched
Algorithm surfaces companies whose commitments match her needs
4
Connect and place
Interview, offer, placement — all tracked on platform
⟷
Company joins
1
Onboard and commit
Pledge specific headcount, role types, and flexibility policies
2
Get verified
Cleo reviews commitment and issues Verified Partner badge
3
Receive matches
Curated candidates surfaced based on role, level, and availability fit
4
Report impact
Quarterly ESG report generated automatically — board-ready
Average match score between committed companies and accepted professionals
91%
For professionals
Built to make you
undeniable.
AI resume builder
Career gap reframed positively. Impact language strengthened. Skills surfaced for returnship roles.
Rich profile builder
Work style, availability, hours, flexibility needs — all visible to hiring companies upfront.
Smart matching
Only matched with companies that have made a real commitment — no ghost listings, no ghosting.
Interview prep + coaching
Returnship-specific coaching, gap narrative practice, and salary negotiation support.
SR
Sarah Renfrew
Former VP Marketing · 14 yrs · Chicago
Open to roles 25 hrs/wk Flex schedule
LevelVP / Fractional exec
EngagementProject · Ongoing · Fractional
LocationRemote / Hybrid
Career pauseStrategic · 3.5 years
Available fromImmediately
Brand strategyP&L mgmtTeam leadershipConsumer insightsBudget planningCross-functional
Brightfield Co.
Returnship programme · Q1 2025
✦ Verified Partner
12
Committed
7
Placed
18
In review
A+
ESG score
Top matches this week
SR
Sarah Renfrew
VP Marketing · 14 yrs
96%
JL
Jamie Liu
Finance Director · 11 yrs
91%
MP
Maria Petrov
Principal Engineer · 9 yrs
88%
For companies
Commitment first.
Then candidates.
Verified commitment model
Companies pledge specific headcount and flexibility policies before accessing talent — signalling real intent to candidates.
ESG dashboard + quarterly reports
Auto-generated board-ready reports. Verified badge for website, LinkedIn, and investor decks.
Smart candidate matching
Candidates matched to specific role commitments — not a browse-and-hope job board experience.
Competitive moat — supply quality
Curation is the product.
Not an afterthought.
Cleo controls the supply side through a deliberate three-phase approach. Every professional on the platform has been accepted — not just registered. This is what makes the talent valuable to companies, and what makes Cleo impossible for a general job board to replicate.
1
Founding cohort — hand-curated
First 200 professionals sourced directly through professional networks, Chief, Ellevate, and Lean In chapters. No self-serve. Sets the quality standard for everything that follows.
2
Application with a real bar
Minimum 8 years experience + director-level track record. One qualitative question reviewed by a human. Friction signals that membership means something.
3
Ongoing quality signals
Profile completeness, match response rate, and company feedback all feed into visibility ranking. The platform rewards genuine engagement.
What sets Cleo talent apart
Average years experience12 yrs
Director level or above100%
Profile completeness94%
Match response rate87%
Acceptance criteria
8+ years professional experience
Director-level or above track record
Qualitative answer reviewed by human
Depth of experience, not pedigree
All industries and backgrounds welcome
Competitive landscape
Nobody owns
the premium end.
Feature Cleo ✦ The Mom Project LinkedIn General boards
Senior-only (director+) focus✦ YesAll levelsAll levelsAll levels
Company commitment model✦ Binding pledgeJob posting onlyNoNo
Curated / vetted talent supply✦ Human reviewOpen signupOpenOpen
AI resume builder for returners✦ Gap reframingBasicNoNo
Verified ESG reporting✦ Quarterly reportsMarketing onlyNoNo
Subscription model (both sides)✦ YesPer-hire feePremium onlyPer post fee
Premium brand positioning✦ Editorial / luxuryFunctionalCorporateUtility
The Mom Project has real scale ($106M raised, 1M+ professionals, 3,000+ companies) but operates as a broad job board serving all levels. Cleo is not competing on volume — it is competing on quality, commitment, and premium positioning at the senior end of the market.
The ESG advantage
Not a badge.
A business asset.
Board-level reporting
Quarterly ESG reports formatted for board presentations and investor disclosures. Companies can hand them directly to their CFO or investor relations team.
Verified badge
The Cleo Verified Partner badge is earned, not bought. It signals to candidates, investors, and the public that the company has made a real commitment.
Measurable gender equity progress
Tracks women in leadership percentage over time. Gives companies a concrete, auditable metric to report against their gender parity goals.
Employer brand differentiation
Companies that hire through Cleo can tell a compelling, verified story to prospective employees — a growing factor in executive talent attraction.
✦
Cleo Verified Partner
Brightfield Consumer Goods · 2025
Flex-Verified 12 roles ESG Signatory
Q1 2025 impact snapshot
Professionals placed7
Women in leadership (↑)38% → 42%
Hrs/wk unlocked186
Retention (90-day)100%
ESG scoreA+ · Top 5%
Business model
Subscription on
both sides.
Professional subscriptions
Starter
$0/mo
Profile, browse, 3 applications/month
Professional
$29/mo
Full profile, AI resume builder, unlimited applications, interview coaching
Concierge
$79/mo
1:1 coaching, executive introductions, salary negotiation support
Professional unit economics
Avg subscription (blended)~$35/month
Avg active months~8 months
LTV per professional~$280
Company subscriptions
Explorer
$199/mo
3 roles, candidate matching, basic ESG reporting
Committed ★
$399/mo
8 roles, smart matching, full ESG dashboard, Verified badge
Growth
$699/mo
15 roles, all Committed + dedicated success manager
Enterprise
Custom
Unlimited roles, ATS integration, custom ESG reporting
Company unit economics
Avg subscription (blended)~$520/month
Avg contract length~18 months
LTV per company~$9,360
Revenue is driven primarily by the company side — 50 committed companies at a blended ~$520/month generates $312K ARR before professional subscriptions. The four-tier ladder lowers the barrier to entry while creating a natural upgrade path as companies see results.
"Talent has no expiration date. Cleo exists to prove it — at scale."
01
The premium returnship network
The go-to platform for senior returning professionals globally — the name every woman thinks of when she's ready to come back.
02
The ESG talent standard
The Cleo Verified Partner badge becomes the benchmark for companies that take flexible, inclusive hiring seriously — a credential with real market value.
03
Redefining how senior talent works
Fractional, project-based, and flexible senior work isn't a compromise — it's the future. Cleo builds the infrastructure for that future.
cleo.work · concept deck 2025