Top 30 for 2026

• Fractional Leadership: Companies hiring part-time CFOs, COOs, or CMOs to save costs while keeping veteran wisdom.
• Health & Wellness Navigation: Patient advocates and elder-care consultants (helping families navigate complex medical systems).
• Sustainability & ESG Compliance: Auditing companies to ensure they actually meet green standards.
• Cybersecurity Risk Management: Not just coding, but the human-governance side of protecting data.
• Data Ethics & AI Governance: Human "Referees" who ensure AI isn't making biased or illegal decisions.
• Supply Chain Logistics: Managing the physical world that software often fails to predict.
• Specialized Education & Trade Instruction: Passing on high-level skills as the younger workforce faces a "skills gap."
• Renewable Energy Project Management: Overseeing the construction of solar, wind, and battery infrastructure.
• Mental Health & Life Coaching: High-level coaching that requires the empathy only "Authentic" life experience provides.
• Government & Public Sector Consulting: Navigating the "Systems of Record" within state and federal bureaucracies.

  For those who want to skip the ATS bouncers entirely and work via the "Front Porch." 

1. Crisis Management Consultant: Stepping in when things go wrong to stabilize a brand.
2. Ghostwriter for Thought Leaders: Writing LinkedIn content for CEOs who are too busy to be "Authentic."
3. Audit & Compliance Specialist: Forensic checking of financial or safety records.
4. Grant Writer: Helping non-profits navigate the specific language needed to get funding.
5. Soft-Skills Trainer: Teaching "Human-to-Human" communication to teams overwhelmed by Slack/Zoom.
6. Online Course Creator: Packaging 30 years of knowledge into a digital "Workshop."
7. Executive Mentor: One-on-one coaching for younger founders who are in over their heads.
8. Mediator & Conflict Resolution: Fixing team dynamics that bots cannot diagnose.
9. Fractional HR Director: Setting up the "HRIS" and culture for small businesses that can't afford a full-time lead.
10. Proposal/Tender Manager: Leading the high-stakes project of winning government or corporate contracts.

   These are the roles the 56-year-old seeker can realistically target right now.

1. Implementation Specialist: Helping a company "plug in" a new CRM or ERP.
2. Customer Success Manager: Keeping high-value clients happy through human relationship-building.
3. Operations Manager: The "glue" that keeps a small business running day-to-day.
4. Safety & Risk Inspector: Physical-world auditing for insurance or construction.
5. Admissions or Enrollment Counselor: Helping students/parents navigate the complex education market.
6. Corporate Librarian / Knowledge Manager: Organizing the "CMS" so the rest of the team can find what they need.
7. Technical Sales Representative: Selling complex products where "trust" is more important than a flashy demo.
8. Recruiter (Human-Centric): Finding "Gold" talent that the bots are missing.
9. Property Manager / Asset Manager: Overseeing physical investments and tenant relationships.
10. Community Manager: Running the "Workshop" (Reddit/Discord/LinkedIn) for a brand or niche group.