About PE Ops
Built by operators. Measured in results.
We bring hands-on operational experience to private equity — not slide decks. Our team has led transformations across portfolio companies at every stage of the investment lifecycle.
Our background
Throughput. Margin. Proof. We don't advise. We deliver.
PE Ops was founded by operators who spent years inside portfolio companies — running finance functions, standing up reporting infrastructure, and navigating the pressure of PE ownership firsthand.
We started the firm because we saw a gap: most consultants advise from the outside. We work from the inside, embedding with management teams to build the systems and processes that actually stick.
Today we partner with sponsors and their portfolio companies across the full investment lifecycle — from pre-close diligence through hold-period value creation to exit readiness.
How we work
Embedded. Accountable. Results-driven.
Embedded engagement
We work alongside your team, not above them. Our consultants operate as extensions of management — accountable for outcomes, not just recommendations.
PE-native lens
Every engagement is structured around the investment thesis. We understand what sponsors need to see and what management teams need to deliver.
Sustainable infrastructure
We build systems that outlast the engagement. When we leave, the team can run it — no dependency on external support.
Leadership
Experienced operators.
Benjamin Plum
Founder & Managing Partner
Benjamin H. Plum is an operating executive specializing in high-complexity, low-volume manufacturing and private-equity-backed transformations. Over a decade at McKinsey & Company, he founded the firm's Shipbuilding practice and co-founded its Yachting & Marinas practice, leading operational turnarounds for naval and commercial shipbuilders, advanced industrials, and PE portfolio companies across the United States and Western Europe — serving sponsors across the deal cycle, from buy- and sell-side operational diligence through 100-day plans and full-cycle value creation, consistently lifting throughput, labor productivity, and EBITDA on the existing asset base. He went on to serve as Chief Operating Officer of The Hinckley Company, one of America's most storied luxury boatbuilders, and is now an independent operating partner at 26North, where he builds and executes value-creation plans across the portfolio. Earlier in his career, he co-founded Evolve Motorcycles, an early entrant in electric motorcycles, where he directed the design, manufacture, and sale of five production vehicles. He holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
James Elliott
Founder & Managing Partner
James Elliott is an operating executive and transformation leader specializing in private-equity-backed businesses and industrial companies. Across more than a decade spanning McKinsey & Company, Evolve Partners, and senior operating roles, he has led enterprise transformations, operational turnarounds, and value-creation programs across specialty chemicals, coatings, automotive, engineered products, consumer durables, and marine — partnering with sponsors and management teams to improve commercial performance, expand EBITDA, and build capabilities that sustain results. Most recently, he served as Global Head of Transformation for BASF's Environmental Catalyst and Metal Solutions business, leading a global program spanning 5,000 employees and 700 initiatives. He holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
Phil Duncan
Senior Advisor
Phil Duncan is a manufacturing executive and operational transformation leader who currently serves as a Senior Advisor to McKinsey & Company, advising CEOs, COOs, and senior leadership teams on complex challenges in quality, productivity, strategy, and talent development. Across more than four decades, he has held senior operating and advisory roles at Toyota, McKinsey, U.S. Steel, and American LaFrance. He spent 13 years at Toyota in General Manager roles spanning Assembly, Quality, Supply Chain and Production Control, and Engine and Transmission operations. He later joined McKinsey, where he became an Associate Partner and Senior Expert in Advanced Operations and held leadership roles in the firm's Global Quality and Automotive practices. During his tenure, he also served as Head of Global Quality for U.S. Steel and previously as Chief Operating Officer of American LaFrance. Having evaluated and advised more than 1,100 factories globally, he brings distinctive pattern recognition and a practical ability to translate Lean and Toyota Production System principles into stronger operating systems, leadership capabilities, and sustained performance. He holds a B.S. in Engineering Operations from North Carolina State University.
Eyal Fisher
Partner
Eyal Fisher is an investor and operator focused on the businesses that power the real economy — with seventeen years across industrial technology, manufacturing, and infrastructure. He serves as a Director at Tekfen Ventures, leading investments in industrial software, robotics, and advanced manufacturing; earlier, he was an investor at RIT Capital Partners across the technology, industrial, and energy sectors. At Jarden Corporation, he led procurement and commercial initiatives across its largest operating businesses. He founded and built 23 Capital's North American business to over $1 billion deployed, and has focused on acquiring lower middle-market industrial businesses through succession and ownership transitions. He holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School (Dean's List) and is an honors graduate of the University of Manchester.
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